The Mayflower

Did They Really Step Out On This Itty Bitty Rock?

 

       I was looking forward to visiting Plymouth MA, where the pilgrims landed after traveling across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. We were allowed to tour the Mayflower Replica. Amazing that people were brave enough to travel across a vast ocean in such a small vessel. I have to admire people who were willing to leave their home country in search of religious freedom.

      The guide told us the passengers stayed below and the crew stayed above because the passengers were Christians and they did not appreciate the actions and language of the crew.

      Our ancestor Edward Fuller, his wife and son, Samuel, were on the Mayflower.  It was a really small ship to carry so many people for such a long time. The rock they allegedly stepped out on was on display, with the 1620 etched on it.  It was a small rock; I feel certain that people who had been on that rocking and rolling ship would have chosen a bigger rock to step out on.

Sadly Edward Fuller and his wife died the first winter they were in America, leaving their son, Samuel, an orphan. He went to live with his father’s brother Samuel who was a doctor.

We viewed the memorial in honor of those hardy pilgrims who braved storms, hunger and crowded conditions on the Mayflower so long ago. It is a beautiful memorial listing everyone’s names.