The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Mayflower, The

MAYFLOWER, The, the name of the vessel in which the Pilgrim Fathers, or first colonists in New England, sailed to this country in 1620. The Mayflower was a vessel of 180 tons. She set sail from Southampton, England, on 5 Aug. 1620, in company with her sister ship, the Speedwell, but the courage of the captain and the crew of the latter vessel failing, both ships put back to port. Finally on 6/17 September the Mayflower again spread her sails from Plymouth, having on board as passengers 41 men and their families, 102 persons in all They succeeded in crossing the Atlantic after a stormy voyage of 63 days. They intended to go to the mouth of the Hudson River but the captain of the Mayflower took them to Cape Cod. They landed at Plymouth, Mass., at a point where Plymouth Rock, a huge granite boulder, stands at the water's edge. A complete and authentic list of the male passengers who landed from the Mayflower is as follows:

With these 41 male passengers and heads of families came 15 male servants, whose names were as follows:

The following is a copy of the covenant agreed upon by these first settlers of Massachusetts, signed and subscribed on board the Mayflower at Cape Cod, 10/21 Nov. 1620, two days after the ship came to anchor.

Whittier, Lowell, Holmes and other poets have immortalized the Mayflower in well-known poems. Consult Carpenter, E. J., &lsquo;The Mayflower Pilgrims&rsquo; (New York 1918); Usher, R. G., &lsquo;The Pilgrims and Their History&rsquo; (New York 1918).