Saturday, November 18, 2017

Our Mayflower Ancestors

I vaguely remembered I was related to William Bradford, but I couldn't remember exactly what he did or what early American settlement he led - my early American history knowledge is definitely lacking. This Thanksgiving season, however, I checked out some books on the pilgrims to read with my kids and I was awakened to this exciting family connection. Through Relative Finder and FamilySearch I found out he is my ninth great-grandfather and those websites also revealed I'm related to five other individuals who sailed on the Mayflower! (Relative Finder really is super cool to see what famous people you're related to - or even if you're related to the people you know. Through creating a family group with my in-laws, I found out I was 4th cousins with my sister-in-law!) Now I feel some definite celebrity status because of my relationship to the pilgrims. Wow! The material out there on these Mayflower Ancestors is vast, but for teaching my kids, I was excited to see there's one of those classic Living Scriptures videos about Bradford ;)



We're related to all these people through Bradford's gr-gr-gr granddaughter, Wealtha Bradford Hatch. Wealtha was a friend to the numerous Indian tribes living near her home of Farmersille, NY and in 1832 at around 28 years old, she joined the Mormon church after reading the Book of Mormon and feeling convinced of its truthfulness. She was so anxious to join, she was baptized in a hole in the ice rather than waiting for spring. She was married to Orin Hatch and died in 1841 in Nauvoo, Illinois. 



For your information, here's a little blurb you can use to brag about them at the Thanksgiving table ;)



William Bradford - 9th great-grandfather. He was one of the first to sign the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony. "His journal Of Plymouth Plantation covered the years from 1620 to 1657 in Plymouth....and is regarded as the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and the early years of the colony they founded.Photo source.




William Brewster and Wife Mary who came with their nine-year-old son and our ancestor, Love. William Brewster and his wife Mary are my 10th great-grandparents. In England, William Brewster lended books to teenage William Bradford who was exploring the beliefs of the Puritans. In Plymouth, he became the senior elder and religious leader of the colony and eventually an advisor to Gov. William Bradford. Brewster was the only university educated member of the colony and preached often. It was said of him, "He was tenderhearted and compassionate of such as were in misery," Bradford writes, "but especially of such as had been of good estate and rank and fallen unto want and poverty."[5]  Photo source



Mary Brewster "was one of only five adult women from the Mayflower to survive the first winter in the New World, and one of only four such to survive to the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621, which she helped cook.[3][4]"  photo source


Francis Cooke - 11th great-grandfather. Like the others, he came over as a separatist and was an active member of the community, although he did not participate on religious leadership or politics. His wife Hester and children came to America 2 1/2 years later to join him. We are descended from their son Jacob, who married Stephen Hopkins daughter Damaris (see below).

Stephen Hopkins - 11th great-grandfather. Lots to read about him. According to Wikipedia, he was "one of forty-one signatories of the Mayflower Compact, and an assistant to the governor of Plymouth Colony through 1636.[2] He worked as a tanner and merchant and was recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide the governance for the colony and assist with the colony's ventures. He is known as the only Mayflower passenger with prior New World experience, having been shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609 and then serving for several years under Capt. John Smith at the Jamestown Colony." Whoa, cool! His daughter Damaris married Francis Cooke's son Jacob Cooke (see above).






Signing the Mayflower Compact. Photo source


What a heritage! I won't ever think about the Mayflower Pilgrims the same way again, and I can't wait to visit Plymouth Harbor, MA someday to see the replicas and museums there!



No comments:

Post a Comment