List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–21

During the first winter in the New World, the Mayflower colonists suffered greatly from diseases like scurvy, lack of shelter, and general conditions on board ship.^[1] Forty-five of the 102 immigrants died the first winter and were buried on Cole's Hill.^[2]

These persons * who died in the winter of 1620-1621 were most likely originally buried in unmarked graves in the Coles Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1921 some of the remains of persons originally buried on that hill were collected into the sarcophagus that is the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb on Cole's Hill in Plymouth. Many of the persons listed here are named on the Tomb.^[3]

Men

• John Allerton*
• Richard Britteridge*, December 21
• William Butten/Button, November 6/16 on board Mayflower. Buried either at sea or later possibly ashore. Memorial in Provincetown. (a young man)^[4]
• Robert Carter*, after February 21
• James Chilton*, 8/18 on board Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor. Most likely buried ashore. Memorial in Provincetown. Signor of the Mayflower Compact.
• Richard Clarke*
• John Crackstone Sr.*
• Thomas English* hired to master a shallop but died in the winter.
• Moses Fletcher*
• Edward Fuller*
• John Goodman*
• William Holbeck*
• John Langmore*
• 'Edmund Margesson*
• Christopher Martin*, January 8
• William Mullins*' February 21
• Degory Priest*, January 1
• John Rigsdale*
• Thomas Rogers*
• Elias Story*
• Edward Thompson, December 4/14 on board Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor. Most likely buried ashore. Memorial in Provincetown.
• Edward Tilley*
• 'John Tilley*
• Thomas Tinker*
• John Turner*
• William White*, February 21, 1621.
• Roger Wilder*
• Thomas Williams*

Women

• Mary (Norris) Allerton*, of Newbury, England, wife of Isaac Allerton, died February 25, 1621, reportedly in childbirth, baby was stillborn. Remains later interred in Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts^[5][6]
• Dorothy (May) Bradford, December 7/17 drowned while on board Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor. Her body was never recovered, Memorial in Provincetown.
• Margaret Chilton* (first name was unknown)(Mrs. James Chilton)
• Sarah Eaton*
• Mrs. Edward Fuller*
• Mary (Prower) Martin*, January 11
• Alice Mullins*, February 22–28
• Alice Rigsdale*
• Agnes (Cooper) Tilley*
• Joan (Hurst) Tilley*
• Mrs. Thomas Tinker*
• Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow*, March 24. Remains later interred in Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts.^[7]
• Rose Standish* January 29 - grave unknown

Children

Mayflower plaque in St. James Church in Shipton, Shropshire commemorating the More children baptism. courtesy of Phil Revell

• Elinor (Ellen) More, age 8 died in Plymouth January 1621. She died of the disease pneumonia. Name is on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• Jasper More, age 7, died on board the Mayflower on December 6, 1620. Buried ashore in the Provincetown area.
• Mary More, age 4 died in the winter of 1620. Location of her remains unknown. Name is represented on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• Joseph Mullins*, age 14, February 22–28
• Solomon Prower*, age ca. 14-17, December 24
• the son of Thomas Tinker*
• both sons of John Turner*

Statistics by month

Winter

According to Bradford's Register,^[8] a contemporary source

• November, 1
• December, 6
• January, 8, 11
• February, 17
• March, 13

Spring

• April uncertain, between 1 and 5^[9] (including Governor John Carver, not in above list)
• May or June, at least 1 (Mrs. Katherine (White) Carver*, not in above list)

Four deaths occurred in months unknown before the first Thanksgiving bringing the total deaths to 51.

References

1. Rothbard, Murray Rothbard (1975). ""The Founding of Plymouth Colony"". Conceived in Liberty 1. Arlington House Publishers.
2. 1998, Pilgrim Hall Museum, accessed August 29, 2006/
3. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2272036
4. Charles Edward Banks. ‘’The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers’’ (Grafton Press N.Y. 1929) p. 42
5. Mintz, S. (2003). Childbirth in Early America,
6. Ruth Wilder Sherman, CG, FASG, and Robert Moody Sherman, CG, FASG, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Family of Isaac Allerton, Vol. 13 3rd edition (Pub. by General Society of Mayflower Descendants 2006) p. 5.
7. New England Historical Genealogical Society http://www.americanancestors.org/pilgrim-families-edward-winslow/
8. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project MAYFLOWER PASSENGER DEATHS, 1620-1621 , 2000, Patricia Scott Deetz and James Deetz, accessed August 29, 2006
9. The death dates of Alice Mullins* and her son Joseph* are not clear, perhaps after April 5 when the Mayflower left with her husband William's will naming them as heirs but with no attachment concerning their deaths.

Notes

• List of deaths and dates as shown in Chronological History of New England by Thomas Prince in 1737, from the register of deaths compiled by William Bradford, which was lost during the Revolutionary War. Can be seen at Mayflower passenger deaths, 1620-1621
• Women on the Mayflower, MayflowerHistory.com, accessed August 29, 2006.

Further reading

• Glenn Alan Cheney. Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims' First Year in America, (New London: New London Librarium, 2007) ISBN 978-0-9798039-0-1
• Nathaniel Philbrick, Nathaniel. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, (New York: Viking, 2006) ISBN 0-670-03760-5