Thanksgiving Edition - Pilgrims, Pilgrims, and more Pilgrims Oh My!

Every elementary school student will tell you Pilgrims came to America, stepped on Plymouth Rock, and made friends with the Native Americans.  After the first year, they had a party with the Native Americans to celebrate the good harvest and that was the first Thanksgiving.  But there is more to the story,

The story of the Pilgrims started in 1608 when about 400 English folks left England for Leiden, Holland.  They were fleeing persecution by the Church of England.  The group desired to separate from the Church of England as they did not believe it could be reformed.  They were known as separatists.  At the time there was no division of church and state.  Failure to tithe or attend the Church of England or attending a separatist church was a crime punishable by imprisonment,  

Holland was happy to welcome the Pilgrims at first. Leiden was offering to support reform congregations from England, Germany, and France as they sought to be a center of Protestant intellectuals.  

The Pilgrims had left England very quickly leaving most of their possessions.  Many left in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.  While many were well employed in England it was not so in Leiden.  They often had to take menial jobs at low wages.  Then King James of England made a treaty with Holland to protect it from Spain but there was a catch. Holland had to outlaw English separatist congregations. 

Before Holland actually outlawed English separatists, the Pilgrims decided to take the risk of immigration. This was an outrageously dangerous decision as the last British colony, Jamestown, dramatically failed with no survivors. They arranged to go to the British colony of Virginia in the New World where they were promised religious freedom.   

They commissioned two ships but one, the Speedwell,  proved not to be seaworthy.  The Mayflower set sail for Virginia Colony in September 1620 with 106 passengers and approximately 30 crew.  Of the 136, eight are my direct ancestors.  On my Father's side there is Edward Fuller and his wife, whose name has been lost to posterity, and their 12-year-old son, Samuel.  On my Mother's side there is Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton and their 4-year-old daughter, Mary; and, Robert Cushman and his 14-year-old son, Thomas.

The Mayflower was at sea for 10 weeks. At first it was a pleasant voyage and then the weather turned against them.  The Mayflower was damaged and the wind so bad for several days that the passengers and crew huddled below deck while the ship drifted.  Finally what was expected to be a six week voyage ended at 10 weeks when land was sited.  It wasn't Virginia.  It was much farther north in Massachusetts.  It was also in the dead of winter. But to the Pilgrims it was their Promised Land.

The Pilgrims had no choice but to live on the ship during the first winter.  Living conditions were deplorable and disease was rampant.  Edward Fuller's wife died in childbirth shortly after arriving in port.  Edward died shortly thereafter leaving 12 year old Samuel to live with his uncle, Samuel Fuller, also a Mayflower passenger.  Mary Allerton's mother, Mary Norris Allerton, died with weeks of arrival.  Over half of the Pilgrims died during that first horrible winter.

But some survived.  I am proof of that, So the first Thanksgiving was a year later.  After buildings were built and the Native American's taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the wild New World. Harvest had been stored away to provide food during the coming second winter but the survivors celebrated with a meal with the Native Americans who saved them from certain death the winter before.