Celebrating Thanksgiving: Biographies

Here are some short biographical sketches to use with your Thanksgiving lessons. They give a short explanation of who fourteen individuals are that figure predominantly in history of the Pilgrims.

Thanksgiving Biographies

John Alden
John Alden, b. ca. 1599, d. Sept. 12, 1687, was one of the Pilgrim Fathers who came to America in the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Compact, and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. Thereafter he held various public offices, including that of deputy governor of Massachusetts (1664-65, 1667). The unfounded details of his wooing of fellow Pilgrim Priscilla Mullens (or Molines)--whom he did marry--were the subject of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish."

William Bradford
William Bradford was one of the leaders of the pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony. He was its governor for more than 30 years. His History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, first printed in full in 1856, is a minor classic, reflecting the unusual qualities of the man and the values of the small group of English separatists who became known as Pilgrims. Bradford was born in March 1590 in Austerfield, Yorkshire, the son of a yeoman farmer. He was self-taught. As a young man, he joined Puritan groups that met illegally in nearby Scrooby and was a member of that congregation when it separated from the Church of England in 1606. Bradford was among the 125 Scrooby separatists who sought (1608) religious sanctuary in Holland. When the congregation decided (1617) to seek refuge in America, Bradford took major responsibility for arranging the details of the emigration. The term Pilgrim is derived from his description of himself and his coreligionists as they left Holland (July 22, 1620) for Southampton, where they joined another group of English separatists on the Mayflower. Bradford was one of about a dozen original Scrooby church members who sailed for America on the Mayflower. When John Carver, Plymouth Colony's first governor, died suddenly in April 1621, Bradford was unanimously elected to replace him. He was reelected 30 times. In 1640, Bradford and the group of original settlers known as the "old comers" turned over to the colony the proprietary rights to its lands, which had been granted (1630) to him by the Warwick Patent and then shared by him with the old comers. During the period of his governorship, and especially during the first few years, Bradford provided the strong, steady leadership that kept the tiny community alive. He strove to sustain the religious ideals of the founders and to keep the colony's settlements compact and separate from the larger neighboring colonies. Bradford died on May 9 or 19, 1657.

William Brewster
William Brewster, b. 1567, d. Apr. 10, 1644, was a leader of the PILGRIMS, who established Plymouth Colony. In England he studied briefly at Cambridge, the only Pilgrim Father to have some university training. A member of the local gentry in Scrooby, Yorkshire, he helped organize a separatist religious congregation in 1606 and financed its move to Holland in 1608. His influence was instrumental in winning the approval of the Virginia Company for the proposal to resettle the congregation in America, and he was one of the few original Scrooby separatists who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. As the church's ruling elder in Leyden and then in Plymouth, Brewster shared with William Bradford and Edward Winslow in the leadership of the Pilgrim enterprise.

John Carver
John Carver, b. c. 1576, d. Apr. 5, 1621, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, was the first governor of Plymouth Colony. A wealthy merchant, he helped arrange the Pilgrims' emigration to America in 1620, chartering the Mayflower. He was governor for less than a year before his death.

Myles Standish
Myles Standish, b. c.1584, d. Oct. 3, 1656, an English-born professional soldier, was hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for their Plymouth colony in America; eventually he became a full member as well as a valued leader of the community. Arriving on the Mayflower with the first settlers, he initially concentrated on colonial defense and Indian relations. Later, Standish represented (1625-26) Plymouth in England; he also served for many years as one of the governor's assistants and as the colony's treasurer (1644-49). Standish was one of the founders (1632) of the town of Duxbury, Mass. Although one of the most influential figures in colonial New England, he is best remembered through US poet Henry Longfellow's 'The Courtship of Miles Standish' 1863.

Edward Winslow
Five Winslow Brothers came from England to Plymouth Colony between 1620 and 1633. Edward, the oldest of the five, had left England for Holland in order to freely practice his religion. He was one of the 102 Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. He was soon joined by his brothers: John (1621), Kenelm (1633) and Josiah (1631). Gilbert, who had arrived with Edward on the Mayflower, returned to England. In the 1630s, the brothers and their wives settled in Marshfield and started families. All of the Brothers were active in their communities. Edward was one of Plymouth Colony's most trusted representatives. He was sent to negotiate with the local Native People, the Wamponag. He also sailed to England several times times on colony business, bringing back the first cattle in 1624.

Chief Massasoit
Massasoit was a chief of the Wampanoag tribe. Also known as Ousamequin, or "yellow feather," he was born about 1590 in the village of Pokanoket which was near the present-day Bristol, Rhode Island.. The peace treaty which Massasoit and the Pilgrims signed on March 22, 1621 was never broken. Because of this agreement, the Wampanoag and Pilgrims lived in peaceful coexistence. Massasoit's friendship with the colonists kept the Wampanoags neutral during the Pequot War of 1636. Until his death in 1661, Massasoit remained a friend an ally of the Pilgrims.

Samoset
Samoset was the first Indian to make contact with the Pilgrims. He was an Abnaki, an Algonquin-speaking people that resided in south-east Maine. He was a sagamore of his tribe, and was visiting Massasoit, leader of the Wampanoag--having been there for about eight months. He had learned some broken English from the English fisherman that came to fish off the coast of southeast Maine. The Pilgrims described Samoset: "He was a man free in speech, so far as he could express his mind, and of a seemly carriage . . . He was a tall straight man, the hair of his head black, long behind, only short before, none on his face at all." Samoset returned shortly thereafter to his homeland in Maine. [More in-depth explanation of who Samoset was.]

Captain John Smith
Online biographical sketches of John Smith:
http://www.apva.org/history/jsmith.html
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/smith.cfm


King James I
The best research site that I've found thus far for finding out who James I was is http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kinginde.htm. Note: Some of the topics listed are most definitely for adult research first as several cover mature issues.

Oceanus Hopkins
Mayflower passenger list showing Oceanus Hopkins born at sea on board the Mayflower.

Peregrine White
While at sea, Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to the son, Oceanus. William Butten, a young boy, died three days before land was sighted. After a grueling journey, the passengers sighted land on November 9, 1620. Landfall was made on November 11, 1620, not in Virginia as planned, but on Cape Cod. Susanna White gave birth to a son, Peregrine ("one who journeys to foreign lands") as the Pilgrims were looking for a place to settle. Mary Allerton gave birth to a stillborn son on board the Mayflower while the first houses were being built at Plymouth.
The Last Will & Testament of Peregrine White

Priscilla Mullins
"Believed to have been born about 1602 in Dorking, Surrey, England, Priscilla Mullins (or Mollins, or Molines) came to America aboard the Mayflower with her parents and younger brother in 1620. The other three members of the family died during the terrible first winter of the Plymouth Colony. Probably in 1623 she married John Alden, a cooper. They lived in Plymouth until about 1631, when they and others founded the settlement of Duxbury. They had 11 children. John Alden became a prominent figure in colonial Massachusetts, but virtually nothing is known of Priscilla's later life. The date of her death is unknown, but it may well have occurred before her husband's in 1687. Priscilla Alden alone, among the women of the Plymouth Colony, is remembered by name, owing to a legend transmitted orally in the family and then published in embellished form by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "The Courtship of Miles Standish" in 1858. The tale of the triumph of romantic love is nearly unique in the lore of the Pilgrims and is probably not founded in fact; nonetheless, the story--especially Priscilla's alleged words "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"--remains a part of American folklore." (Women's History)

Squanto The Legend of Squanto (Radio Theatre)
Online biographical sketches:
http://www.joyfulheart.com/holiday/squanto.htm
http://www.workersforjesus.com/f25-14.htm

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