I recently took an online course from American Ancestors titled "Beyond the Mayflower: History, Culture, and Encounter in Plimoth Colony." It was comprised of five lectures that offered deep dives into specific topics, all of which I found very interesting and engaging.
One of the more intriguing thoughts that came out of this for me was in the fourth class, discussing the Women of Plimoth, presented by Donna Watkins. She made the points that Mary Brewster was one of very few adult women to survive the colony's difficult first year - and the oldest of those that did.
I have long been interested in getting a better sense of my ancestor Elizabeth Tilley's life and experiences, since all of that was (sadly, but unsurprisingly) not as well documented as her husband's. Ms. Watkins' remarks got me thinking about things in terms of who survived that harsh first winter and first year, and who didn't. How did it impact women differently than men? Children differently from adults?
I've done some data collection and processing, and even found an excellent poster available from Pilgrim Hall Museum which provides a visual aid for who survived the first year and who didn't. Here are some excerpts for the Tilley families...
Passengers during the crossing:
All four adults perished in the first winter, leaving the children to be raised by others. Perhaps in the case of Henry Sampson, he simply had to finish growing up and act as one of the adult males in the struggling colony. Elizabeth was taken in after her parents' death by the colony's first Governor and his wife (John and Catherine/Katherine Carver), but they both died in the spring of that first year.
Of 18 adult women (21 or older) who made the crossing, only 4 survived the first year: Mary Brewster, Ellen/Eleanor Billington, Susanna White, and Elizabeth Hopkins. All five teenage girls survived that year, and 5 out of 7 younger girls who made the crossing also survived.
The infographic is available from Pilgrim Hall Museum as a poster or as a large brochure. When seen in full, it definitely makes an impression!
I'll have more to share about my Mayflower findings, soon.
