The Mayflower and Her Log; July 15, 1620-May 6, 1621. Volume 2

Thornell (John). Is sometimes confounded with another Adventurer, Matthew Thornhill, as his name is some times so spelled. There is reason to believe they were related. He was not a friend to the Pilgrims.

Thornhill (or Thornell), (Matthew). Little is known concerning him.

Tilden. Was of an old family in Kent, "a citizen and girdler of London," as his will declares, his brother (Nathaniel) later coming to New England and settling near Hatherly at Scituate. Nathaniel's son Joseph—named for his uncle—was made his executor and heir. The uncle was always a firm friend of the Pilgrims. Mr. Tilden's will is given by Waters ("Genealogical Gleanings," vol. i. p. 71), and is of much interest.

Ward. Appears only as a signer.

White. Probably the Rev. John White, a stanch friend of the Pilgrims, although not a "Separatist," and intimately connected with the upbuilding of New England. His record was a broad and noble one. Goodwin says: "Haven thinks White was that Dorchester clergyman reputed to be the author of the Planters' Plea." Probably, but not certainly, William White of the Pilgrims was also an Adventurer.

Wincob (?). Was a gentleman of the family of the Countess of Lincoln, and the one in whose name the first patent in behalf of the Adventurers and Pilgrims (which, however, was never used) was taken. It is only recently that evidences which, though not conclusive, are yet quite indicative, have caused his name to be added to the list, though there is still a measure of doubt whether it belongs there.

Weston. Requires little mention here. Once a friend of the Pilgrims and unmistakably the organizer of the Adventurers, he became a graceless ingrate and rascal. An instrument of good at first, he became a heartless and designing enemy of the Planters. He was a "citizen and merchant [ironmonger] of London." It is altogether probable that he was originally a tool of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and was led by him to influence the Leyden brethren to break off negotiations with the Dutch. He died poor, at Bristol, England.

Wright. Perhaps came to New Plimoth and married a daughter of the MAY- FLOWER Pilgrim, Francis Cooke. If so, he settled at Rehoboth and became its leading citizen. He may possibly have been the settler of that name in the Bay-Colony, and the weight of evidence rather favors the latter supposition.

Of the Adventurers, Collier, Hatherly, Keayne, Mullens, Revell, Pierce, Sharpe, Thomas, and Weston, probably Wright and White, possibly others, came to America for longer or shorter periods. Several of them were back and forth more than once. The records show that Andrews, Goffe, Pocock, Revell, Sharpe, and White were subsequently members of the Massachusetts (Winthrop's) Company.

Professor Arberl finds but six of the Pilgrim Merchant Adventurers who later were among the Adventurers with Winthrop's Company of Massachusetts Bay, viz.:—Thomas Andrews, John Pocock, Samuel Sharpe, Thomas Goffe, John Revell, John White.

He should have added at least, the names of Richard Andrews and Robert Keayne, and probably that of Richard Wright.

Of their number, Collier, Hatherly, Martin, Mullens, Thomas, and (possibly) Wright were Plymouth colonists Martin and Mullens, as noted, being MAY-FLOWER Pilgrims. Nathaniel Tilden, a brother of Joseph Tilden of the Adventurers, came, as previously mentioned, to the Colony from Kent, settling at Scituate. Joseph, being apparently unmarried, made his nephew, Joseph of Scituate, his residuary legatee, and his property mostly came over to the Colony.

Collier, Hatherly, and Thomas all located within a few miles of one another, were all wealthy and prominent men in the government of the Colony, were intimate friends,—the first and last especially,—and lent not a little dignity and character to this new dependency of King James the First. The remaining twenty or thereabouts whose names are not surely known—though a few of them are pretty safely conjectured, some being presumably of the Holland Pilgrims and their friends—were probably chiefly small contributors, whose rights were acquired from time to time by others of larger faith in the enterprise, or greater sympathy or means. Not all, however, who had ceased to hold their interests when the "Composition" was made with Allerton in behalf of the colonists, in 1626, were of these small holders. Weston was forced out by stress of circumstances; Thomas moved to New England; Pierce was ruined by his ventures by sea; Martin and Mullens died in 1621; Pickering and Greene got out early, from distrust as to profits; Wincob alone, of this class, was a small investor, if he was one at all.

By far the greater portion of the sums invested by the Adventurers in behalf of the Colony is represented by those whose names are known, those still unknown representing, doubtless, numbers rather than amounts. It is, however, interesting to note, that more than four sevenths of the original number, as given by Captain John Smith, continued to retain their interests till the "Composition" of 1626. It is to be hoped that it may yet be possible to increase considerably, if not to perfect, the list of these coadjutors of the Pilgrims—the Merchant Adventurers—the contracting "party of the second part," to the charter-party of the MAY- FLOWER.

Who the Owner of the MAY-FLOWER was, or who his representative, the "party of the first part," to the charter party of the Pilgrim ship, cannot be declared with absolute certainty, though naturally a matter of absorbing interest. There is, however, the strongest probability, as before intimated, that Thomas Goffe, Esq., one of the Merchant Adventurers, and always a stanch friend of the Pilgrims, was the owner of the historic vessel,—and as such has interwoven his name and hers with the histories of both the Pilgrim and Puritan hegiras from Old to New England. He was, as previously stated, a wealthy "merchant and ship owner of London," and not only an Adventurer with the Leyden Pilgrims, but—nearly ten years later—a patentee of the Massachusetts Company and one of its charter officers.

We are told in the journal of Governor Winthrop of that Company—then on board the LADY ARBELLA, the, "Admiral" or flagship of his fleet, riding at Cowes, ready to set sail for New England—that on "Easter Monday (March 29), 1630, the CHARLES, the MAY-FLOWER, the WILLIAM AND FRANCIS, the HOPEWELL, the WHALE, the SUCCESS, and the TRIAL," of his fleet, were "still at Hampton [Southampton] and are not ready." Of these seven ships it is certain that Mr. Goffe owned at least two, as Governor Winthrop—in writing, some days later, of the detention of his son Henry and his friend Mr. Pelham, who, going ashore, failed to return to the governor's ship before she sailed from Cowes, and so went to the fleet at Southampton for passage—says: "So we have left them behind and suppose they will come after in one of Mr. Goffe's ships." It is clear, therefore, that Mr. Goffe, who was an intimate friend and business associate of Governor Winthrop, as the latter's correspondence amply attests, and was a charter deputy-governor of the Massachusetts Company, and at this time "an assistant," was the owner of at least two (probably not more) of these seven belated ships of the governor's fleet, riding at Southampton. Bearing in mind that the MAY-FLOWER and the WHALE were two of those ships, it becomes of much importance to find that these two ships, evidently sailing in company (as if of one owner), arrived together in the harbor of Charlestown, New England, on Thursday, July 1, having on board one of them the governor's missing son, Henry Winthrop. If he came—as his father expected and as appears certain—"in one of Mr. Goffe's ships," then evidently, either the MAY-FLOWER or the WHALE, or both, belonged to Mr. Goffe. That both were Goffe's is rendered probable by the fact that Governor Winthrop—writing of the vessels as if associated and a single interest—states that "most of their cattle [on these ships] were dead, whereof a mare and horse of mine." This probability is increased, too, by the facts that the ships evidently kept close company across the Atlantic (as if under orders of a common owner, and as was the custom, for mutual defence and assistance, if occasion required), and that Winthrop who, as we above noted, had large dealings with Goffe, seems to have practically freighted both these ships for himself and friends, as his freight bills attest. They would hence, so far as possible, naturally keep together and would discharge their cargoes and have their accountings to a single consignee, taken as nearly together as practicable. Both these ships came to Charlestown,—as only one other did,—and both were freighted, as noted, by one party.

Sadly enough, the young man, Henry Winthrop, was drowned at Salem the very day after his arrival, and before that of either of the other vessels: the HOPEWELL, or WILLIAM AND FRANCIS (which arrived at Salem the 3d); or the TRIAL or CHARLES (which arrived—the first at Charlestown, of the last at Salem—the 5th); or the SUCCESS (which arrived the 6th); making it certain that he must have come in either the MAY-FLOWER or the WHALE. If, as appears, Goffe owned them both, then his ownership of the MAY-FLOWER in 1630 is assured, while all authorities agree without cavil that the MAY-FLOWER of Winthrop's fleet in that year (1630) and the MAY- FLOWER of the Pilgrims were the same. In the second "General Letter of Instructions" from the Massachusetts Company in England—dated London, May 28, 1629—to Governor Endicott and his Council, a duplicate of which is preserved in the First Book of the Suffolk Registry of Deeds at Boston, the historic vessel is described as "The MAY-FLOWER, of Yarmouth- —William Pierse, Master," and Higginson, in his "Journal of a Voyage to New England," says, "The fifth ship is called the MAY-FLOWER carrying passengers and provisions." Yarmouth was hence undoubtedly the place of register, and the hailing port of the MAY-FLOWER,—she was very likely built there,—and this would remain the same, except by legal change of register, wherever she was owned, or from what ever port she might sail. Weston and Cushman, according to Bradford, found and hired her at London, and her probable owner, Thomas Goffe, Esq., was a merchant of that city. Dr. Young remarks: "The MAYFLOWER Of Higginson's fleet is the renowned vessel that brought the Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth in 1620." Hon. James Savage says "The MAYFLOWER had been a name of renown without forming part of this fleet [Winthrop's, 1630], because in her came the devoted planters of Plimouth [1620] and she had also brought in the year preceding [1629] some of Higginson's company to Salem." Goodwin' says: "In 1629 she [the Pilgrim MAY-FLOWER] came to Salem with a company of the Leyden people for Plymouth, and in 1630 was one of the large fleet that attended John Winthrop, discharging her passengers at Charlestown." Dr. Young remarks in a footnote: "Thirty-five of the Leyden congregation with their families came over to Plymouth via Salem, in the MAY-FLOWER and TALBOT."

In view of such positive statements as these, from such eminent authorities and others, and of the collateral facts as to the probable ownership of the MAY-FLOWER in 1630, and on her earlier voyages herein presented, the doubt expressed by the Rev. Mr. Blaxland in his "Mayflower Essays," whether the ship bearing her name was the same, on these three several voyages, certainly does not seem justified.

Captain William Pierce, who commanded the MAY-FLOWER in 1629, when she brought over part of the Leyden company, was the very early and intimate friend of the Pilgrims—having brought over the ANNE with Leyden passengers in 1623—and sailed exclusively in the employ of the Merchant Adventurers, or some of their number, for many years, which is of itself suggestive.

To accept, as beyond serious doubt, Mr. Goffe's ownership of the MAY- FLOWER, when she made her memorable voyage to New Plimoth, one need only to compare, and to interpret logically, the significant facts;—that he was a ship-owner of London and one of the body of Merchant Adventurers who set her forth on her Pilgrim voyage in 1620; and that he stood, as her evident owner, in similar relation to the Puritan company which chartered her for New England, similarly carrying colonists, self-exiled for religion's sake, in 1629 and again in 1630. This conviction is greatly strengthened by the fact that Mr. Goffe continued one of the Pilgrim Merchant Adventurers, until their interests were transferred to the colonists by the "Composition" of 1626, and three years later (1629) sent by the MAY-FLOWER, on her second New England voyage, although under a Puritan charter, another company from the Leyden congregation. The (cipher) letter of the "Governor and deputies of the New-England Company for a plantation in Massachusetts Bay" to Captain John Endicott, written at Gravesend, England, the 17th of April, 1629, says: "If you want any Swyne wee have agreed with those of Ne[w] Plimouth that they deliver you six Sowes with pigg for which they a[re] to bee allowed 9 lb. in accompt of what they the Plymouth people owe unto Mr. Goffe [our] deputie [Governor]." It appears from the foregoing that the Pilgrims at New Plymouth were in debt to Mr. Goffe in 1629, presumably for advances and passage money on account of the contingent of the Leyden congregation, brought over with Higginson's company to Salem, on the second trip of the MAY-FLOWER. Mr. Goffe's intimate connection with the Pilgrims was certainly unbroken from the organization of their Merchant Adventurers in 1619/20, through the entire period of ten years, to 1630. There is every reason to believe, and none to doubt, that his ownership of the MAY- FLOWER of imperishable renown remained equally unbroken throughout these years, and that his signature as her owner was appended to her Pilgrim charter-party in 1620. Whoever the signatories of her charter-party may have been, there can be no doubt that the good ship MAY-FLOWER, in charge of her competent, if treacherous, Master, Captain Thomas Jones, and her first "pilot," John Clarke, lay in the Thames near London through the latter part of June and the early part of July, in the summer of 1620, undergoing a thorough overhauling, under contract as a colonist- transport, for a voyage to the far-off shores of "the northern parts of Virginia."

In whatever of old English verbiage, with quaint terms and cumbersome repetition, the stipulations of this contract of were concealed, there can be no doubt that they purported and designed to "ingage" that "the Good ship MAY-FLOWER of Yarmouth, of 9 score tuns burthen, whereof for the present viage Thomas Joanes is Master," should make the "viage" as a colonist-transport, "from the city of London in His Majesty's Kingdom of Great Britain," etc., "to the neighborhood of the mouth of Hudson's River, in the northern parts of Virginia and return, calling at the Port of Southampton, outward bound, to complete her lading, the same of all kinds, to convey to, and well and safely deliver at, such port or place, at or about the mouth of Hudson's River, so-called, in Virginia aforesaid, as those in authority of her passengers shall direct," etc., with provision as to her return lading, through her supercargo, etc.

It is probable that the exact stipulations of the contract will never transpire, and we can only roughly guess at them, by somewhat difficult comparison with the terms on which the LADY ARBELLA, the "Admiral," or flagship, of Winthrop's fleet, was chartered in 1630, for substantially the like voyage (of course, without expectation or probability, of so long a stay on the New England coast), though the latter was much the larger ship. The contract probably named an "upset" or total sum for the "round voyage," as was the of the case with the LADY ARBELLA, though it is to be hoped there was no "demurrage" clause, exacting damage, as is usual, for each day of detention beyond the "lay days" allowed, for the long and unexpected tarries in Cape Cod and Plymouth harbors must have rolled up an appalling "demurrage" claim. Winthrop enters among his memoranda, "The agreement for the ARBELLA L750, whereof is to be paid in hand [i e. cash down] the rest upon certificate of our safe arrival." The sum was doubtless considerably in excess of that paid for the MAY- FLOWER, both because she was a much larger, heavier-armed, and better- manned ship, of finer accommodations, and because ships were, in 1630, in far greater demand for the New England trade than in 1620, Winthrop's own fleet including no less than ten. The adjustments of freight and passage moneys between the Adventurers and colonists are matter of much doubt and perplexity, and are not likely to be fully ascertained. The only light thrown upon them is by the tariffs for such service on Winthrop's fleet, and for passage, etc., on different ships, at a little later day. It is altogether probable that transportation of all those accepted as colonists, by the agents of the Adventurers and "Planters," was without direct charge to any individual, but was debited against the whole. But as some had better quarters than others, some much more and heavier furniture, etc., while some had bulky and heavy goods for their personal benefit (such as William Mullen's cases of "boots and shoes," etc.), it is fair to assume that some schedule of rates for "tonnage," if not for individuals, became necessary, to prevent complaints and to facilitate accounts. Winthrop credits Mr. Goffe—owner of two of the ships in 1630 —as follows:—

"For ninety-six passengers at L4, L384.

For thirty-two tons of goods at L3 (per ton).

For passage for a man, his wife and servant, (3 persons)

L16/10, L5/10 each."

Goodwin shows the cost of transportation at different times and under varying conditions. "The expense of securing and shipping Thos. Morton of 'Merry Mount' to England, was L12 7 0," but just what proportion the passage money bore to the rest of the account, cannot now be told. The expense of Mr. Rogers, the young insane clergyman brought over by Isaac Allerton, without authority, was, for the voyage out: "For passage L1 0 0. For diet for eleven weeks at 4s. 8d. per week, total L3 11 4" [A rather longer passage than usual.] Constant Southworth came in the same ship and paid the same, L3 11 4, which may hence be assumed as the average charge, at that date, for a first-class passage. This does not vary greatly from the tariff of to-day, (1900) as, reduced to United States currency, it would be about $18; and allowing the value of sterling to be about four times this, in purchase ratio, it would mean about $73. The expenses of the thirty-five of the Leyden congregation who came over in the MAY-FLOWER in 1620, and of the others brought in the LION in 1630, were slightly higher than these figures, but the cost of the trip from Leyden to England was included, with that of some clothing. In 1650, Judge Sewall, who as a wealthy man would be likely to indulge in some luxury, gives his outlay one way, as, "Fare, L2 3 0; cabin expenses, L4 11 4; total, L6 14 4."