{"id":63091,"date":"2020-11-12T11:43:13","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T16:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=63091"},"modified":"2020-11-17T13:05:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T18:05:55","slug":"the-mayflower-passengers-dark-side-scandal-in-plymouth-colony-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-mayflower-passengers-dark-side-scandal-in-plymouth-colony-part-i.html","title":{"rendered":"The Mayflower Passengers\u2019 Dark Side: Scandal in Plymouth Colony, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 to celebrate November 21 being the 400th<\/sup> anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower \u2013 Melissa Davenport Berry writes about some of the darker sides of the Mayflower passengers. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Mayflower<\/em> historian Caleb Johnson was making his debut more than 20 years ago, his findings were published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/em> in 1997.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), 27 November 1997, page 35<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Johnson, a Mayflower<\/em> descendant himself, was only 21 years old at the time \u2013 and his skilled sleuthing revealed some startling criminal histories among the Mayflower settlers, including polygamy, dueling, bootlegging, and pig stealing. The big scandal was murder, but I found a descendant who argued it down to manslaughter via his research.<\/p>\n

The secrets buried under Plymouth Rock are not always a welcome discovery, but as Johnson told the press:<\/p>\n

\u201cGenealogy is for those who want to learn about their ancestors. It\u2019s not for those who want to put their ancestors up on some kind of pedestal.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A few examples from Johnson\u2019s research:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1621, [Edward] Doty was found guilty of dueling and sentenced to have his heels tied together for one hour. In 1633, he committed a breach of contract for failing to turn over six pigs to Joseph Rogers, then fined 50 shillings for slandering William Bennett. During the next 15 years, Doty was convicted of disorderly conduct, assault, stealing firewood and letting his cows eat a neighbor\u2019s cornfield.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition, Johnson cited other offenses committed by Mayflower<\/em> passengers: Stephen Hopkins, selling alcohol, price fixing, and mutiny; William Latham, drunkenness; Richard More, polygamy; and John Billington, murder. (More coming on that in Part 2, next week.)<\/p>\n

I found examples in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> of naughty Mayflower<\/em> passengers and their descendants.<\/p>\n

In 1929 Colonel Carl R. Gray, governor of the Nebraska Society of Mayflower Descendants, shared some dirt on Stephen Hopkins at a Society dinner.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Colonel Carl Raymond Gray (1867-1939). Permission to publish photo from family member Bob Knuston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Omaha World-Herald<\/em>\u00a0reported that Gray stood up and told the tale of how his ancestor Stephen Hopkins \u201chad been charged with being the first American profiteer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 24 November 1929, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1945 the Chicago Sun<\/em> featured the genealogy quest of Chester McNeil, who discovered his ancestral line traced to John Billington, the Mayflower passenger who was hanged for murder in Plymouth Colony in 1630.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Chicago Sun (Chicago, Illinois), 24 June 1945, page 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McNeil needed to provide his credentials in order to establish \u201chis right to membership in the Mayflower Society,\u201d and went ahead, despite Billington\u2019s infamy.<\/p>\n

However, not all potential Society members could stomach the Billington blemish and jumped ship \u2013 what happened in Plymouth can stay in Plymouth!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Chicago Sun (Chicago, Illinois), 24 June 1945, page 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(You can read more on the story of the Billington clan in my previous blog article: Mayflower\u2019s Billington Brothers: America\u2019s 1st Juvenile Delinquents?<\/a>)<\/p>\n

McNeil was not daunted, and went so far as to challenge the Plymouth records to wipe clean the blot on John Billington\u2019s name:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Chicago Sun (Chicago, Illinois), 24 June 1945, page 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the release of the 1997 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/em> article, Johnson has published books on the Mayflower<\/em> lines and his website is enormously popular. If you want the whole skinny visit Caleb Johnson\u2019s site at http:\/\/mayflowerhistory.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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