Mayflower Ancestors

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, so I feel a day late on this, but still wanted to share. 

My Kidder family that read this blog who have Albert Edward Kidder as a x-great grandfather have TEN DIRECT Mayflower ancestors. The line traces through Albert's mother, Jane Stetson (Bonney) Kidder. To be clear, these Mayflower passengers are x-great grandparents, not uncles or cousins. (If you added the latter, there would be at least another 11 Mayflower passengers.) Here they are:

• William Bradford - "Governor of Plymouth Colony, Father of Colonial American History."

• John Alden - "Cooper and Early Settler, One of the Youngest Mayflower Passengers."

• Priscilla (Mullins) Alden - "Pioneer Woman, Celebrated in Myth as a Romantic Heroine."

• John Howland - "The Survivor Who Fell Overboard, Early Plymouth Leader."

• Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland - "Plymouth Matriarch, Young Mayflower Passenger."

• Richard Warren - "Merchant Adventurer, Ancestor of Many American Families."

• William Mullins - "Shoemaker and Mayflower Financier, Early Colonist."

• Alice (Unknown) Mullins - "Early Plymouth Matron, Mother of Priscilla."

• John Tilley - "Elder of the Tilley Family, Early Plymouth Settler."

• Joan (Hurst) Tilley - "Matriarch of the Tilley Line, Early Colonial Pioneer."

About half of these folks were Separatists - those coming to American seeking "religious freedom." The other half were what the Separatists called "Strangers" - those who were on the Mayflower for economic or other reasons. Of those two groups,
John Howland was a bit of a mystery - we're not really sure what his motivations were. He was a servant of Governor John Carter which may have given him a mix of practical and personal reasons for being on the ship. He later married Elizabeth Tilley (a Separatist).

I also wanted to recommend a book for anyone interested in the lives of these early European settlers and also the natives that suddenly found them as neighbors: The Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, by Nathaniel Philbrick.

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