Living in Massachusetts my whole life, I’ve been to Plymouth, MA several times, including a school field trip back in the day. But having discovered through my genealogy research that both Rich and I are Mayflower descendants, I now have a new interest in Plymouth. We are both members of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Rich is a descendant of John Alden, Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, and William Mullins. I am a descendant of Peter Browne and Degory Priest, which means our twins have five Mayflower grandparents! Not surprising, really, since the passengers on the Mayflower were a very small group, so if you’re related to one passenger, it is possible to have more than one ancestor.
Rich and I had a chance to visit Plymouth for a weekend. The visit was much more interesting and personal this time, knowing that we had relatives who had endured this difficult voyage and the hardships they faced. Especially touring the Mayflower II and seeing the cramped quarters they lived in for 66 days of a difficult voyage, along with the animals they brought along. Plus, they had to live on the ship for the first winter because there was no shelter in Plymouth. They were supposed to land in Virginia, where there were at least some resources and shelter. Half of the pilgrims did not survive the first winter, and it is likely that none of them would have survived without the help of the native Americans in the area.
We also toured the “Plimoth Patuxet Museums” to see how the native people lived and the first homes that the pilgrims built. Plimoth was the original spelling of the European name for Plymouth, and Patuxet was the native American name of the area in the Wampanoag language. Our ancestors built one-room houses with a fire for warmth and cooking, and typically one bed in the corner with a feather or straw mattress. Much improved over the damp hardwood in the cargo bay of the Mayflower.
Of course, we saw the famous Plymouth Rock, which was actually a bit bigger than I remembered. Plymouth Rock is probably more famous for being a disappointing tourist attraction than anything else, because it’s much smaller than people expect it to be. Still worth a look in my opinion. Anyway, we really enjoyed our visit. If you’ve never been to Plymouth, it’s a nice place to visit for the history, as well as the Cape Cod-like seaside town vibe. Here are a few photos.
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