Nancy Bier of Lake Kiowa ties into Mayflower ancestry through a cousin who came through the Mason line. Bier is a Genealogy Consultant and leads tours to the British Isles.
The Mayflower sailed out of Plymouth, England with 102 passengers and the crew on board and headed for the New World on Sept. 6, 1620. The ship was at sea approximately two months before it anchored near Cape Cod on Nov. 11. That was 388 years ago.
You may not have checked the Mayflower Passenger List lately, but your own ancestor’s may come from stock that can be traced back to that early American event.
Bier took one tour group to the village of Scooby, England. This village parrish is where a large percentage of the Mayflower passengers lived before leaving for the New World. The tour group visited the village church which has commemortion plaques for many of the adult Mayflower passengers.
The tour group stood on a stone bridge outside Scooby, where the local tour guide told them that back in the old days there was a river beneath the bridge and the passengers took a boat toward the sea to eventually hook up with the Mayflower.
Honey Easter, another local, is a decendent of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley who came across on the Mayflower. Easter’s sister found the story of John Howland in a small obscure book in a genealogy library. According to the journal of the Mayflower captain, John Howland, a twenty-five year old man, came up on deck during a storm. When the ship suddenly rolled, he fell overboard. Fortunately, he grabbed a rope from one of the topsails before he sank way down into the ocean. The Mayflower’s crew was able to haul him back up to the surface with the rope and then grabbed him with a boathook.
Elizabeth Tilley weathered the voyage but her parents died the first winter in the New World, leaving her an orphan at age 13. She married John Howland several years later.
Easter said that her family and relatives got a big kick out of the Howland overboard story and that exploring genealogy and histories of her ancestors makes her own personal history more meaningful.
The Mayflower voyage met with agreeable weather the first part of the journey, although seasickness and life on a ship in the middle of the ocean back in the 1600’s was no modern cruise. Later, the weather turned mean and ugly.
Passengers of all ages were on the Mayflower. One baby was born during the voyage. His parents, Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins, named him “Oceanus.” Two more babies were born shortly after the ship arrived in the New World.
The Mayflower remained with the Piligrims several months but departed for England in April 1621.
More information about the Mayflower and the Mayflower Passenger List can be found on Mayflowerhistory.com and similar websites. Many museums and societies, such as the General Societyof Mayflower Descendants, the Pilgrim Hall Museum and the Pilgrim John Howland Society can also be contacted for more information on the Mayflower and it’s passengers.
Local News
Locals can trace lineage to Mayflower
- Local News
-
-
Randy Travis arrested in Sanger
SANGER — Country singer Randy Travis was arrested Monday morning in Sanger on a charge of suspicion of public intoxication.
-
In Memory of Andy
Gainesville Middle School designated Monday as Andy’s Lakers Day, in honor of Andy Sandoval, a GMS seventh-grader, who recently died of a brain aneurysm.
-
GHS students take top place finishes at academic meet
Several Gainesville High School students had top place finishes at the Ryan High School academic meet on Saturday.
Sophomores Mark Clark and Alexander “Alex” Huerta lead the leap of GHS leopards competing. -
Gainesville woman hit by car
THACKERVILLE, OKLA. — A road collision early Sunday morning near Thackerville injured one female pedestrian, a Gainesville resident whose identification has not been released by officials.
-
Gainesville native fights for justice
IDABEL, Okla. — An Idabel, Okla. police officer — reeling from the death of his friend and fellow officer — is trying to beef up his state’s negligent homicide laws.
-
As deadline approaches, election day unclear
As the Texas primary election approaches, a muddle continues locally and statewide as to exactly when election day arrives.
-
House District 68 candidates present platforms
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of a two-part report.
Texas House District 68 representative opponents stressed their intentions to mend local problems via “rural values” during Thursday’s candidate forum -
Cooke County emerges out of drought
For residents in Cooke County, one of the most severe droughts in Texas history is no longer a concern — for the time being, anyway.
-
Souper Bowl a super success
The aroma of some dozen different homemade soups filled the air Sunday in the lunchroom at the First Christian Church in Gainesville.
-
A mother's Love
VALLEY VIEW — She’s a crusader for special needs children and their parents, but Valley View resident Wendi Tipps doesn’t think of herself as a hero.
- More Local News Headlines
-






