Thomas Faunce, born in 1646 in Plymouth, is the key individual who preserves the memory of the rock the Pilgrims stepped on when landing in Plymouth in December of 1620. The fifth of eight children, his father John arrived on the Anne in 1623 at about 15 years of age and was thus considered a…
Conversion, or spiritual liberty, was the origin and root of why the Pilgrims came to the shores of New England. Conversion is an act of God whereby He regenerates the heart and puts His Spirit into the believer. It is an act of surrender on our part, choosing to follow the risen Lord Jesus Christ…
Queen Mary (“bloody Mary”) killed many who believed in Christ in the 1550’s. Many leaders prayed. They translated the Bible into the language of the people. The Geneva edition came in 1560. The result of this? The Great Reformation… and in its wake, the Pilgrim Church! The Pilgrims arrived at the peak of a revival…
To the historian cognizant of American history and its significance, 2020 does not simply mark a new decade. It marks the 400th anniversary of a tiny band of people called Pilgrims who braved an ocean to plant a church and a colony in the wilderness of New England in 1620. But why did they come? …
The Old Colony Club is reported to be the oldest men’s club in the western hemisphere! Formed in January of 1769 by seven Plymouth men, this is its 250th year! On December 22 of that first year they first commemorated the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. Known as “Old Colony Day” and later…
In the year 1627, William Bradford relates that the Pilgrims built a trading post to “avoid the compassing of Cape Cod and those dangerous shoals, and so make any voyage to the southward in much shorter time and with far less danger.”
It was November 21 in the year 1581 when 18 year old Henry Jacobs entered St. Mary Hall in Oxford. Not much is known about his childhood or adult life until 1596 when he began to write about separatism and breaking with the Church of England. The important thing to note is that all those…
The British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781 was a miracle of providential timing and intervention. It involved at least four major ingredients that had to come together in the face of potential disaster. The disasters included worthless paper money and the lack of an ability to support the troops. In addition, troops outside…
William Bradford, second Governor and historian of the Pilgrims, began his “journal” about ten years after they landed. With providential foresight, he said the purpose of history was, “That their children may see with what difficulties their fathers wrestled in going through these things in their first beginnings, and how God brought them along notwithstanding…
Christopher Jones, a businessman and part owner of the Mayflower was from Harwich, England. He probably purchased it, along with Robert Childe, Thomas Short and Christopher Nichols in 1608 when he was 38 years old. It was a typical cargo ship carrying fish, lumber, tar, wine, cognac and vinegar.
Most people think of the Pilgrims as stuffy, mournful souls who dressed in black and never smiled. The life of William Brewster quickly dispells these myths, for he was a bold leader of the Pilgrim Church. Born in 1566 or 1567 in Scrooby, England, he entered Cambridge University and became an assistant to William Davison,…
With the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims a little more than a year away, it is important to demonstrate the ideological roots of covenant that they expressed in the Mayflower Compact as well as the consistent preaching on Biblical covenant by the clergy in the colonies that resulted in the Declaration of…
Historian and Director Emeritus of the Pilgrim Society Peggy Baker has noted, “Family is at the heart of the Pilgrim story….that makes Plymouth Colony unique amid a sea of other settlements – English, Dutch, French, and Spanish alike – that were almost exclusively masculine… The Separatist movement, from its earliest beginnings, was built around strong…
There were 29 children under 18 on board the Mayflower when the Pilgrims anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor in late 1620. Two (Oceanus Hopkins and Peregrine White), were born on board! The other 27 ranged in age from 1 to 17.
During the time the Pilgrims were staying in Leyden a famous synod was called by the Dutch Reformed Church to settle a doctrinal dispute initiated by Jacob Arminius. Though Jacob had already died, his disciples presented their objections to the teachings of John Calvin. This challenge was called the Remonstrance of 1610. Those defending the…