Helen T. Briggs

“ But after long and serious debate, it was decided that they must seek greater liberty for themselves and their children; so banding together part of the congregation in Leyden with others in England, the passengers of the Mayflower sailed, not as conquerors of a new province, or adventurers of fortune, but as Pilgrims with a fixed purpose to secure civic and religious freedom in a new land. ”

“ The Town Brook with its springs of “sweet water,” the herring fishing, and the ford which lead to the Indian encampment on the southern hill, made one of the important centers of the community life, and the gardens and sunny exposures of the little houses on the bank, protected by the guns on the Fort Hill above them, must have given some quiet and happy moments to the anxious and homesick Pilgrim women. ”

“ The early records of the Town, as distinct from the Colony, are kept by the Town Clerk in the Plymouth Town House. In 1889, the Records, from 1636 to 1783, were published by the order of the Town, and may be consulted in the Public Library and elsewhere.
All these early records will repay the research of the student of American history.
“But this must stand above all fame and zeal:
The Pilgrim Fathers laid the ribs and keel.
On their strong lines we base our social health—
The man—the home—the town—the Commonwealth.” ”

“ The Society uses this house as the background for a study of the living conditions and household industries of the last quarter of the Pilgrim century. Not only is the visitor here introduced to the spinning, weaving, dyeing, cooking, and candle-making which made up so much of the daily lives of the pioneer women of New England, but demonstrations are given, and classes held, both for children and for older students who find the knowledge of these homely arts gives a stimulating background to their study of colonial history. ”

“ The close co-operation of family life, and the thrift and industry necessary to supply a household with food, light and clothing, by its own labor, can be well studied here, where household utensils and furniture are used as they were made to be used by the builder of the house, William Harlow, and his wife, fifty years after the Pilgrims built their first houses on the first street. Some of the Pilgrims were then still living in Plymouth, or its neighborhood ”

“ As the Pilgrims established themselves more firmly in the wilderness, there was no further need of secret burials on Cole’s Hill, and the hill about the fort was early used for the graves of the colony.
Though there are many ancient graves on Burial Hill, most of the resting-places of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower are not to be found in Plymouth, but in the later settlements of Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, Eastham, Middleboro, and Dartmouth, whither they had followed their sons, or established themselves again as pioneers from the first settlement. ”

“ Successive generations have enlarged it by adding rooms on each side of the chimney, and a “lean to,” and by lifting the roof for upper rooms, the original structure still remains as part of the completed house. In these oldest rooms John Howland and his wife, no doubt, visited his son and his family, and around the great fire place, which is still existing, memorable tales must have been told of the adventures and experiences of the Pilgrims in their old English homes, their sojourn in Holland, and the early days of the Plymouth settlement. ”

“ Hee was one of the first comers into this land & was the last man that was left of those that came over in the Shipp called the Mayflower that lived in Plymouth.”
There is no more peaceful and beautiful burying place than this green hill, crowned with elm trees, overlooking the lovely view of [32] town and sea. Hundreds of quaint and interesting stones appeal to the antiquarian and the scholar, and the site of the Pilgrim’s fort, and the graves of the Pilgrims, connect it for all time with the nation’s “first beginnings.” ”

“ Ships came from England bringing new colonists, who were always welcomed, though at times there was hardly food enough to spare from the scanty harvests. “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,” but with reliance upon themselves and faith in the help of God, the Pilgrims and their descendants established at last a self-supporting and respected commonwealth, still owning allegiance to the King of England.
They built permanent homes on the edge of an unbroken wilderness; they built a church and a free school ”

“ Christopher Jones commanding, set sail from Plymouth, England, on September 16, 1620.
She carried a crowded company: men with their wives and children, young men and maidens, eager with a sober spirit to found a colony, and make their permanent homes in the new world of America. ”

“ A partial plan of the location of the allotments was roughly drawn by William Bradford, and may still be seen at the Registry of Deeds on Russell St. in Plymouth. Seven houses were built during the first winter. It was not until March that the last of the women and children who had been sheltered during the winter on the Mayflower, were brought on shore to live.
The Common House was the first to be finished. It sheltered [22] the men working on shore; the community assembled there on the Sabbath, until the lower room in the Fort was ready for this purpose ”

“ The women bravely supported the men, and were determined to make and maintain their homes and rear their children in this new land of opportunity for civil and religious liberty.
Along the bank of the brook, the Pilgrims found cleared land, the abandoned cornfields of a tribe of native Indians who had perished about three years before in another mysterious epidemic. High land rose from the shore to a hill beyond, and following the ascent, the first street was laid out. ”

“ The architecture of the house has the characteristic grace and delicacy of the Federal period, and its interesting octagonal plan shows the influence of the fashion set by Thomas Jefferson, who was not only a statesman but an observant and original architect. ”

“ A copy of the Bible translated for the Indians by John Eliot; an agreement with an Indian Sachem, drawn up and signed by John Alden; and a large collection of Indian relics and arrowheads, bear witness here to the life of the wilderness which the Pilgrims assailed with treaty, faith, and sword. ”

“ The facilities of the Antiquarian Society are much used by the Plymouth Schools, and also by other schools, sometimes at a considerable distance. Both houses also give much pleasure, and a better understanding of Plymouth and New England, to the many visitors who see them each summer. ”

“ Though the first houses were too rudely built to be long lasting, they soon became more substantial and comfortable, and many had “trim gardens.”
Several houses of the 17th century are still standing in Plymouth. One of these, the Harlow House, was built in 1677. It has been carefully restored, and shows in architecture and contents the characteristics of its times. The timbers which form its frame and beams were first used in the fort built on Burial Hill. ”

“ The women with babes in their arms and their children clinging to them, the boys and young men and the maidens follow,—“and so they march in good order, and each sets his arms down near him.”
It is minutely described in a letter written in 1627, by Isaac de Rasieres, a visitor of state from the Dutch colony at Manhattan.
This “Pilgrim Progress” is yearly reproduced by a memorial service to the Pilgrims on the site of the first fort-meeting house. ”

“ It was there voted that such a society be formed; the Pilgrim Society was incorporated, and the first meeting held at the Court House in Plymouth, May 18th, 1820.
The purpose of the Society was to do honor to the memory of their ancestors, the Pilgrim Fathers; its object, to hold property, to provide a suitable site for a monument, and “to erect a public building to accommodate the meetings of the associates.”
Mr. Thomas was elected President in 1820, and Mr. John Watson followed him in 1821. Thus began a succession of prominent citizens and able men to hold that office. ”

“ There were eighteen men on board: two officers, the master-gunner, and three seamen from the Mayflower, and ten Pilgrim volunteers. These were Gov. Carver, Capt. Standish, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Tilley, Edward Tilley, John Howland, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Dotey, Richard Warren, and two of the Pilgrims’ own seamen, John Allerton and Thomas English.
The weather was cold and rough, and the voyage proved an adventurous and memorable one.
On the second day, they escaped unharmed a sudden and violent attack from a band of Indians on the shore. ”

“ We are his seed; nor life nor death shall daunt us.
The port is Freedom! Pilgrim heart, sail on!”
—L. B. R. Briggs
December 21, 1920
From the ode read at the celebration
of the 300th anniversary
of the Landing of the Pilgrims.
[33]
The Memorial
to the
Pilgrim Women
On the corner of North Street and the Water side, not far from Plymouth Rock, is a small park enclosed by hedges of box and privet; in the center against a background of lilac trees, a tall granite fountain supports on the front, a standing figure representing a Pilgrim woman. ”

“ Flax is spun on the wheels, and woolen cloth woven on the loom, dyed with plants from field and wood; candles are dipped from the wax of the bayberries, and the corn or maize of the Indian squaws is grown in the garden patch, dried, pounded, and cooked in iron kettles over the wood fire on the hearth. ”

“ The next year, 1770, at the anniversary celebration, Edward Winslow Jr. delivered a short address, which may be considered the first public commemoration of the Pilgrims. This inaugurated a series of speeches and orations given for many years by prominent men, sponsored at first by the Old Colony Club, later by the town and the parish of the First Church, and continued by the Pilgrim Society and the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. ”

“ From the inscription written by Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard, for the Memorial Monument to the Pilgrims in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
[16]
Exploration:
While the Mayflower lay at anchor in Cape Cod bay, two exploring parties had been sent out to search for a suitable place for a settlement.
On Wednesday, Dec. 16 (N.S.) the third expedition sailed along the shore in the shallop owned by the Pilgrim company. ”

“ They determined to act for themselves.
In the cabin of the Mayflower before they came to anchor in “Cape Codd” bay, on Nov. 21, 1620 (N.S.) , the men of the Company drew up and signed a compact for their government, electing their own officers, and binding themselves to work together for their common good and their common faith.
From this simple mutual agreement, took form the first American commonwealth, the beginning “of government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
THE COMPACT
“In the name of God, Amen. ”

“ Though hostile Indians never attacked the town, both they and the neighboring friendly tribes held the white men in increased respect for this protection.
During the first winter, the Pilgrims elected Capt. Myles Standish their military leader. He organized and trained his little army of twelve men, led their marches, protected the town, and rendered valiant service for thirty-five years. ”

“ Bradford and Edward Winslow, and originally published in London in 1622, with a preface signed “G. Mourt”; “Good News from New England,” Winslow’s journal of 1622–23, published in London, 1624; and various other interesting documents, such as Cushman’s discourse on “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love,” a letter referring to the first Thanksgiving; and Winslow’s account of the church in Leyden, including John Robinson’s farewell sermon.
The “Colony Records” have been published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the “Town Records” by the town of Plymouth. ”

“ Isaac Allerton *Mary, his wife Bartholomew Allerton Remember Allerton (daughter) Mary Allerton *John Hooke, servant Mr. Samuel Fuller (surgeon) *William Button, servant (died at sea) *John Crackston John Crackston, his son Captain Myles Standish *Rose, his wife *Mr. Christopher Martin *his wife *Solomon Prower, servant *John Langmore, servant *Mr. William Mullins *his wife *Joseph Mullins Priscilla Mullins *Robert Carter, servant *Mr. William White Susanna, his wife Resolved, their son Peregrine, their son (born off Provincetown) *William Holbeck, servant *Edward Thompson, servant Mr. ”

“ John Carver *Katharine, his wife Desire Minter John Howland, servant *Roger Wilder, servant William Latham, a boy a maid-servant *Jasper More, a child Mr. William Brewster Mary, his wife Love Brewster, their son Wrestling Brewster, their son Richard More, a child *His brother, a child Mr. Edward Winslow *Elizabeth, his wife George Soule, servant *Elias Storey, servant *Ellen More, a child William Bradford *Dorothy, his wife Mr. ”