The 1621 voyage of the Fortune was the second English ship sent out to Plymouth Colony by the Merchant Adventurers investment group, which had also financed the 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. The Fortune was 1/3 the size of the Mayflower , displacing 55 tons. The Master was Thomas Barton. She departed London in the fall of 1621 and arrived off Cape Cod on November 9, 1621, and arrived in Plymouth Bay by the end of the month. The ship only stayed at Plymouth about three weeks loading cargo, and departed for England on December 13, 1621. About January 19, 1622, due to a navigation error, Fortune was overtaken and seized by a French warship, with those on board being held under guard in France for about a month and with its cargo taken. Fortune finally arrived back in the Thames on February 17, 1622. [1] [2] [3]
The identification of passengers comes largely from the 1623 Division of Land list and its distribution of lots as transcribed by William Bradford. From that list comes the following Fortune passenger list comprised from the works of authors Charles Banks and Edward Stratton based on their research as well as author Caleb Johnson with his information based directly on the 1623 Division of Land. Author Edward Stratton also has the list as written by Bradford in the language/spelling of the time. There are children listed here which were most likely not part of the original passenger count of 35. A number of persons listed in 1623 do not appear in the 1627 Division of Cattle list and this may be due to death, removal to an area outside the colony or a return to England. [4] [ self-published source ]
Additionally, 15 of those men (of 58 total) were included in a historic 1626 agreement regarding Mayflower and other debts owed by the colony to the Merchant Adventurers which were reorganized and taken over largely by the colony itself under a creditor group known as the “Purchasers” . In 1627 the debts and shares in the company were assigned in to 8 Plymouth colony leaders and 4 Merchant Adventurers, all known as “Undertakers.” Those 15 Purchasers are identified on the passenger list.
And although Bradford notes that thirty-five persons were on Fortune, only the names of twenty-eight persons are listed as receiving lots in 1623. Eighteen persons are known to have been unmarried, eight married but emigrating without their families, and as far as can be determined, Mrs. Martha Ford and Elizabeth Bassett wife of William Bassett were the only women on the ship. Records indicate that sixteen of the passengers were from the London area and three from Leiden. The origins of ten passengers could not be determined. [5] [6]
Francis Cooke was a Leiden Separatist, who went to America in 1620 on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower, which arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a signer of the Mayflower Compact.
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.
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.
Thomas Tinker and his family, comprising his wife and son, came in 1620 as English Separatists from Holland on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim Ship Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact but he and his family all perished in the winter of 1620/1621, described by Bradford as having died in "the first sickness."
Richard Warren was one of the passengers on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower and a signer of the Mayflower Compact.
George Soule was a colonist who was one of the indentured servants on the Mayflower and helped establish Plymouth Colony in 1620. He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.
Thomas Prence was a New England colonist who arrived in the colony of Plymouth in November 1621 on the ship Fortune. In 1644 he moved to Eastham, which he helped found, returning later to Plymouth. For many years, he was prominent in Plymouth colony affairs and was colony governor for about twenty years, covering three terms.
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.
Henry Samson In 1620 Henry Samson travelled as a member of the Edward Tilley family on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. The Tilleys died in the first winter but Henry Samson survived to live a long, fulfilling life in Plymouth Colony.
William White was a passenger on the Mayflower. Accompanied by his wife Susanna, son Resolved and two servants, and joined by a son, Peregrine, on the way, he traveled in 1620 on the historic voyage. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and perished early in the history of Plymouth Colony.
Resolved White was a passenger on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. In 1620, he accompanied his parents, Pilgrims William and Susanna White, on the journey. He married Judith Vassall, daughter of William Vassall, a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later in life White became a notable person of Plymouth Colony.
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.
Thomas Cushman (1607/08–1691) was a leader in Plymouth Colony, New England.
Philip Delano was a passenger on the Fortune and an early citizen of Plymouth Colony. He is best known as the progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas.
William Bassett was an English artisan, a migrant to North America.
John Winslow (1597–1674) was one of several Winslow brothers who came to the Plymouth Colony in its earliest years. His brothers Edward and Gilbert were passengers on the Mayflower in 1620. John Winslow was a passenger on the Fortune in 1621, and two other brothers, Kenelm and Josiah, also settled in New England, arriving before 1632. The Winslow family were involved in all aspects of the Plymouth Colony, producing in the 17th century several governors and making their mark in New England history in both government and business.
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."