Celebrating Thanksgiving: Some of the Rest of the Story

As we celebrate Thanksgiving again this year, I do so with added appreciation for those who began this great American tradition. We have all heard the story of the First Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims at Plymouth colony in Massachusetts in 1621. I had heard of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins and Miles Standish and others who were there for that First Thanksgiving feast. I had also heard of the Indians who attended, Chief Massasoit and some others of the Wompanoag tribe that lived in the area. This past year while tracing various ancestors on allmycousins.com, I discovered that John Alden, Priscilla Mullins and also Miles Standish are to be found on the Family Tree. To be sure they are distant cousins, but as time goes not really all that distant. While exploring the Weldon family line on Iris' family tree, I discovered the name of the Indian Chief, Massasoit, who was also a part of that First Thanksgiving.

The First Thanksgiving, Plymouth Colony, 1621

Miles Standish

One of our distant cousins who was at the First Thanksgiving

Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656; sometimes spelled Miles Standish) was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony. One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its inception.  On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served as an agent of Plymouth Colony in England, as assistant governor, and as treasurer of Plymouth Colony. He was also one of the first settlers and founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts.

A defining characteristic of Standish's military leadership was his proclivity for preemptive action which resulted in at least two attacks (or small skirmishes) on different groups of Native Americans—the Nemasket raid and the Wessagusset massacre. During these actions, Standish exhibited considerable courage and skill as a soldier, but also demonstrated a brutality that angered Native Americans and disturbed more moderate members of the Colony.

One of Standish's last military actions on behalf of Plymouth Colony was the botched Penobscot expedition in 1635. By the 1640s, Standish relinquished his role as an active soldier and settled into a quieter life on his Duxbury farm. Although he was still nominally the commander of military forces in a growing Plymouth Colony, he seems to have preferred to act in an advisory capacity.   He died in his home in Duxbury in 1656 at age 72.   Although he supported and defended the Pilgrim colony for much of his life, there is no evidence to suggest that Standish ever subscribed to the Pilgrims' religious beliefs or joined their church.

Several towns and military installations have been named for Standish and monuments have been built in his memory. One of the best known depictions of Standish in popular culture was the 1858 book, The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Highly fictionalized, the story presents Standish as a timid romantic. It was extremely popular in the 19th century and played a significant role in cementing the Pilgrim story in American culture.

Statue of Chief Massasoit

One of Iris' distant cousins who was at the First Thanksgiving.

According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the almost certain starvation that the Pilgrims faced during the earliest years of the colony's establishment. Moreover, Massasoit forged critical political and personal ties with the colonial leaders John Carver, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Winslow, William Bradford, and Miles Standish – ties which grew out of a negotiated peace treaty on March 22, 1621. Massasoit's alliance ensured that the Wampanoag remained neutral during the Pequot War in 1636.

John Alden and Priscilla Mullins

Among the survivors of that first winter at Plymouth Colony who were at the First Thanksgiving,

John Alden (1599 – September 12, 1687) is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620.  He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton.   He was also one of the founders of Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. Distinguished for practical wisdom, integrity and decision, he acquired and retained a commanding influence over his associates.   Employed in public business he became the Governor's Assistant, the Duxbury Deputy to the General Court of Plymouth, a member under arms of Capt. Miles Standish's Duxbury Company, a member of Council of War, Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, and Commissioner to Yarmouth.

THE 53 PILGRIMS AT THE FIRST THANKSGIVING : 4 MARRIED WOMEN : Eleanor Billington, Mary Brewster, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White Winslow. 5 ADOLESCENT GIRLS : Mary Chilton (14), Constance Hopkins (13 or 14), Priscilla Mullins (19), Elizabeth Tilley (14 or15) and Dorothy, the Carver's unnamed  maidservant, perhaps 18 or 19. 9 ADOLESCENT BOYS : Francis & John Billington, John Cooke, John Crackston, Samuel Fuller (2d), Giles Hopkins, William Latham, Joseph Rogers, Henry Samson. 13 YOUNG CHILDREN : Bartholomew, Mary & Remember Allerton, Love,  Wrestling Brewster, Humility Cooper, Samuel Eaton, Damaris & Oceanus Hopkins, Desire Minter, Richard More, Resolved & Peregrine White. 22 MEN : John Alden, Isaac Allerton, John Billington, William Bradford, William Brewster, Peter Brown, Francis Cooke, Edward Doty, Francis Eaton, [first name unknown] Ely, Samuel Fuller, Richard Gardiner, John Goodman, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, Edward Lester, George Soule, Myles Standish, William Trevor, Richard Warren, Edward Winslow, Gilbert Winslow. FAMILY GROUPS : ALDEN : John ALLERTON : Isaac with children Bartholomew, Mary, Remember; the Allerton servant William Latham BILLINGTON : John & Eleanor with sons Francis, John Jr. BRADFORD : William BREWSTER : William & Mary with sons Love, Wrestling; their ward Richard More BROWNE / BROWN : Peter CARVER: The Carver ward Desire Minter; the Carver servant John Howland; the Carver maidservant Dorothy. CHILTON : Mary COOKE : Francis with son John CRACKSTON : John EATON : Francis with son Samuel ELY: Unknown adult man FULLER : Samuel with nephew Samuel 2d GARDINER : Richard GOODMAN : John HOPKINS : Stephen & Elizabeth with Giles, Constance, Damaris, Oceanus; their servants Edward Doty and Edward Leister. MULLINS : Priscilla ROGERS : Joseph STANDISH : Myles TILLEY : Elizabeth TILLEY: Tilley wards Humility Cooper and Henry Samson TREVOR / TREVORE : William WARREN : Richard WINSLOW : Edward & Susanna with her sons Resolved White, Peregrine White; Winslow servant George Soule WINSLOW : Gilbert
Note : In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford lists the Mayflower passengers and also tells us who died during the first winter of 1620/1621 and spring of 1621. No other ships arrived in Plymouth until after the "First Thanksgiving  celebration. The Pilgrims at the "First Thanksgiving" are all the Mayflower survivers. I have also discovered relationships of our family to George Soule and John Howland. In the book,The Courtship of Miles Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was writing about one of his forebears, so that makes him one of our relatives gone ahead also. Interesting, don't you agree?		Note : In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford lists the Mayflower passengers and also tells us who died during the first winter of 1620/1621 and spring of 1621. No other ships arrived in Plymouth until after the "First Thanksgiving" celebration. The Pilgrims at the "First Thanksgiving" are all the Mayflower survivors.