John Goodman (c. 1595 to 1623-1627) was a Pilgrim who traveled aboard the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth, Massachusetts..
John Goodman (c. 1595 to 1623-1627) was a Pilgrim who traveled aboard the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth, Massachusetts..
Virtually nothing is known about the details of John Goodman's life before the Pilgrims' voyage to New England. It is believed that Goodman was originally a passenger of the Speedwell , a smaller companion ship of the Mayflower. However, a number of irreparable leaks forced passengers of the Speedwell to be moved aboard the Mayflower. At the time of the Mayflower's journey, he is listed as a linen weaver and being 25 years of age. [1] There are conflicting records of whether he was married or not; [2] no wife is recorded as having come over to Plymouth to join him, possibly having decided to stay behind in Leiden.
On January 12, 1621, Goodman, along with another settler, Peter Browne, became lost in the woods after working to gather thatch for the construction of homes in the settlement. A search party was dispatched by Governor John Carver in the hopes that the two men would be found before they might inadvertently cross paths with natives living in the area. At some point, while still lost, Goodman and Brown believed they had heard "two lions roaring exceedingly for a long time together, and a third, that they thought was very near them." [3] This led the two men to attempt to take shelter in a tree. However, after finding the task too implausible, they remained awake all night, pacing around the base of the tree. The "lions" they heard, more likely to be wolves or coyotes, never came. The following day, the two men were able to find their way back to the settlement, but not before Goodman's feet were temporarily crippled from frostbite due to the snowing and freezing conditions.
On January 19, while Goodman was recovering from his injuries, two wolves were reported to have run after "a little spaniel" that was with him. The dog allegedly took comfort between Goodman's legs while he picked up a stick and threw it, managing to hit one of the wolves and drive them off. However, they soon returned. Goodman picked up a fence-post, ready to utilize it while the wolves sat nearby, "grinning at him a good while" before finally departing on their own. [4] This is thought to be one of the earliest recorded wolf attacks in North America.
The exact cause and date of his death are unknown. During the winter of 1620-1621, roughly half of everybody in the party died, overwhelming from sickness rather than cold or starvation. It is unknown if Goodman was among those people, and if so, what he died of. Governor William Bradford later recalled him as having been among those who died during that first winter, despite the fact that John Goodman's name appears in the 1623 Division of Land agreement in the colony. While less likely, it is theoretically possible that Goodman had a son whose name would have appeared on the agreement in place of his father's, although there is no record of a son joining him on the voyage over. Nevertheless, John Goodman's name does not appear at all in the 1627 Division of Land agreement, thus indicating that he likely died sometime between 1623 and 1627. [5]
The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the Mayflower, consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, and tradesmen. Although the agreement contained a pledge of loyalty to the King, the Puritans and other Protestant Separatists were dissatisfied with the state of the Church of England, the limited extent of the English Reformation and reluctance of King James I of England to enforce further reform.
William Bradford was an English Puritan Separatist originally from the West Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. He moved to Leiden in Holland in order to escape persecution from King James I of England, and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony intermittently for about 30 years between 1621 and 1657. He served as a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England on multiple occasions and served twice as president. His journal Of Plymouth Plantation covered the years from 1620 to 1646 in Plymouth.
John Carver was one of the Pilgrims who braved the Mayflower voyage in 1620 which resulted in the creation of Plymouth Colony in America. He is credited with writing the Mayflower Compact and was its first signer, and he was also the first governor of Plymouth Colony.
Edward Winslow was a Separatist and New England political leader who traveled on the Mayflower in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both Edward Winslow and his brother, Gilbert Winslow signed the Mayflower Compact. In Plymouth he served in a number of governmental positions such as assistant governor, three times was governor and also was the colony's agent in London. In early 1621 he had been one of several key leaders on whom Governor Bradford depended after the death of John Carver. He was the author of several important pamphlets, including Good Newes from New England and co-wrote with William Bradford the historic Mourt's Relation, which ends with an account of the First Thanksgiving and the abundance of the New World. In 1655 he died of fever while on an English naval expedition in the Caribbean against the Spanish.
Degory Priest was a member of the Leiden contingent on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower. He was a hat maker from London who married Sarah, sister of Pilgrim Isaac Allerton in Leiden. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact in November 1620 and died less than two months later.
Thomas Rogers was a Leiden Separatist who traveled in 1620 with his eldest son Joseph as passengers on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.
Christopher Martin and his family embarked on the historic 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower on its journey to the New World. He was initially the governor of passengers on the ship Speedwell until that ship was found to be unseaworthy, and later on the Mayflower, until replaced by John Carver. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. He and his family all perished in the first winter at Plymouth Colony.
Robert Cushman (1577–1625) was an important leader and organiser of the Mayflower voyage in 1620, serving as Chief Agent in London for the Leiden Separatist contingent from 1617 to 1620 and later for Plymouth Colony until his death in 1625 in England. His historically famous booklet titled 'Cry of a Stone' was written about 1619 and finally published in 1642, many years after his death in 1625. The work is an important pre-sailing Pilgrim account of the Leiden group's religious lives.
James Chilton was a Leiden Separatist passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower and was the oldest person on board. Upon arrival in the New World, he was a signer of the Mayflower Compact. James Chilton was one of the earliest to die that winter, perishing within the following month.
Master Christopher Jones Jr. was the captain of the 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.
Humility Cooper, of Leiden, Holland, traveled in 1620 on the voyage of the ship Mayflower as a one-year-old female child in the company of the Edward Tilley family. Although Edward Tilley and his wife died the first winter in the New World, Humility survived to live her young life in Plymouth Colony, returning to England possibly in her teen years. Her fate in England is unknown.
Peter Browne, was a passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the Mayflower and was a signatory of the Mayflower Compact.
Mayflower was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached what is today the United States, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21 [O.S. November 11], 1620.
William Mullins and his family traveled as passengers on the historic 1620 voyage to America on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. Mullins perished in the pilgrims' first winter in the New World, with his wife and son dying soon after.
John Crackstone was an English Separatist from Holland who came with his son John on the historic 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, but perished with the first Pilgrims to die the winter of 1620, exact date unknown. His son John later died in his twenties.
In the fall of 1621 the Fortune was the second English ship destined for Plymouth Colony in the New World, one year after the voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. Financed as the Mayflower was by Thomas Weston and others of the London-based Merchant Adventurers, Fortune was to transport thirty-five settlers to the colony on a ship that was much smaller than Mayflower. The Fortune required two months to prepare for the voyage and once underway, reached Cape Cod on 9 November 1621 and the colony itself in late November. The ship was unexpected by those in the Plymouth colony and although it brought useful settlers, many of whom were young men, it brought no supplies, further straining the limited food resources of the colony. The ship only stayed in the colony for about three weeks, returning to England in December loaded with valuable furs and other goods. But when nearing England, instead of heading to the English Channel, a navigation error caused the ship to sail southeast to the coast of France, where it was overtaken and seized by a French warship.
Also see: The ships Anne and Little James
The Mayflower Compact was an iconic document in the history of America, written and signed aboard the Mayflower on November 11, 1620 while anchored in Provincetown Harbor in Massachusetts. The Compact was originally drafted as an instrument to maintain unity and discipline in Plymouth Colony, but it has become one of the most historic documents in American history. It was published in London in Mourt's Relation in 1622, and the authors had added a preamble to clarify its meaning: "it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to such government and governors as we should by common consent agree to make and choose."
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