Tidbits Sets Sail on the Mayflower

Although we usually associate the Mayflower with the traditional celebration of Thanksgiving, the date of September 16 is officially observed as Mayflower Day, a day set aside to commemorate the departure of this English ship from Plymouth, England, bound for America in 1620. While you're no doubt familiar with the basic story of this historic voyage, Tidbits has some interesting details you probably never knew about the vessel that has become a cultural icon in America's history. Read on and learn.

• The Mayflower was purchased by master Christopher Jones and his business partners around 1607. The ship’s background prior to this record is unknown. The first documented voyage of the 100-foot vessel was to Norway in 1609, followed by trips to France, returning to London with French wine, vinegar, and salt. The ship's hold had a capacity of about 180 tons.

• In May of 1620, Captain Jones and his crew of about 30 officers and men were hired to transport settlers to the New World. Although we refer to those colonists as Pilgrims, that term wasn’t used to describe them until 200 years later in 1820, when statesman Daniel Webster called them the “Pilgrim Fathers” while speaking at the bicentennial celebration of Plymouth’s founding.

• The word “Pilgrim” means “people who journey to a sacred place for religious reasons.” The colonists seeking this freedom called themselves “saints,” and were Protestant Separatists who refused to pledge allegiance to the Church of England, which they considered to be corrupt. Several dozen of the Separatists group had left England for the Netherlands some ten years earlier and still remained there. Another ship, the Speedwell, was hired to sail to Holland and bring those Separatists back to rendezvous with the Mayflower at Southampton.

• Both ships then departed together for the voyage to the New World on August 5. But the Speedwell sprang a leak shortly after, and both ships turned around to Dartmouth for repairs.

• Things are just starting to get good! Dig into even more little known, and interesting Mayflower facts by reading this week's Tidbits...