nn ,j,j,.- THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT AND ITS SIGNERS WITH FACSIMILES AND A LIST OF THE MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS 1620 I 1920 By GEpRGE ERNEST BOWMAN Editor of The' Mdyflowe-r Descendant In Commemoration Of The Signing Of The Compact 21 November 1620 /fiaasacbue^tts Society of /Aastlowet De6cen&ants BdsTON,. Massachusetts , 1926 '•¦ ' . 1- .i-^-iiirifejiS^LaJ V3 ^^fl^r^j..^......,Jy-^^^^ / 9 2^0 THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT AND ITS SIGNERS WITH FACSIMILES AND A LIST OF THE MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS 1620 '^gl^^m 1920 By GEORGE ERNEST BOWMAN Editor of The Mayflower Descendant In Commemoration Of The Signing Of The Compact 2 1 November 1620 ^assacbusetta Socictg of ^aBflower 2)csccn&ants Boston, Massachusetts 1920 Of a limited edition of fifteen hundred copies, printed from type, this is Number ,.417 This brochure has been prepared and published, at the personal expense of the author, in commemoration of the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Signing of The Compact. A copy will be presented by him to each person attending the Twenty-Fifth Annual Dinner, of the Massachusetts Society of May flower Descendants, on Monday evening, 22 November, 1920. All copies not reserved for personal distribution have been pre sented to that Society to be sold, and the proceeds used in its publication and research work. Boston, Massachusetts 21 November, 1920 CONTENTS Facsimile of Oldest Known Copy of The Compact . . . Page 6 The Mayflower Compact and Its Signers 7 Mourt's Relation 9 Facsimile of Oldest Known Manuscript Copy of The Compact 10 Bradford's History n The Signers of The Compact 12 Facsimile of page 15 of "New-Englands Memoriall" . . 15 Facsimile of page 16 of "New-Englands Memoriall" . . 16 Why Did Only Forty-One Passengers Sign The Compact? 17 The Mayflower Passengers 19 I I IN JME^lllCA inoncbody,andtofubroitto fuch government and gover nours, as we Ihould by common confent agree to make and chofe J and fet our hands to this that followes word for wora, N the tiamc of God, Amen. We whofe nstnes arc vndcr- _ vvritten,thcloyallSubie hat Inha bitants they cou -d meet wuh.thcy found it to be a (l^all neck ofLand ; on thislide V here welay isthe^.;r,andtliefi)rthcc fide the hea : the .'.round or earth, fand hils, much uke the rv,wncs m mJ^i. bi:t rauch better -,the crull of the earth a F^sdep' h -cclicntbhckecarth ,all wooded with Okes, Pines Sir.fras.luniper,Bi.xh,Holly,Vine.,fomeAni,W^^^ nut • the woo J for the moft part open and without vnder- lod,fit«cncrtosoeortidein:atn.ghtour people retur- C a ncd) 1^ THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT AND ITS SIGNERS Where is the original Mayflower Compact, with its forty-one autograph signatures ? How has the text of The Compact been preserved to the present day ? How have the names of the Signers of The Compact been handed down to us? The first of these questions cannot be answered, as I have not found, either in print or in unpublished records, any statement which indicated a knowledge of the location of the original manu script of The Compact, after April, 1621, or even proved its exist ence after that date. The only later entry I have found, which might possibly refer to the original Compact, is in the Plymouth Colony Records, under date of 15 November, 1636. In the record of a meeting of the Governor, Assistants and others, as a committee to prepare a re vision of the laws of the colony, we read: "Now being assembled . . . and having read the Combinacon made at [Cape] Cod the 11"^ of Novbr 1620"; but there is nothing in this record to indi cate that, when they "read the Combinacon", they had before them the original document. They may have had only an official copy of it. According to the Old Style calendar, then used by the English, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod Harbor, now Provincetown, Mass., on Saturday, 11 November, 1620, which was the same day as Saturday, 21 November, 1620, according to the New Style cal endar, with which the Pilgrims had become familiar in Holland, and which the English government finally adopted in 1752. It is incorrect, therefore, to claim that the Three Hundredth Anniver sary of the Signing of The' Compact will fall on Thursday, 11 November, 1920, as three full centuries from the date of the Sign ing will not be completed until Sunday, 21 November, 1920. As the Mayflower Passengers had been forced by circum stances to settle outside of their original grant from the Virginia Company, they drew up and signed, before they landed at Cape Cod, according to Governor Bradford's History, "a combination" which was "y® first foundation of their govermente in this place". \_Page seven] This "combination", which was called "The Compact" as early as 1793, was signed on the Mayflower, Saturday, 21 Novem ber, 1620, New Style, by the forty-one passengers who were then of age and were free agents, and the original document, of course, remained on the ship until carried ashore at Plymouth. The Third Exploring Party, composed entirely of men, set out from the Mayflower, on Wednesday, 16 December, 1620, New Style, in the shallop, and on Friday evening, 18 December, they were driven into Plymouth harbor in a storm, landing on Clark's Island; on Saturday, "this being the last day of y" weeke, they prepared ther to keepe y^ Sabath" ; and on Monday, 21 December, long celebrated as "Forefathers' Day", they landed and explored the coast. It should be especially noted that the Mayflower itself did not reach Plymouth until Saturday, 26 December, 1620, New Style. She left Cape Cod Harbor, for Plymouth, on Friday, 25 Decem ber, 1620, New Style, but was driven back by a storm. The next day, Saturday, 26 December, she started again and reached Plym outh the same day, just five weeks after she had sailed into Cape Cod Harbor. She remained at Plymouth through the winter, and in April, 1621, started on her return voyage to England, arriving there in May. When she left Plymouth, she must have had on board either the original Compact or an officially attested copy of it, but nothing has been found to determine which she carried. In brief, the original Compact was on the Mayflower, at Cape Cod Harbor, from 21 November to 26 December, 1620; then was at Plymouth until sometime in April, 1621 ; then for about a month was either at Plymouth or again on the Mayflower, on its return voyage to England. From this point the history of the original document is entirely unknown, and we cannot say with certainty that any particular person has seen it, since the departure of the Mayflower from Plymouth. The oldest copy of the text of The Compact, known at the present time, is that printed in "Mourt's Relation", in 1622. The oldest manuscript copy of the text in existence, as far as known, is in Bradford's History, written between 1630 and 1646. The oldest known list of the forty-one Signers of The Com pact is found in "New-Englands Memoriall", printed in 1669. William Bradford and Edward Winslow are the only Signers of The Compact who are known to have left any written or printed statement about it. [Page eight] MOURT'S RELATION The Fortune arrived at Plymouth, New England, in Novem ber, 1 62 1, and began her return voyage in December. She carried back to England an account of the colony, written by WilHam Bradford and Edward Winslow, which was printed in London, in 1622, with the title: "A Relation or Journal of the beginning and proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plimoth in New England". On the third page of the first edition of this book, which is commonly called "Mourt's Relation", we find the oldest known copy of the text of The Compact, and this entire page has been reproduced, in the illustration on page six, through the courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library, of Providence, R. I. "Mourt's Relation", unfortunately, does not give the names of the forty-one Signers of The Compact. Bradford was Governor of the Colony when the Fortune was at Plymouth, and probably all the official records, including either the original Compact or an attested copy, were in his care, conse quently he and Winslow, both of whom had signed The Compact, were in a position to secure a careful transcript of it, to include in their "Relation"; but, unfortunately, there is nothing in this book to show whether the original Compact had been sent to England in the Mayflower, was in Plymouth when the Fortune sailed, or was taken to England by the Fortune. I have not attempted to make a list of early printed copies of The Compact, my efforts having been devoted entirely to finding some reference to the existence of the original document; but it may be of interest to note that Samuel Purchas reprinted part of "Mourt's Relation", including The Compact, in "Purchas His Pil- grimes", published at London, in 1625. \_Page nitie] fcl'^ /y //Tew So-n<. Q/Ars //U\f CO-nJi/to-n Cot\f,'Ji,.r^fi^ n-iia/;^ 'J^'- fi>ir»it. -mas as fo^.,-^e^/A ¦ ^-^/«un^ifi-. « 1- „j/ xa:i>- ^o Jy //e/c ^f^cfer^-fS SoCves ^ofd^'"J"'^^h ^<>it'mefCfr-c3rn,#rr 5^Jg^t-i/c<^ owr ^«»"ei- «:/ c:ay=i CoM j -li- of noxJL(.mf»'<»- '^"'f of S<^o/^oi.:^'cf y f'jA'^9- f-^vli..^-n: -do^-lifj. J[fti'<^ ti^i /AtJ c%u.efrH<:.-n-fif-„^^y.„pct>-/^-^i- of ^^fi''' Co-nJb w oUfT-^ 1,^4, {f^Dj Ti-dvO- f,>n^ cr->A^(le4(^oT4.ei'coTi&,/i'jj^-^\fj' (£.^ajK«A.!«c>>, «>.(/ c/-uj?(<. crf«¦>!¦-,¦ -tno-ncft^s A»»i>- -paCfy of ^^¦'''¦'^ Co^^fccrty cf/ecf-^ li^ofi'i^ BRADFORD'S HISTORY The oldest known manuscript copy of The Compact is found in Gov. William Bradford's Flistory of Plymouth Plantation, the original manuscript of which is in the State Library, in Boston. This History was first put into print in the year 1856. In Bradford's handwriting, facing original page 4, of this man uscript History, is a note, dated "Anno Dom: 1646", stating that he " first begane these scribled writings . . . aboute y^ yeare . 1630" ; and on page 57 is a statement that the peace with Massa- soit, which had been made in the year 1621, "hath now continued this . 24 . years", that is, until 1645 or 1646. As Bradford's copy of the "combination", as he called The Compact, is found on page 54 of his History, it is evident that he wrote that page between 1630 and 1646, and probably it was much nearer to the latter date than to the former. The entire fifty-fourth page of Governor Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, on which is found the oldest manuscript copy of The Compact, has been reproduced in the illustration facing this page. It is not possible to determine, at the present time, whether the copy of The Compact in Bradford's History was made from the original document, from an official copy of the original, from Mourt's Relation, or from some unknown source. Bradford of course had access to all official records of Plymouth Colony, as already stated, but apparently it did not occur to him that the names of the Signers of The Compact would interest those who might read his History. {Page eleveji] THE SIGNERS OF THE COMPACT The oldest known list of the forty-one Signers of The Compact is found in Nathaniel Morton's "New-Englands Memoriall", first printed at Cambridge, Mass., in 1669. Morton had been one of the 156 inhabitants of Plymouth, on I June, 1627, New Style, as shown by the Division of Cattle on that date, and he must have been personally acquainted with the sixteen Signers then living at Plymouth, as follows : John Alden, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, William Bradford, William Brew ster, Peter Brown, Francis Cooke, Edward Doty, Francis Eaton, Samuel Fuller, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, George Soule, Myles Standish, Richard Warren, Edward Winslow. Three of these sixteen, John Alden, John Howland and George Soule, were living in 1669, Alden and Soule at Duxbury, and Howland at Plymouth ; and Alden, at least, was present, as an Assistant, when Plymouth Colony voted a contribution towards the expense of printing the "Memoriall". Morton had also been Secretary (at first called Clerk) of Plym outh Colony for more than twenty years, when his book was printed, and he presumably had in his care either the original Compact, with its autograph signatures, or an official copy ; and in "The Epistle Dedicatory" of his "Memoriall", he wrote: "the greatest part of my intelligence hath been borrowed from my much honoured Uncle, Mr. William Bradford, and such Manuscripts as he left in his Study, from the year 1620, unto 1646", and "Certain Diurnals of the honoured Mr. Edward Winslow, have also af forded me good light and help". It is certain, therefore, that Morton had ample opportunity to obtain an accurate list of the Signers, and it is unfortunate that he did not make any reference to the existence or the location of the original Compact. I have found no manuscript or printed reference to any list of the Signers antedating that given by Morton, and the fact that his "Memoriall" is our sole authority for the names of the Signers should be emphasized, because he does not state the order in which the names were affixed to the original document, and does not number the Signers. In the first edition of the " Memoriall ", The Compact is found on page 15, with the names of twenty-one Signers at the bottom [Page tivelve] of that page, in three columns, and the remaining twenty names, also in three columns, at the top of page i6. In the following copy the names are arranged as printed in the "Memoriall". [At the bottom of page 15] John Carver William Bradford Edward Winslow William Brewster Isaac Allerton Myles Standish John Alden [At the top of page John Turner Francis Eaton James Chilton John Crakston John BilHngton Moses Fletcher John Goodman Samuel Fuller Christopher Martin William Mullins William White Richard Warren John Howland Stephen Hopkins 16] Degory Priest Thomas Williams Gilbert Winslow Edmund Margeson Peter Brown Richard Britterige George Soule Edward Tilley John Tilley Francis Cooke Thomas Rogers Thomas Tinker John Rigdale Edward Fuller Richard Clarke Richard Gardiner John Allerton Thomas English Edward Doty Edward Leister The first person to number the Signers seems to have been Rev. Thomas Prince, of Boston, in 1736, in "A Chronological His tory of New-England"; but he distinctly stated that his list of the names was taken from Morton's "Memoriall". Prince ar ranged the names in two columns, the first containing the twenty- one names at the bottom of page 15 of the "Memoriall", the second containing the names at the top of page 16. In each case Prince took first the seven names in the left-hand column, then those in the central column, then the right-hand column. The names in his own first column he numbered from one to twenty- one, and those in his own second column from twenty-two to forty-one. As we do not know either the shape or the size of the paper, or parchment, on which the original Compact was written, it is impossible to determine whether the forty-one signatures were arranged in two, three or four columns. Even if we had the original Compact before us, and found that there were only two columns of signatures, it would still be impossible to determine the exact order of signing; and it is also doubtful if we should [Page thirteen] be able to determine whether the first signature was at the top of the right-hand column or at the top of the left-hand column. Nathaniel Morton himself probably did not know the exact order of signing, and it is unfortunate that Prince, writing sixty- seven years later, put numbers before the names of the Signers, because subsequent writers, supposing that he knew the actual order of signing, have followed his numbering, with the result that many persons believe they are descended from "the fourth Signer", or from "the seventeenth Signer", or from "the thirty- fifth Signer", etc., accepting as correct the numbers assigned by Prince one hundred and sixteen years after The Compact was drawn up. Through the courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library, of Providence, R. I., we are able to present herewith reproductions of the entire fifteenth and sixteenth pages of Morton's "New- Englands Memoriall", and these two pages follow, printed back to back, exactly as they appear in the first edition of that book. [Page fourteen] An.i6zo. New-Lnflands McrnorUll. bv a general Confent from time to time be made clioice of, and afleftted unto. The Contents whereof followeth. INtheN.,mccfGod, AtHcn. We whofc Names «^';];;^^,;f;„ ¦ art under-written, the Loy.il Subjeifls of our dread ,/• ,;,t go-,,„- bowaign Lord King ^^ma, by the grace of God of ""^/;-J_"^- Cri'it Britain, Fnsrice and Ireland, King, Vefendoroj the Paith, &{. Having undertaken for tlic glory of God, and advancement of the Chriftia.T Faith, and tlie Ho- notirof ourK ngandCoumrcy, a Voyage to plant th? firftColony in the Northern parts of Hrgima 5 Do by thefe'Preknts folemnly and mutually, in the prefence of God and one another , Covenant and Combine our felves together into a Civil Body Poliuck, for our better ordering and prefervation, and furtherance of the ends cforcfaiQ : and by virtue hereof do enai"t,iconftitute and fratnc fuch juft and equal Laws,0 dinanccs, A¦, Jillifc^ J