Honoring the Pilgrims this Thanksgiving

Snapshots Spotlight:

Honoring the Pilgrims this Thanksgiving 

The First Thanksgiving 1621
by American Painter, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Source: U.S. Library of Congress

As we gather together with our families this Thanksgiving we honor the Pilgrims who traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to establish a Colony in the New World and to be free from religious oppression in England.

In trying to learn more about the Pilgrims, my mother-in-law, Laura Byers, told me about how her 11th Great Grandfather who was one of the 102 passengers who arrived in America aboard the Mayflower. Her ancestor, William Brewster, along with his wife Mary and 2 of their sons, at around 9 & 6 years old, made the long voyage to America, arriving in November of 1620. Strong winds drove the ship far off course, and rather than their original target of the Virginia Colony, they landed over 400 miles to the Northeast, in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.

That first winter was very harsh on the newly arrived Pilgrims, of which almost half died in the first year. But William, Mary, and their 2 young sons named Love and Wrestling, all survived that first harsh winter. 

That First Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration in which the surviving 53 Pilgrims along with Chief Massasoit and around 90 Native American Indians celebrated for 3 days the bounteous harvest that they had reaped during that first year in a new home. 1

Shortly after that First Thanksgiving celebration, the Brewster's oldest son, Jonathan later joined them in 1621 aboard the ship, The Fortune. Their 2 older daughters, Patience and Fear, also arrived at Plymouth in 1623. William Brewster, having served as an assistant pastor while the Pilgrims were in Holland, became Plymouth Colony's religious leader until 1629, and also an adviser to Governor William Bradford.

The Mayflower II, a replica of the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to America.
Source: Paul Keleher CC BY-2.0

The Mayflower II, which is a replica of the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to America, is docked in Plymouth. Tours are conducted by guides dressed in period clothes, which teach visitors about the historic ship and its famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Mayflower II is one of the  Historical Attractions featured in
the educational board-game Snapshots Across America.

Sources:
1. The Pilgrim Hall Museum. Plymouth, MA. 
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/thanksgiving.htm

2. The Plimouth Plantation. Plymouth, MA.
http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/mayflower-ii