It was probably fortunate that he
died early, as he did, evidently in utter poverty. He had a son,
in 1620, apparently quite a grown youth, from which it is fair to
infer that the father was at that time "about forty." Of his wife
nothing is known. She also died early.
Solomon Prower, who is called by Bradford both "son" and "servant" of
Martin, seems from the fact of his "citation" before the Archdeacon
of Chelmsford, etc., to have been something more than a "servant,"
possibly a kinsman, or foster-son, and probably would more properly
have been termed an "employee." He was from Billerica, in Essex,
and was, from the fact that he did not sign the Compact, probably
under twenty-one or very ill at the time. He died early. Of John
Langemore, his fellow "servant," nothing is known, except that he is
spoken of by Young as one of two "children" brought over by Martin
(but on no apparent authority), and he did not sign the Compact,
though this might have been from extreme illness, as he too died
early.
William White was of the Leyden congregation. He is wrongly called by
Davis a son of Bishop John White, as the only English Bishop of that
name and time died a bachelor. At White's marriage, recorded at the
Stadthaus at Leyden, January 27/February 1, 1612, to Anna [Susanna]
Fuller, he is called "a young man of England." As he presumably was
of age at that time, he must have been at least some twenty-nine or
thirty years old at the embarkation, eight years later. His son
Peregrine was born in Cape Cod harbor. Mr. White died very early.
Susanna (Fuller) White, wife of William, and sister of Dr. Fuller (?),
was apparently somewhat younger than her first husband and perhaps
older than her second. She must, in all probability (having been
married in Leyden in 1612), have been at least twenty-five at the
embarkation eight years later. Her second husband, Governor
Winslow, was but twenty-five in 1620, and the presumption is that
she was slightly his senior. There appears no good reason for
ascribing to her the austere and rather unlovable characteristics
which the pen of Mrs. Austin has given her.
Resolved White, the son of William and Susanna White, could not have been
more than six or seven years old, and is set down by Goodwin and
others - on what seems inconclusive evidence - at five. He was
doubtless born at Leyden.
William Holbeck is simply named as "a servant" of White, by Bradford.
His age does not appear, but as he did not sign the Compact he was
probably "under age." From the fact that he died early, it is
possible that he was too ill to sign.
Edward Thompson is named by Bradford as a second "servant" of Master
White, but nothing more is known of him, except that he did not sign
the Compact, and was therefore probably in his nonage, unless
prevented by severe sickness. He died very early.
Master William Mullens (or Molines, as Bradford some times calls him) is
elsewhere shown to have been a tradesman of some means, of Dorking,
in Surrey, one of the Merchant Adventurers, and a man of ability.
From the fact that he left a married daughter (Mrs. Sarah Blunden)
and a son (William) a young man grown, in England, it is evident
that he must have been forty years old or more when he sailed for
New England, only to die aboard the ship in New Plymouth harbor.
That he was not a French Huguenot of the Leyden contingent, as
pictured by Rev. Dr. Baird and Mrs. Austin, is certain.
Mrs. Alice Mullens, whose given name we know only from her husband's
will, filed in London, we know little about. Her age was (if she
was his first wife) presumably about that of her husband, whom she
survived but a short time.
Joseph Mullens was perhaps older than his sister Priscilla, and the third
child of his parents; but the impression prevails that he was
slightly her junior, - on what evidence it is hard to say. That he
was sixteen is rendered certain by the fact that he is reckoned by
his father, in his will, as representing a share in the planter's
half-interest in the colony, and to do so must have been of that
age.
Priscilla Mullens, whom the glamour of unfounded romance and the pen of
the poet Longfellow have made one of the best known and best beloved
of the Pilgrim band, was either a little older, or younger, than her
brother Joseph, it is not certain which. But that she was over
sixteen is made certain by the same evidence as that named
concerning her brother.
Robert Carter is named by Bradford as a "man-servant," and Mrs. Austin,
in her imaginative "Standish of Standish," which is never to be
taken too literally, has made him (see p. 181 of that book) "a dear
old servant," whom Priscilla Mullens credits with carrying her in
his arms when a small child, etc. Both Bradford's mention and Mr.
Mullens's will indicate that he was yet a young man and "needed
looking after." He did not sign the Compact, which of itself
indicates nonage, unless illness was the cause, of which, in his
case, there is no evidence, until later.
Richard Warren, as he had a wife and five pretty well grown daughters,
must have been forty-five or more when he came over. He is
suggested to have been from Essex.
Stephen Hopkins is believed to have been a "lay-reader" with Mr. Buck,
chaplain to Governor Gates, of the Bermuda expedition of 1609 (see
Purchas, vol. iv. p. 174). As he could hardly have had this
appointment, or have taken the political stand he did, until of
age, he must have been at least twenty-one at that time.
