Thursday, April 6, 2023

Ancestors on the Early Ships: the Fortune, the Little James, and the Anne

I watched a webinar offered by The Alden Kindred of America, “After the Mayflower, A Struggling Colony Expands, 1621-1623,” where W. Becket Soule talks about the arrival of these early ships. It is a very worthwhile watch! A recording of the webinar is available at alden.org under the "virtual"  or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIhnzpyteag

This got me motivated to organize which of my direct ancestors arrived on these ships. There are no official passenger lists, but they have been pieced together using a variety of sources, including William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation. 


At Caleb Johnson's Mayflowerhistory.com, there are assembled passenger lists:

http://mayflowerhistory.com/anne (and Little James)

http://mayflowerhistory.com/fortune


My ancestors by ship:


The Fortune 1621:  55 tons, 1/3 the size of the Mayflower, carried 33 passengers. She departed London in fall 1621 and arrived off Cape Cod on 9 November 1621, arriving at Plymouth by the end of November.  Stayed for just a few weeks while it loaded cargo. On the return trip a navigation error led to the ship being captured by a French warship, the crew kept under guard for about a month and the cargo taken. 

  • Mrs. Martha Ford and her daughter Martha who is my ancestor; Mrs. Ford gave birth to a son on board who must have died soon thereafter; her husband whose first name is unknown likely died during the voyage
  • William and Elizabeth (__?__) Bassett
  • Edward Bumpas/Bompasse 
  • Robert Cushman and son Thomas Cushman who is my ancestor
  • Philip Delano
  • Thomas Prence 
  • Moses Simonson/Simmons 


The Little James and the Anne, 1623:

The Little James 1623: 44 ton pinnace, brand new, sailed in the spring, left same time as the Anne, arrived Plymouth probably a few weeks later than the Anne. Carried about 15 passengers. Crew agreed to spend six years in Plymouth and would share in ship’s profits from fishing and trade. From Plymouth the crew went to Maine and mutinied because of poor conditions. They sent Capt. Altham in a small boat to Plymouth for food. It capsized in a storm, Master John Bridges was drowned and two crew were killed when mainsail crashed onto their boat as they abandoned ship. It was eventually towed to shore and repair took six weeks. Bradford sent ship back to England because of all the losses. It was useful in that it bought over the first cattle and sheep for the colony. 

  • John Jenney, wife Sarah (Carey), and children including my ancestor Sarah; that they came on the Little James is known because the master of the ship, Emmanuel Altham, wrote in a 1623 letter to his brother that Mistress Jenney gave birth to a son on the voyage

The Anne 1623 total 90 passengers between both ships although most were on the Anne, 140 tons, a supply ship, arrived Plymouth on July 10th. 

  • Edward Bangs
  • Patience and Fear Brewster, both my ancestors and daughters of William Brewster who came on the Mayflower
  • Hester Mayhieu Cooke, wife of Francis Cooke who came on the Mayflower, with children including my ancestor Hester
  • John Faunce
  • Bridget Lee Fuller, wife of Samuel Fuller who came on the Mayflower
  • Robert Long
  • George and Juliana Morton and children including my ancestors Nathaniel, Ephraim, and Patience
  • Abraham Pierce/Peirce 
  • Mary Bucket/Becket —unusual she came as a single woman on the voyage, must have had some connection to others on board or in Plymouth, eventually married George Soule who came on the Mayflower
  • Joshua Pratt
  • Christian Penn who married Francis Billington of the Mayflower 
  • Nicholas Snow who would marry Constance Hopkins of the Mayflower 
  • Stephen and Tryphosa (Lee) Tracey and their daughter Sarah who is my ancestor
  • Mrs. Elizabeth (Walker) Warren and her five daughters, she was wife of Richard Warren who came on the Mayflower

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'm now moderating comments on this blog. My apologies for any ensuing delays, but the large number of "spam" comments have made this necessary. ~Chris