Azel Ames

“ Master William Mullens (or Molines, as Bradford some times calls him) is elsewhere shown to have been a tradesman of some means, of Dorking, in Surrey, one of the Merchant Adventurers, and a man of ability. From the fact that he left a married daughter (Mrs. Sarah Blunden) and a son (William) a young man grown, in England, it is evident that he must have been forty years old or more when he sailed for New England, only to die aboard the ship in New Plymouth harbor. That he was not a French Huguenot of the Leyden contingent, as pictured by Rev. Dr. Baird and Mrs. Austin, is certain. ”

“ Several are known to have been engaged in other pursuits at some time, either before their residence in Holland, or during their earlier years there. Bradford tells us that most of the Leyden congregation (or that portion of it which came from England, in or about 1608) were agricultural people. These were chiefly obliged to acquire handicrafts or other occupations. A few, e.g. Allerton, Brewster, Bradford, Carver, Cooke, and Winslow, had possessed some means, while others had been bred to pursuits for which there was no demand in the Low Countries. ”

“ The actual and comparative youth of the majority of the colonist leaders —the Pilgrim Fathers—is matter of comment, even of surprise, to most students of Pilgrim history, especially in view of what the Leyden congregation had experienced before embarking for America. Only two of the leaders exceeded fifty years of age, and of these Governor Carver died early. ”

“ He states, without qualification or reservation, that "among the passengers in the SPEEDWELL were several of the French who had decided to cast in their lot with these English brethren. William Molines and his daughter Priscilla, afterwards the wife of John Alden and Philip Delanoy, born in Leyden of French parents, were of the number." One stands confounded by such a combination of unwarranted errors. Not only is it not true that there "were several of the French among the passengers in the SPEEDWELL," but there is no evidence whatever that there was even one. ”

“ Mrs. Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow, the first wife of the Governor, appears by the data supplied by the record of her marriage in Holland, May 27, 1618, to have been a maiden of comporting years to her husband's, he being then twenty-three. Tradition makes her slightly younger than her husband.
George Soule, it is evident,—like Howland,—though denominated a "servant" by Bradford, was more than this, and should rather have been styled, as Goodwin points out, "an employee" of Edward Winslow. His age is approximated by collateral evidence, his marriage, etc. ”

“ He was by occupation a "hatter," a man of some means, who left a wife and at least two children in Holland when he embarked for America. His known age at death gives his age at sailing but a few months previous. At his marriage in Leyden, October 4, 1611, he was called "of London." He was about thirty-two when he married. His wife (a widow Vincent) was a sister of Isaac Allerton, who also was married at the same time that he was. Goodwin ("Pilgrim Republic," p. 183) also gives his age as "forty-one." ”

“ The first three governors of the colony, its chief founders,—Carver, Bradford, and Winslow,—with Standish, Warren, Hopkins, Howland, Dotey, and others, were on board, and but for the heroism and prompt action of "the lusty sea man which steered," who was—beyond reasonable doubt—English, as Bradford's narrative ("Morton's Memorial") shows, the lives of the entire party must, apparently, have been lost. ”

“ Whether these twelve were in part from Leyden, and were part English, we shall probably never know. If any of them were from Holland, then the number of those who left Delfshaven on the SPEEDWELL is increased by so many. If any were of the English contingent, and probably the most were,—then the passenger list of the MAY-FLOWER from London to Southampton was probably, by so many, the larger. It is evident, from Bradford's remark, that, among the twelve unknown, were some who, from "their own weakness and charge of many young children, were thought least useful and most unfit," etc. ”

“ Billington and Cooke had been trained to husbandry; that Chilton had been a small tradesman; that Edward Tilley had been, like his brother, a silk- worker; that Turner was a tradesman, and Warren a farmer; while it is certain that Cooke, Rogers, and Warren had been men of some means.
Of the above list of fourteen men whose last occupations before joining the colonists are unknown, only five, viz. Browne, Billington, Cooke, Gardiner, and Warren lived beyond the spring of 1621. Of these, Warren died early, Gardiner left the colony and "became a seaman;" ”

“ Elizabeth Tilley is said by Goodwin (op. cit. p. 298) and others to have been fourteen years old at her parents' death in 1621, soon after the arrival in New England. She was the child of her father's first wife. She married John Howland before 1624. Historians for many years called her the "daughter of Governor Carver," but the recovery of Bradford's MS. "historie" corrected this, with many other misconceptions, though to some the error had become apparent before. Her will also suggests her age.
Francis Cooke's age in 1620 is fixed by his known age at his death ("about 81") in 1663. ”

“ Robert Carter is named by Bradford as a "man-servant," and Mrs. Austin, in her imaginative "Standish of Standish," which is never to be taken too literally, has made him (see p. 181 of that book) "a dear old servant," whom Priscilla Mullens credits with carrying her in his arms when a small child, etc. ”

“ Nothing more is known of her,
except that she died the spring following the arrival at Plymouth.
Samuel Eaton, the son of Francis and his wife, Sarah, Bradford calls "a
sucking child:" He lived to marry.
Gilbert Window was the third younger brother of Governor Edward Winslow, and is reputed to have been a carpenter. He was born on Wednesday, October 26, 1600, at Droitwitch, in Worcester, England. ("Winslow Memorial," vol. i. p. 23.) He apparently did not remain long in the colony, as he does not appear in either the "land division" of 1623 or the "cattle division" of 1627 ”

“ Bradford states that he returned to England after "divers years" in New England, and died there. It has been suggested that he went very early to some of the other "plantations."
John Alden was of Southampton, England, was hired as "a cooper," was twenty-one years old in 1620, as determined by the year of his birth, 1599 ("Alden Memorial," p. 1) , and became the most prominent and useful of any of the English contingent of the MAY FLOWER company. ”

“ They shall be apprenticed; the boys till they come to 21 years of age, the girls till like age or till they be married," etc. A letter of Sir Edwin Sandys (dated January 28, 1620) to Sir Robert Naunton shows that "The city of London have appointed one hundred children from the superfluous multitude to be transported to Virginia, there to be bound apprentices upon very beneficial conditions." In view of the facts that these More children—and perhaps others—were "apprenticed" or "bound" to the Pilgrims (Carver, Winslow, Brewster, etc.) ”

“ Dr. Griffis, in his delightful little narrative, "The Pilgrims in their Three Homes, England, Holland, America," cites the name "Mullins" as a Dutch distortion of Molines or Molineaux. Without questioning that such it might be,—for the Dutch scribes were gifted in remarkable distortions of simple names, even of their own people,—they evidently had no hand in thus maltreating the patronym of William Mullens (or Mullins) of the Pilgrims, for not only is evidence entirely wanting to show that he was ever a Leyden citizen, though made such by the fertile fiction of Mrs. ”

“ He went back when his time expired, but later returned to New England. Cushman (Bradford, "Historie," p. 122) suggests that he was telling "sailors' yarns." He says: "For William Trevore hath lavishly told but what he knew or imagined of Capewock Martha's Vineyard, Monhiggon, and ye Narragansetts." In 1629 he was at Massachusetts Bay in command of the HANDMAID (Goodwin, p. 320) , and in February, 1633 (Winthrop, vol. i. p. 100) , he seems to have been in command of the ship WILLIAM at Plymouth, with passengers for Massachusetts Bay. ”

“ Bradford, writing in 1650, states of Richard More that his brothers and sister died, "but he is married [1636] and hath 4 or 5 children." William T. Davis, in his "Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth" (p. 24) , states, and Arber copies him, that "he was afterwards called Mann; and died at Scituate, New England, in 1656." The researches of Mr. George E. Bowman, the able Secretary of the Massachusetts Society of MAY- FLOWER Descendants, some time since disproved this error, but Mores affidavit quoted conclusively determines the matter. ”

“ It was a significant step, and the early revision they made of their choice of "governors" certifies their purpose to have only rulers who could command their confidence and respect. Dr. Young says: "We know the age of but few of the Pilgrims," which has hitherto been true; yet by careful examination of reliable data, now available, we are able to deter mine very closely the ages of a considerable number, and approximately the years of most of the others, at the time of the exodus. ”

“ There is a tradition that he was a countryman bred, which certain facts seem to confirm. (See land allotments for data as to age of boys, 1632.) He was the only one of the original colonists to suffer the "death penalty" for crime.
Mrs. Ellen (or "Elen") Billington, as Bradford spells the name, was evidently of comporting age to her husband's, perhaps a little younger. Their two sons, John and Francis, were lively urchins who frequently made matters interesting for the colonists, afloat and ashore. The family was radically bad throughout, but they have had not a few worthy descendants. Mrs. ”

“ John Langemore; there is nothing (save the errors of Dr. Young) to
indicate that he was other than a "servant."
Richard Warren was probably from Kent or Essex. Surprisingly little is
known of his antecedents, former occupation, etc.
William Mullens and his family were, as shown, from Dorking in Surrey, and their home was therefore close to London, whence they sailed, beyond doubt, in the MAY-FLOWER. The discovery at Somerset House, London, by Mr. Henry F. Waters, of Salem, Massachusetts ”

“ It seems proper to suggest that it is high time that all lovers of reliable history should stand firmly together against the flood of loose statement which is deluging the public; brand the false wherever found ”

“ Just how many passengers each vessel carried when they sailed from Southampton will probably never be positively known. Approximately, it may be said, on the authority of such contemporaneous evidence as is available, and such calculations as are possible from the data we have, that the SPEEDWELL had thirty (30) , and the MAY-FLOWER her proportionate number, ninety (90) —a total of one hundred and twenty (120) . ”

“ He also returned when his time expired. (Bradford, Hist. Mass. ed. p. 534.) He did not sign the Compact, probably for the reason operative in .Trevore's case. A digest of the foregoing data gives the following interesting, if incomplete, data (errors excepted) :—
Adult males (hired seamen and servants of age included) ... 44 Adult females (including Mrs. Carver's maid) .............. 19 Youths, male children, and male servants, minors.......... 29 Maidens, female children.................................. ”