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Show Volume II , Issue II Page 7 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS November 1999 Plymouth and the Pilgrims decreased to about fifty before autumn; the hundred Pilgrims of December of 1620 were but about fifty at the beginning of the next summer. Thus the winter hardships of the New England colony were as severe as those of the first summer in Virginia. Among the deaths that spring was that of Governor Carver. The colonists at once elected young William Bradford as his successor. Year after year the Plymouth colony chose him as governor, even to the time of his death. During the thirty-six years of his life in America, Bradford was governor thirty-one. To his wise government was due much of the success of the colony, which slowly but surely grew after the first winter. As was the case everywhere among the new settlements in America, one of the greatest dangers lay in the hostility of the Indians. Fortunately for the Pilgrims, but few . . . lived in the neighborhood of Plymouth when the colony was founded. This was one of the main reasons for the years of peace with the Indians that followed the landing of the colonists. Besides, the Pilgrims treated the Indians in a kindly spirit and yet showed a firm determination to protect themselves. Early in the spring of 1621 an Indian named Samoset visited the Plymouth colony; he was received with kindness and sent away with a few presents. Soon he returned with Sqanto, another Indian, who could speak some English, as he had been captured and taken to England years before by a party exploring the New England coast. Squanto was of considerable assistance to the colony, teaching them how to plant the Indian corn and also giving information concerning the neighboring Indian tribes. About a week after Samsoet’s first appearance, he returned and also announced the approach of Massasoit, an Indian chief living at Mount Hope, some forty miles southwest of Plymouth. The chief was a man of fine presence and dignified bearing. After governor Carver kissed the chief’s hand, the two men agreed to be friends and to keep peace between the white men and the red. The friendship lasted for more than fifty years. When Massasoit left, the Pilgrims gave him two skins and a copper necklace. After the first harsh winter when about half of the Pilgrims perished, the summer came, and the conditions of the Pilgrims improved. There was much less sickness, and food was more easily obtained. On the arrival of autumn the corn and barley planted by the Pilgrims yielded a good return, and ducks, geese, wild turkeys, and deer could be secured by hunting. When Massasoit with ninety men came to see the Pilgrims in the autumn, the Indians brought some deer and the Pilgrims furnished food from their supplies, so that a three day’s feast was held. This was the first celebration of the New England Thanksgiving. Thus the Pilgrims found their permanent home. Under the wise government of John Carver and William Bradford, guided by the true counsels of Elder Brewster, and led in military affairs by the brave Miles Standish, Plymouth colony quietly and steadily grew. After seventy years of separate existence, New Plymouth was joined to the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and today is part of the State of Massachusetts. Diamond Peak Ski & Sport 745-0101 NEW FOR 2000 - THE NORTH FACE Gore-TexTM, WindstopperfleeceTM Packs, Gloves, Hats & Thermals. 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What had these men and women and children done that they should be thus imprisoned? Nothing that would be called a crime today. They were merely trying to leave England for some country where they could worship God in the way that they thought was right. They were a little band of earnest Christians, who were called Separatists, because they wished to hold separate services of their own. They believed that the Church of England had made mistakes, and they wished to serve God as seemed best to them. Queen Elizabeth had tried during her entire reign to strengthen the Church of England. She thought it wrong for any to stay away from service or to meet together to worship by themselves. Therefore she forbade all such meetings, and directed that those who attended them and even those who did not attend the regular service should be punished. When James I. came to the throne he was even more harsh than Elizabeth had been. The Separatists were more severely treated than before. What seems especially strange to us, the king not only refused to permit them to worship as they pleased, but he also would not allow them to leave England and seek a country where they would be granted religious freedom. In spite of the laws against emigration, however, many tried to flee across the Channel to Holland. It was while thus attempting to escape, that these Scrooby Separatists were captured and sent home. They were not discouraged, but tried again the next year and succeeded, after great suffering, in reaching Amsterdam, a city in Holland. Among these exiles was a lad, about eighteen years of age, named William Bradford. Six years before this time the boy had been led to join the little Separatist body at Scrooby. As he grew older he became an earnest upholder of the beliefs of the small denomination. He was a scholar and was familiar with those studies which require considerable thought, such as the ancient languages, philosophy, and theology. He was fitted to be a leader in a religious movement, and, though still young, he was prominent very early among the exiles in Amsterdam. Soon the little band removed to Leyden, another city of Holland. Here these wanderers began to call themselves pilgrims, because they did not seem to have any permanent home. In Leyden, with their beloved pastor, John Robinson, they lived for nearly eleven years. These English people, in the strange Dutch land, of course had no easy task to find means of support. But as weavers, masons, carpenters, hat makers, and tailors, they were able to make a competent and comfortable living by hard and continued labor. After some years, however, they began to question among themselves if everything was as it should be. They were English people, and believed in English methods and customs. Was it not likely that their sons and daughters, growing up among the Dutch, would learn Dutch ways instead of English? Perhaps they might even marry among the people of Holland, and so make it their permanent home. Consequently their thoughts were turned toward the possibility of settling in America. There they would be free from English punishments and also from Dutch customs. There they could worship God as they thought right and at the same time carry the Bible to the Indians. Accordingly, for two or three years, they tried to make arrangements with the Virginia Company to send them across the ocean. At last, in 1620, an agreement was reached, and, in the middle of summer, the vessel Speedwell sailed from Delft-Haven, the port of Leyden. The Speedwell was too small to carry half of the members of the Leyden church; therefore Elder William Brewster was sent with the colonists, and Pastor John Robinson remained in Holland with the majority, who could not then go. The little vessel sailed to Southampton, England, where it was joined by the Mayflower, with other Separatists who had remained in England. The two vessels left Southhampton, but were twice compelled to return to English harbors, because the Speedwell was leaking. Finally it was decided to use the Mayflower alone, and, early in September, a little band of one hundred men, women, and children left the harbor of Plymouth, England, for their stormy voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. More than two months passed before land was seen. This proved to be a part of Cape Cod. The Pilgrims had one of John Smith’s maps of the New England coast, and therefore knew where they were. They anchored in the harbor of Provincetown, and at once thanked God “who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth.” While the Mayflower lay in the harbor an agreement was drawn up and signed by forty-one men. This was the “Mayflower Compact,” which pledged the signers to obey the government which it established. Then the voyagers elected John Carver governor. Nearly a month was spent in exploring the shores of Cape Cod Bay, in order to find a suitable spot for the settlement. Finally a party of twelve Pilgrims landed at the spot marked on Smith’s map as Plymouth. The group of Pilgrims included Governor Carver, William Bradford, and Captain Miles Standish. This took place on December 21st, 1620–a day since celebrated as Forefather’s Day. The explorers chose Plymouth as the site of the colony, and the Mayflower was brought across into that harbor. The Virginia colony had commenced its settlement just at the beginning of a hot and sickly summer; the Plymouth colonists arrived at the beginning of a cold and dreary New England winter. The Jamestown settlers lacked provisions during that first summer; the Plymouth band had not sufficient food to keep them alive through that first winter. The hundred Virginians of the summer of 1607 Coupon Story taken from “First Steps in the History of our Country,” printed in 1899, and “American Leaders and Heroes,” printed in 1902. |