In September 1620, a merchant ship called the Mayflower, set sail from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England. The Mayflower carried 102 passengers looking to start a new life across the Atlantic. Nearly 40 of these passengers were Protestant Separatists who called themselves “Saints”. The king allowed them to leave the Church of England and they hoped to establish a new church in the New World to worship as they chose. Today, we typically refer to the colonists who were on the Mayflower as “Pilgrims”.

The Mayflower first left Southampton, England in August of 1620, with one other ship, the Speedwell. The ships had to turn back when the Speedwell began leaking. The passengers from the Speedwell squeezed themselves and their belongings onto the Mayflower, a cargo ship about 80 feet long and 24 feet wide and the Mayflower set sail once again in September. They spent sixty-six days at sea and arrived in the New World in November 1620, only to find an abandoned Indian Village and to realize they were in the wrong place. They had landed far north of the Virginia Company’s territory where they had been allowed to go. The surviving passengers spent the first winter on the ship. Only 53 passengers and half the crew survived. Women were particularly hard hit; of the 19 women who had boarded the Mayflower, only five survived the cold New England winter, confined to the ship where disease and cold were rampant.

Prior to leaving the ship and going ashore and establishing Plymouth Colony, the men signed the Mayflower Compact, a document which established a rudimentary form of democracy with each member contributing to the welfare of the community. If the Pilgrims had not had help from the Native Americans who taught them to hunt, fish, and grow crops, they would not have survived thru the first year. There are an estimated 10 million living Americans and 35 million people around the world who are descended from the original passengers on the Mayflower like Myles Standish, John Alden and William Bradford. As we celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Landing, let’s cherish the courage and bravery of these settlers.

Please celebrate this event in your chapters through your newsletter and at your November chapter meeting. Dress up as Pilgrims for your chapter meeting; identify those chapter Daughters that are Mayflower decedents; have descendants share their ancestor, are some additional ways to celebrate.

On Thanksgiving Day we also honor the tradition that started in the Plymouth Colony, when the Pilgrims celebrated, gave thanks, and feasted with the Native Americans who helped them survive the first winter.

Please email pictures to:  lauriesmotherman@gmail.com that you take celebrating this event or any other Commemorative Event.

Laurie Smotherman
State Commemorative Events Chair
 lauriesmotherman@gmail.com