This seemed an appropriate side-read for Thanksgiving, especially as I'm a descendant of Priscilla and John Alden. Don't be too impressed, though, as there are millions of us around. Some 35 million still alive, in fact.
More as I go along as I'm reading it off-and-on right now. First impression, however, positive. It makes the point that we only know what we believe we know because it's based on the recollections of those who lived and wrote about their lives back then. Recollection doesn't mean it's a fact, though. Just as someone remembers or, ahem, wants to remember things.
-- Much of what we have been told about the Plymouth Colony came from William Bradford. His descendants ultimately left his writings with the Old North Church library in Boston. You know, the Old North Church of Paul Revere's Ride. It went missing during British occupation but ultimately turned up in the library of a Bishop of London but was finally returned. We came close to losing that bit of lore forever.
--And... they didn't dress all in black unless it was for a formal occasion. Lists of items owned by real Pilgrims show a variety of different colors. So much for those ol' Pilgrim hats we all made in grade school, huh?
-- This is probably a good time to note that they called themselves Separatists, not Pilgrims. And, for the record, not all the colonists were even Separatists, including my Alden ancestors.
-- And, oh, the original plan was to land in Virginia, north of the already established Jamestown. Well, that didn't work out well, did it, even though Virginia extended much further north than it does nowadays.
-- Only half of the Mayflower's 102 passengers survived the first winter in Plymouth.
-- Due to storms and winds at times, the Mayflower's average speed was probably about a whole 2 mph.
-- The good ship Charity arrived in 1624 with the first cattle to be brought to Plymouth. Until then, only goat's milk had been available.
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