{"id":63515,"date":"2020-12-02T13:54:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T18:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=63515"},"modified":"2020-12-02T13:54:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T18:54:38","slug":"gravesite-of-mayflower-passenger-richard-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/gravesite-of-mayflower-passenger-richard-more.html","title":{"rendered":"Gravesite of Mayflower Passenger Richard More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to continue the celebration the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower \u2013 Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the discovery of the only surviving gravestone of a Mayflower passenger, Richard More. 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

In a recent article (see: The Mayflower Passengers\u2019 Dark Side: Scandal in Plymouth Colony, Part II<\/a>), I wrote about George E. Bowman\u2019s research proving that Captain Richard More was a Mayflower<\/em> ancestor. During his long studies, Bowman \u2013 founder of the Mayflower Society and editor of The Mayflower Descendant<\/em> magazine \u2013 had discovered the only tombstone of a Mayflower<\/em> passenger that survived. It was Richard More\u2019s grave, in the Charter Street Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. Alongside More\u2019s grave are six other family members, and this cemetery plot is a remarkable example of well-preserved history.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the original gravestone, in protective rock, of Mayflower passenger Captain Richard More in Salem, Massachusetts. The phrase \u201cDied 1692, a Mayflower Pilgrim\u201d was added early in the 20th century. Credit: Max Anderson; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under the headline \u201cTomb of a Pilgrim,\u201d this 1902 Boston Herald<\/em> article reported that the discovery of More\u2019s tombstone proved that he survived all the other Mayflower<\/em> male passengers. (More\u2019s tombstone gives a death date of 1692, but that date was added in the early 20th<\/sup> century. The original tombstone had no death date. The exact year he died is uncertain, but it was probably in 1696. The last Mayflower<\/em> survivor, Mary Allerton, daughter of Isaac Allerton, died on 28 November 1699.)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 23 March 1902, page 41<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bowman\u2019s article reported more information about Captain More from a deposition he gave to Governor Bradstreet on 27 September 1684. In it, More described how, as a boy, he was in the home of Thomas Weston, an ironmonger in London in 1620, and then transported to Plymouth on board the Mayflower<\/em>. (Weston was a London merchant and agent for the Merchant Adventurers\u2019 investment in the Mayflower<\/em>. His daughter Elizabeth Weston married Salem pioneer Roger Conant, the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony.)<\/p>\n

More deposed that Weston later sent another ship to the New World (near present-day Braintree), but that settlement was deserted due to Indians and sickness. Shortly after, Weston himself came to New England and ended up owning two plantations: in Yorke River in Virginia; and another in Maryland at \u201cWest St Maryres by Storyes Island.\u201d The deposition helped establish the genesis of Capt. More, and the grave markers and additional court records show the family relationships to other prominent Salem colonists.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: \u201cMonuments, Salem, Charter Street Cemetery, Gravestones of Richard More\u2019s Wives,\u201d by Frank Cousins. Credit: Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum; Digital Commonwealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the More family grave plot is the stone marker for Capt. More\u2019s first wife Christian (Hunter) More (died 18 March 1676) and their daughter Christian More (died 30 May 1680), who married Joshua Conant, grandson of Roger Conant and Elizabeth Weston, on 31 August 1676.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: gravestone of Christian Hunter More, wife of Richard More, Salem, Massachusetts. Credit: Max Anderson; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another daughter born to Capt. More and Christian was Susannah, who married (1st<\/sup>) merchant Samuel Dutch, c. 1675. One stone has her daughter Barbara Dutch (died 10 April 1678), buried next to her cousin Samuel More, son of Richard Jr. and Sarah More, who died 24 November 1673. Susannah married (2nd<\/sup>) Richard Hutton, c. 1694, and (3rd<\/sup>) John Knowlton in 1714. There are descendants alive today.<\/p>\n

Another stone is Caleb More, son of Richard and Christian, who died at age 34 without issue.<\/p>\n

Capt. More\u2019s third wife, Jane (Hollingsworth Crumpton) More, died on 8 October 1686. Her stone is the most elaborate in the group. It sports a cherub\u2019s head with wings and an ornamental border.<\/p>\n

Jane was the daughter of Richard Hollingsworth Sr. of Salem who came over on the ship Blessing<\/em> in 1635. I found a genealogy source which connects Capt. More\u2019s first wife Christian to Hollingsworth.<\/p>\n

The most important marker stone of the six is Captain Richard More. The tombstone says he died at age 84, but his age is uncertain.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Sir Jasper More (1907-1987), 6th great grandson of Captain More, son of Sir Thomas Jasper Mytton More and Lady Norah Browne More, daughter of Henry Browne, 5th Marquess of Sligo, by Walter Bird. Permission to publish: National Portrait Gallery, London.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1928 Bowman hosted a visit from the sixth great grandson of Captain More: Sir Jasper More, son of Sir Thomas Jasper Mytton More and Lady Norah Browne More. Sir Jasper lived in Linley Hall, the seat of the More family in Shropshire, England. Sir Jasper was instrumental in uncovering many unanswered questions on the More family, as explained in my earlier article.<\/p>\n

According to a Boston Herald<\/em> newspaper article, during his visit Sir Jasper laid a wreath on Captain More\u2019s gravesite in Salem and another on the Provincetown memorial of Jasper More, the brother of Captain Richard.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 27 September 1928, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jasper was one of the three More children Mayflower<\/em> passengers who died within months of their arrival in Plymouth. As noted in William Bradford\u2019s journal for 6 December1620: \u201cThis day died Jasper More, a lad bound to Governor Carver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check back for more on Captain Richard More \u2013 there is scandal coming!<\/p>\n

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