My 9th Great-Grandfather George Soule’s reproduced house is at Plimoth Plantation. I only found out about my relationship, and his house just before Covid hit. Still hoping to get there before I die. He came over on the Mayflower, and was a signer of The Mayflower Compact.
My family apparently had a few ancestors on the Mayflower.
The most interesting one was Stephen Hopkins and his family:
The Mayflower voyage:
Stephen Hopkins and his family, consisting of his wife Elizabeth and his children
Constance, Giles and Damaris, as well as two servants (Edward Doty and Edward Leister),
departed Plymouth, England, on the Mayflower on 6/16 September 1620.
The small, 100-foot (30 m) ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30–40 in extremely
cramped conditions.
By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship’s timbers to be badly shaken, with caulking failing to
keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill.
This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months,
is attributed as what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and
children.
On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst
was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months,
almost half the passengers perished in the cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.[14]
On 9 November 1620 (O.S) (19 November 1620 (N.S.)), after about three months at sea,
including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook,
now called Provincetown Harbor.
After several days of trying to sail south to their
planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to
the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on 11/21 November.
The Mayflower Compact
was signed that day.[15]:413[2]:7–19 The passengers of the Mayflower argued, as the
passengers of the Sea Venture had argued, that they had been freed from their indentures
to the Virginia Company, and could now choose their own governance.[11] Stephen Hopkins
was among the signatories.
In Plymouth Colony:
Hopkins was a member of the early Mayflower exploratory parties while the ship was
anchored in the Cape Cod area. He was well versed in the hunting techniques and general
lifestyle of the Native Americans from his years in Jamestown, which was later found to be
quite useful to the Pilgrim leadership.[7]:165[8]:62
The first formal meeting with the natives was held at Hopkins’ house, and he was called
upon to participate in early Pilgrim visits with the natives’ leader Massasoit. Over the
years Hopkins’ assistance to Pilgrim leaders such as Myles Standish and Edward Winslow
regarding his knowledge of the local languages was found to be quite useful.