"ON BOARD WERE 102 PASSENGERS, INCLUDING SEPARATISTS"

MAYFLOWER SETS OUT FOR NEW WORLD FROM PLYMOUTH ENGLAND

Plymouth, England (JFK+50) On September 16, 1920, the merchant ship Mayflower* left England bound for Virginia in the New World.  On board were 102 passengers including a group of religious dissenters commonly known today as Pilgrims.

Known at the time as Separatists because they wanted to separate from the Church of England, they referred to themselves as Saints.

The 90 foot wooden vessel was blown far off course during the voyage and ended up landing on Cape Cod on November 21, 1620.

 JFK+50 NOTE

Gov. William Bradford referred to his people as "pilgrimes" but the term "pilgrims" was not applied to them until the early 1800s.

 *Mayflower, 180 tons 110 feet long & 25 feet in the beam, had 4 decks.  On her 1620 voyage, she had a crew of 30.  There is no record of the ship after 1624 but a replica, Mayflower II, is docked today at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

SOURCE

"The Mayflower Left England September 16, 1620," JFK+50, September 16, 2013, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

 

 

Mayflower At Sea

by A.S. Burbank

Detroit Publishing Company Collection

PD

"LONGEST WEEKEND CRUISE OF COOLIDGE PRESIDENCY"

PRESIDENT WILL GET HIS SUNDAY STAR DROPPED ONTO DECK OF THE MAYFLOWER

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 31, 1924, The Evening Star reports President Calvin Coolidge will have his Sunday Star "dropped from the skies to the deck of the Mayflower" tomorrow as he cruises down the Potomac River."

The Star says that plans for the drop will be made today at the Naval Air Station, Anacostia, District of Columbia.

This will be the longest "weekend cruise" of the Coolidge presidency.  The cruise will go "down the Potomac to Chesapeake Bay."

SOURCE

"Airplane to Drop Sunday Star to President on Ship," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 31, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

USS Mayflower 1905

NARA Photo 

"BUILT IN ENGLAND (1955-56) FROM RECONSTRUCTED BLUEPRINTS"

MAYFLOWER II UNDERGOING SEA TRIALS BEFORE HEADING HOME

New London, Connecticut (JFK+50) The month of September will mark the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim journey to America aboard the Mayflower*.  The Mayflower II**, a replica of the original ship, has undergone a $11.2 million renovation over the past three years. 

The ship was towed from the preservation shipyard at the Mystic Seaport Museum here to New London and is now undergoing sea trials before sailing back home to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ship will make only two overnight stops "without fanfare or crowds."  Nearly three-fourths of the Mayflower II is new.  Hull planking was completely replaced and a new fire-suppression system was installed.

*The merchant ship, Mayflower, with 102 passengers on board, departed from the English port of Plymouth on Sept 16, 1620, bound for America.   The vessel was 100 feet in length & 25 feet wide.

**Mayflower II was built in Devon, England (1955-56) & sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1957.  It represents the WWII alliance between Great Britain and the United States.

SOURCE

"Mayflower II sailing home after $11 million makeover," by Pat Eaton-Robb, Associated Press, July 19, 2020, Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Crewman on the Mayflower II

Plymouth, Massachusetts

Photo by John White (1986)

Mayflower II
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Photo by John White (1986)

Mayflower II Refurbished
September 7 2019
Photo by David Brooks
www.wikimedia.org/

A MISERABLE TWO MONTH VOYAGE AHEAD

MAYFLOWER DEPARTS FOR AMERICA WITH PILGRIMS ABOARD

Plymouth, England (JFK+50) On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower, with 102 passengers on board, departed from here at the English port of Plymouth  bound for America.

The Mayflower, a merchant ship, had made the voyage many times but this was the first time she carried passengers.  They included a number of religious dissenters*, who referred to themselves as Saints, and entrepreneurs who were known by them as Strangers.

The Separatists were in quest of establishing a new colony in America far from the control of the state Church of England.

The Mayflower, which was about 100 feet in length and 25 feet wide, was commanded by Master Christopher Jones**.  He had been with the ship for eleven years.   Despite being a ship of trade, the Mayflower was heavily armed for protection. On this voyage she carried a cargo of 180 tons.

The ship sported 3 masts and 3 levels:  main deck, gun deck and cargo hold. Her crew numbered about 50 men.

*Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony referred to his group in his Journal as "pilgrimes," but the term Pilgrim was not applied to these people until the early 1800s.

*Christopher Jones (1570-1622) was born in London.  CJ remained in Plymouth for six months giving time for his crew to recover from disease.  CJ died at the age of 52 shortly after returning to England from a voyage to France.

Crewman on the Mayflower II

Plymouth, Massachusetts

Photo by John White (1986)

FIRST CHILD OF ENGLISH PARENTS BORN IN NEW ENGLAND

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2135

PEREGRINE WHITE:  THE FIRST NEW ENGLANDER BORN IN AMERICA

Massachusetts Bay (JFK+50) Peregrine White* was born 396 years ago today, November 20, 1620 aboard the Mayflower anchored in Massachusetts Bay.  He was the first child born of English parents in present-day New England.

The name Peregrine was taken from the Latin word peregrinus which means pilgrim.  The baby's parents were William and Susanna White who are believed to be from the London merchant group aboard the Mayflower rather than the Leiden Holland religious group.

Other members of the White family included a son, Resolved White and two servants.  On display in the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts is a cradle believed to have been brought aboard the Mayflower by the Whites for their new baby.

Peregrine White grew up to be a farmer and was active in the military activities of the Plymouth Colony rising to the rank of Captain.  He and his wife, Sarah Bassett, had six children.  He died on July 20, 1704 at the age of 83 and, according to Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History.com, was given "the only known newspaper obituary for anyone associated with the Mayflower voyage."

*Peregrine White (1620-1704) lived out his life in Marshfield, Massachusetts, and according to his obituary..."although he was in the former part of his life extravagant...was much reformed in his later years."

JFK+50 NOTE

I know it is fashionable for Americans to make they claim that they are descendants of Mayflower passengers but, even though my name is White, I cannot make that claim.  In tracing our family tree, we can only go back as far as Alexander White who was born in 1812.  We believe that he came to Tennessee from Virginia.

SOURCE

"Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History.com, www.mayflowerhistory.com/

Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor

by William Halsall (1882)

LANDING AT PLYMOUTH

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1801

MAYFLOWER ARRIVED AT PLYMOUTH 395 YEARS AGO 

Plymouth, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On this day 395 years ago, December 18, 1620, Saints and Strangers from the English merchant ship Mayflower came ashore here at Plymouth.

The group, made up of 102 men, women and children, included a number of separatists who had broken with the Church of England and wanted to start life anew in America.  These people we know as Pilgrims but they referred to themselves as Saints.  Those settlers who were not part of this religious group were called Strangers.

The Mayflower departed England on September 6 and on November 11 landed at Cape Cod where 41 male passengers signed an agreement known as the Mayflower Compact.  In signing the document, the men pledged themselves to submit to a government and agreed to abide by the laws of the colony.

According to Robert Tracy McKenzie of the Washington Post, however, in the history of the United States we have portrayed the Pilgrims inaccurately.

In his article "Five myths about the Pilgrims," Mr. McKenzie identifies the following Pilgrim myths...

1. The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock

2. They came to American seeking religious freedom

3. They celebrated the 1st Thanksgiving

4. The Pilgrims were without humor and wore black

5. The Mayflower Compact is a great example of democracy

Addressing the Mythology

1. You can actually see part of the rock under a memorial in Plymouth, Massachusetts today.  But that rock was not identified until 1741, 121 years after the fact and there is no mention of a landing on the rock in Governor William Bradford's famous journal "Of Plimoth Plantation."

2. The Pilgrims first settled in Leiden, Holland but left because they could not maintain their English heritage there nor, probably more importantly, "make a living."  So, religious freedom was not the MAIN motivation in settling in the New World.

3. The Pilgrims were not the FIRST to celebrate a thanksgiving.  The Native American peoples had been practicing that ritual for many moons.

4. The Pilgrims were not totally without humor and preferred dressing in bright colors:  red, blue, green, yellow and orange. 

5. The Mayflower Compact makes reference to the settlers (both saints and strangers) as "loyal subjects of the King."  They created the document to protect themselves legally as they had landed 200 miles north of their destination and out of jurisdiction of the Virginia Company.  The Compact is less democratic than it is "an affirmation of the Divine Right of Kings."

SOURCE

"Five myths about the Pilgrims," by Robert Tracy McKenzie, The Washington Post, November 22, 2013, www.washingtonpost.com

Mayflower II

Plymouth, MA

Photo by John White (1986)

PILGRIMS DEPART FOR AMERICA

PILGRIMS DEPART PLYMOUTH FOR AMERICA

Plymouth, England (JFK+50) The merchant ship, Mayflower, with 102 passengers on board, departed from here at the English port of Plymouth 394 years ago today, September 16, 1620, bound for America.

The passenger list included a number of religious dissenters*, who referred to themselves as Saints, and entrepreneurs who were known by them as Strangers.

The Separatists were in quest of establishing a new colony in America far from the control of the state Church of England.

The Mayflower, which was about 100 feet in length and 25 feet wide, was commanded by Master Christopher Jones.  He had been with the ship for eleven years. 

Despite being a ship of trade, the Mayflower was heavily armed for protection. On this voyage she carried a cargo of 180 tons.

The Mayflower had 3 masts and 3 levels:  main deck, gun deck and cargo hold. Her crew numbered about 50 men. 

Crewman on the Mayflower II

Plymouth, Massachusetts

Photo by John White (1986)

On the voyage to America, the Mayflower was blown 500 miles off course and landed on Cape Cod on November 21, 1620.

One month later, the Mayflower docked off the coast of what would become Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Master Jones died less than 2 years later returning from a voyage to France and the Mayflower herself passed into history by 1624.

Mayflower II
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Photo by John White (1986)

*Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony referred to his group in his Journal as "pilgrimes," but the term Pilgrim was not applied to these people until the early 1800s.

JFK ISSUES STATEMENT ON BIRMINGHAM CHURCH BOMBING 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-one years ago today, September 16, 1963, President John F. Kennedy issued the following statement in response to the previous day's bomb explosion at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church  in Birmingham, Alabama which took the lives of four African-American girls.

"I know I speak on behalf of all Americans in expressing a deep sense of outrage and grief over the killing of the children yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama. 

It is regrettable that public disparagement of law and order has encouraged violence which has fallen on the innocent. 

 If these cruel and tragic events...can only awaken this entire Nation--to a realization of the folly of racial injustice and hatred and violence, then it is not too late for all concerned to unite in steps toward peaceful progress...

Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall** has returned to Birmingham to be of assistance...and bomb specialists of the FBI are there to lend every assistance in the detection of those responsible...

This Nation is committed to a course of domestic justice and tranquility--and I call upon every citizen, white and Negro, North and South, to put passions and prejudices aside and to join in this effort."

Burke Marshall

Assistant Attorney General

**Burke Marshall (1922-2003) was born in Plainfield, NJ.  He served in the US Army intelligence corps during WWII and received his law degree from Yale in 1951.  

Marshall worked 10 years at the Covington and Burling Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in anti-trust law and was appointed assistant attorney general by RFK in 1961.

From 1961-1964, BM was head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.  He died at his home in Newtown, Connecticut.

SOURCE

"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States:  John F. Kennedy, 1963," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.