A CHAPLET OF ROSEMARY.A CHAPLET OF ROSEMARY.
A CHAPLET OF ROSEMARY.
Burial Hill no longer bristles with the guns of the Pilgrim’s fort but is thickly studded with the graves of the generations who in turn walked on Plymouth’s first street below. One traversing this way and recalling the scenes it has witnessed, must be indeed insensitive not to feel the thrill that comes from treading on hallowed ground. Particularly must this be experienced by the descendants of the women we would honor.
We know that upon Cole’s Hill, Burial Hill and in the old burying grounds at Duxbury and Marshfield are the graves of many of the women of Plymouth, and some lie elsewhere, yet the exact location of how few is positive.
The second wife of Governor Bradford requested in her will that she might be laid as near her husband’s grave as might be. Their family plot is easily found. By another will, that of Captain Myles Standish, we may know where two of the women of his family rest—since his own grave is located and his request was to lie beside his two dear daughters—one his son’s wife Mary, the other his own lovely Lora, whose early death caused him much sorrow. At Marshfield, in the family burying ground, Susanna Winslow rests. A stone in the center of the town of Taunton marks the grave of ElizabethPool. A tablet at Little Compton, has been erected to the memory of Elizabeth Pabodie, John and Priscilla Alden’s eldest daughter; she lived her later years in this place. Mary Chilton Winslow lies beside her husband, in King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston; their names are marked upon a slab at the gate in Tremont Street. Elizabeth Tilly Howland, after she became a widow, went to live with her daughter, Lydia Brown, in Swansea and there died; her husband’s grave on Burial Hill is known, but she was not brought back to rest beside him. The grave of Mary Allerton, who lived to such a great age and saw the foundations of twelve of the thirteen colonies which formed the nucleus of the United States, is indicated by a monument erected to her and her husband on Burial Hill.
We would willingly make a pilgrimage to visit each known spot, regretting, the while, that there were so many we might not include. Yet upon all we may place the same unfading, if invisible, wreath of the leaves that signify remembrance.
Descendants of the women of Plymouth are now estimated to number more than a million. It is for them especially to rejoice in the results of artist’s brush, writer’s pen or sculptor’s tool that have been produced in efforts to recall to all the world that epoch in its history in which these women lived, by portraying the events of which they were a part.
Thus we have such pictures as Jacob and Albert Cuyp’s painting of the “Departure of the Pilgrims from Delfshaven.” J. G. Schwartz’s picture of“The Pilgrim Fathers’ First Meeting for Public Worship in North America.” “The Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers,” painted by Charles W. Cope, hangs in the British House of Parliament. “The Sailing of the Mayflower,” a painting in the audit house, Southampton, England—no more appropriate setting could be found for that portrayal. Charles Lucy has called his picture “Departure of the Pilgrims,” it is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth—that Memorial temple. Robert W. Wier’s painting of “Embarkation of the Pilgrims” hangs in the nation’s Capitol, while Edgar Parker’s copy of it is in Pilgrim Hall. A. Gisbert has given us his idea of the “Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock,” and the “Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers” is the title taken by Henry Sargent. “The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” is portrayed by W. F. Halsall, and Granville Perkins has visualized “The Mayflower at Sea,” while Linton has engraved this subject. George H. Boughton has made charming and familiar reproductions of the Pilgrim men and women, and many another artist’s ideal has been depicted in the variations of the subject.
Fiction, verse and chronicle with the themes of the voyage and the Plymouth home of the Pilgrims have been produced by many able pens. Skillful historians, essayists, orators have done justice to the men; the events entering into their lives, the courage and valor which each day brought forth, have been recorded with emphasis and unflagging zeal. We are indeed glad and appreciative of the constantnarration of the facts with which we have become familiar. At the same time, the regret comes to us that of the women so little has been said; that the balance of the two groups of the colony builders has not been better kept.
Of the Fathers we are accustomed to hear, but our gratitude salutes those who occasionally mention the Mothers and Daughters. They were two characteristic notes in the making of that Pilgrim score but because the latter was more lightly struck it has been too lightly regarded. Nevertheless, we rejoice that we know as much as we do of the women, and in the knowledge that increasing recognition is being given them.
Recently a plan was made that a chime of bells should be placed in the tower of the Pilgrim Monument at Provincetown and dedicated to the Women of theMayflowerby their descendants. More recently still, Henry H. Kitson has modeled a statue of a Pilgrim Woman for erection at Plymouth, in their memory. We may recall here the noble monument erected by the nation to the Pilgrims. In this design a woman is the exalted figure who holds the book and gazes over the sea. Also of the four important though lesser figures, two are women. Hon. John D. Long has said of the heroic figure, “Her eyes look toward the sea. Forever she beholds upon its waves the incoming “Mayflower,” she sees the Pilgrims land. They vanish, but she, the monument of their faith remains and tells their story to the world,” which, as another has said, “in romance ofcircumstance and charm of personal heroism ... is pre-eminent.”
Well may be seen the qualities of heart and mind reproduced in countless of their descendants who have carried on the influence of their personality and work, deepening its roots down through the years. “The light they kindled has shone to many, in some degree to our whole nation.” In proof of this is a relation of some who have claimed descent from a Pilgrim of theMayfloweror of Plymouth. This will comprise Presidents of the United States, presidents of universities or colleges, jurists, diplomats, writers, artists, military and naval men of all our wars, governors of states, church dignitaries, physicians, scientists, senators, representatives, signers of the Declaration of Independence, makers of the Constitution. It is difficult to begin, more so to pause, in such a list.
Annie A. Haxtun has said of one to be mentioned, “John Tilly’s spirit of adventure has fallen upon one, at least of his descendants, General A. W. Greely, the Arctic explorer, watched over by the God of his Pilgrim forefathers, was saved by the naval relief expedition to do good to the country, which is his on a claim of more than two centuries.” It is John and Hope Chipman, daughter of John and Elizabeth Tilly Howland, who are also ancestors of General Greely; and it may here be said that it is partly through his suggestion that the subject of this work was projected (in the smaller form of its first appearance); the other descendant likewiseresponsible wasMr.William Lowrie Marsh, of Washington, D. C., founder of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in that city; the ancestors ofMr.Marsh were William and Alice Bradford.
John and Priscilla Alden, William and Mary Brewster, Richard and Elizabeth Warren and Francis and Hester Cooke have as their descendants those who have been Presidents of the Republic: John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Simpson Grant and William Howard Taft. Also from the Aldens have descended President Wheelock of Dartmouth College and President Kirkland of Harvard.
Bishop Soule of the Methodist Church is in line of descent from George Soule and his wife.
Descendants of Giles Hopkins and Catherine Wheeldon have added distinction to the family. Stephen Hopkins, great grandson of the original, again made the name famous by placing it among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, while his brother, Ezekiel, became the first admiral of our national navy. At the present time it is important through Colonel Thomas S. Hopkins, a veteran of the Civil War, past Governor-General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and a prominent lawyer and resident of Washington, D. C.
In Washington, also,Mr.Ernest W. Bradford, an able patent lawyer, continues the eminence of the name of his ancestors. Washington, likewise, is the residence ofMr.A. A. Aspinwall, historian of thatcity’s Society of Mayflower Descendants, representing John and Elizabeth Howland.
A descendant of Francis and Hester Cooke is Major General Leonard Wood, at present Governor-General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
The late Hon. Levi P. Morton, one time governor of New York State and Vice-President of the United States, was descended from the Hopkins and Cooke as well as Morton families.
From John and Priscilla Alden have come the poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the first Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America, Samuel Seabury; also the Revolutionary War Generals, Joseph and James Warren, the former of Bunker Hill fame, the latter President of the Congress of Massachusetts and husband of Mercy Otis, writer and patriot. Benjamin Church on whom the mantle of Myles Standish fell as Plymouth’s military leader, was the son of Elizabeth Warren and Richard Church.
In line of descent from Mary and William Brewster is a family of North Carolina, interesting in three generations, Chief Justice Richmond Mumford Pearson, Hon. Richmond Pearson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Persia, Captain Richmond Pearson Hobson, a hero of the Spanish American War.
From them also is Donald Grant Mitchel, author, Lieut. Alden Davidson, an aviator in the World War died for his country; as his name implies, John andPriscilla Alden were his ancestors. A great great granddaughter of theirs was Faith Robinson; she married Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, George Washington’s “Brother Jonathan” which name gradually became a synonym for a typical American. She gained fame for giving her scarlet cloak at a church collection for the army, in which she was decidedly interested, having three sons as officers. Her fourth son was the famous artist. Mrs. May Alden Ward, author, was a descendant in a recent generation.
From Mary (Allerton) and Thomas Cushman came America’s famous tragedienne, Charlotte Cushman; alsoMr.Cushman K. Davis, Governor of Minnesota, who made the speech of dedication at the ceremonies connected with the Cushman Monument on Burial Hill.
From Constance Hopkins and her husband Nicholas Snow, Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Robert Treat Paine, poet were descended.
In the convention which framed the Constitution John Tilly and the Howlands were represented by their descendant—through Desire Howland and Captain John Gorham—Nathaniel Gorham, who, as a member, was several times requested by General Washington to occupy the chair.
From this same group came Bishop Philips Brooks. As it is said, John Howland came to this country in the capacity of secretary to Governor John Carver, one, at least, of his and Elizabeth’sdescendants filled that position toward another celebrity. Edward Herbert Noyes, journalist and traveller, first returned to the land of his ancestors as private secretary to Hon. John Lothrop Motley, historian and diplomatist, United States Ambassador to the Court ofSt.James.Rev.Thomas Clap, fourth President of Yale College, was also of the line of Howland, while his wife, Mary Whiting, was descended from Governor Bradford and his wife.
From Mary Chilton and her husband John Winslow, comes Mrs. Robert Hall Wiles, of Chicago, past President of the National Society of United States Daughters of the War of 1812 and now serving as President-General of the National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. From Mary and John Winslow, also, came Lieutenant Sturdevant, another young aviator of the World War, killed over-seas in the service of his country.
For another repetition of the exact name of his ancestor there is Doctor Myles Standish, a noted occulist of Boston. In the medical profession also Doctor Stuart Clark Johnson of Washington and Doctor Ira Hart Noyes of Providence, the first from John and Priscilla Alden, the second from John and Elizabeth Howland, both answering the call of duty to country in the World War, to serve over-seas.
Two residents of Washington are Hon. William S. Washburne—United States Civil Service Commissioner andMr.Frank Herbert Briggs of the Court of Claims—descended respectively from Francisand Hester Cooke, and the Brewster, Bradford and Alden families.
The late Henry Billings Brown, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States was another descendant of John and Elizabeth Howland while the late Seth Shepherd, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, was another representative of the line of William and Mary Brewster.Mr.A. Howard Clark, who was editor of the magazine of the Smithsonian Institution, was a descendant from the Brewsters, Hopkins and Howlands. The name of Howland Davis tells plainly why he has done so much for present day Plymouth and the Society of Mayflower Descendants.
In the United States Senate are three prominent descendants of the Pilgrims. The ancestors of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, chairman of Committee on Foreign Relations, are John and Elizabeth Tilly Howland. The Senators from New York and Vermont, Hon. James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., and Hon. Carroll Smally Page, are descendants respectively from Giles and Catharine Hopkins and William and Mary Brewster.
A descendant in the person of William Wallace Case, has visited Scrooby and brought from there a piece of oak once a part of the old Manor house, home of his ancestors, William and Mary Brewster—this priceless relic has been made into the gavel used by the Governor of the District of Columbia Society of Mayflower Descendants.
In hundreds of cities and towns and villages of the nation there are other and equally consistent representatives of the glorious names of their Plymouth ancestors. As we have seen the men in all the branches of service to their country, the women may be compared no less favorably in what they have rendered. In their nation’s wars, they have ever been faithful, and their efforts as beneficial to the men and cause as were those of their ancestors of their own sex, whose work was as the mortar in the solid foundation wall of the nation they helped to build. Someone has said that always in the history of mankind the woman has been at her best when she has felt herself most needed. Every reason then for her to attract as she appears in pioneer days, in those of the Revolution or War for the Union and in the World War, unfailingly illustrating, unconsciously or not, the age old motto ofNoblesse Oblige.
In hamlet or city, women descendants of Plymouth women upheld the honor of their men and country in Red Cross, Government Loans or “Y.” work during the World War. In the Sanitary Commission and Nursing Units of the Civil War the women’s spirit was the same, and in 1776 when their days were nearest to the pioneer women, the women of the Revolutionary War inheriting the courage and self-forgetfulness, matched the heroism of the men. Thus each generation of women has met the crisis actuated by the same unanimity of purpose and devotion—from each in turn their successors have caught the falling torch, assuring that theyshall not have lived and worked in vain. And they may sleep in peace.
The American women of today must meet the challenge of the women of 1861, 1776 and 1620. She must bear comparison with them in fundamental things. Patriotism, firmness, thrift, decision and resourcefulness, characteristics which are their heritage. As someone has said, “We are living in the tomorrow for which they wrought. We are to do today with all fidelity each bit of work which lies at our hands. This will make our next day brighter and by so much, set the world forward.”
The mission of theMayflowercompany was to open the way for a successful colonization of the New World. Its mission was faithfully performed. In studying the details and circumstances relating to the immortal voyage and settlement of Plymouth—particularly in relation to the women, vested today with supreme interest and in a glamour peculiarly their own, we must feel that that nobility of life may be ours as well as theirs and that it may illuminate the difficult life of today and make it worthy to be the fruit of the tree of Liberty they helped to plant, in tears and smiles.
Realizing the heavy debt that we owe to the men who were led to undertake the settlement of Plymouth we owe an equal if not greater debt to the women who had the courage and spirit to enter with them into the great and epoch making adventure. These make the shrines which we would visit. It is with reverence that we view not only the soil whichfirst they trod but every spot associated with them.
If history as some one has said is in its unchangeable essence a tale, then this particular history is a tale that cannot be too often told or heard, not merely to hold our attention to the past but by its light to look forward with a thrill to the future, to the tasks and service for civilization, under the Providence by which the women of theMayflowerand the women of Plymouth were upheld. This will be the best memorial we can give these women all through the years; the remembrance that cannot fade.