John Billington and His Family

As a new member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, I was thrilled to be able to sign up my 4 grandkids in the Junior Society.  I also wanted to share information about their ancestors, the John Billington family. 
Unfortunately, almost everything I found about him was written from a very negative point of view.  So I conducted a deep-dive search and found a very different picture of him than what William Bradford wrote.  (Imagine if your biggest enemy wrote your history for your descendants!)
Here is what I found about the John Billington family to share with their 13th great grandchildren:

In 1620, long ago when going to school was a luxury and there were no cars or planes for travel, 102 strong and adventurous men, women, and children left their warm homes and sailed on a small ship across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.  They landed in what today we call Plymouth, Massachusetts where there were no friends to welcome them and no houses to protect them. 

Some left England because they wanted the right to worship God and pray without being told how to do it by the king.  Some left because they wanted a better opportunity for their children.

These Pilgrims included your ancestors, John and Elinor Billington and their teenage sons John, Jr. and Francis.  When half of the Pilgrims died from cold and thirst that first winter, our ancestors survived and tended to the sick by keeping them warm and fed – and did it without grumbling or complaining.

John Billington was one of those who signed the Mayflower Compact, the first American agreement that said all men had the right to vote for their leadership!  He was considered a friendly, fun man who laughed a little too much for 1620.  In fact, when the men were exploring the forest for a place to build their town, they came upon an Indian deer trap with a rope and a deep hole.  While one of the men was explaining what it was, William Bradford pushed his way through to see what it was. He stepped right into the trap which swung him upside down into the tree!  While everyone giggled, John Billington laughed the loudest!  Would you have laughed, too?

After more than 90 days cooped up in the Mayflower, young Francis was so bored he decided to have a little target practice!  In the wooden boat!  Near the powder kegs!  He could have blown up the whole ship, but he didn’t.

Once all the Pilgrims got off the Mayflower, John, Jr. spent his time hunting and exploring.  One time he wandered more than 30 miles away!  He was found by a warring Indian tribe who brought him back covered with beads and feathers.  This was the first time the Pilgrims got to meet with that tribe and pay for the corn they took when they first arrived.

Unfortunately, John Sr., who was protecting his land from a known poacher, shot at the man and nicked him in the shoulder.  He rushed him back to town where the man died, but not before the poacher told everyone that John had murdered him.  As a result, John was hung by William Bradford, the man who was swinging in the tree while John laughed. 

Later, when Elinor was a widow with 9 grandchildren, a newcomer demanded that he should have her land because she was old.  She wanted to give it to her family, but the town officials took it from her and gave it to him.  When Elinor complained to her friends about it, this newcomer sued her for slander!  And won!  She was whipped and fined for complaining about losing the land that she had earned as an original Pilgrim.  Would you have complained if they took your land?

The Billington family came from Lincoln County in England.  They had moved to London where John was a merchant whose business wasn’t doing so well.  That’s why he decided to take that huge risk and buy a one-way ticket to the New World for his family.  Aren’t you glad he did?  That’s why we are here!

The Pilgrim Maiden Who Chose to Return

Young Desire Minter is one of only five Mayflower Pilgrims who - after making that treacherous voyage to eke out a new life in the wilds of Massachusetts - returned to England for good.  And she was the only female to make that decision on her own.  Who was Desire Minter? Why wasn’t she traveling with her parents? And why would she return to the Old World?

Let’s explore the rest of the story...

Desire was born about 1602 to William Minter and Sarah Willet Minter possibly in Norwich, Norfolk, England, where her parents were from.  Since they had no other children, her name might have meant it was their great desire to have a child! 

Norwich is 127 miles from Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, where William Brewster hosted the first illegal religious meetings that created the Pilgrims.

When little Desire was about eight, William Brewster and John Robinson lead their burgeoning flock from the dangers of the Church of England to the freedom of The Netherlands. The Pilgrims eventually would start a new religion in the little town of Leiden, south of Amsterdam.

We don’t know when Desire’s family joined up with this new congregation.  But we do know that when she was 11, her father William became a citizen of Leiden. To be able to work and own property in a town at that time, you had to become a citizen which meant you agreed to spend time being watched, judged, and voted on to ensure you are worthy of living in the town!

The Minter family prospered in Leiden, and when Desire was 12, her father bought a house on the Groenhasegracht (Green hair moat) near Pieterskerk (St. Peters Church) near the little Pilgrim enclave.   

As a 13-year-old, Desire may have accompanied her mother Sarah to the wedding of Roger Charles and Isabel Chilton. Sarah witnessed at least four marriages around that that time.  As the Colony’s midwife, she was a useful woman to know! Another friend of the bride, Katherine White Carver, wife of the future colony’s first governor, also witnessed this marriage.

Sadly, sometime during the winter of 1617-18, Desire’s father dies.  Single mothers do not do well in the 1600s, so while mom seeks out another husband, Desire is likely put in the care of another family. Because of his commitment to her later in life, I think it is with the family of Thomas Brewer.

Brewer is one of the three printers who form Pilgrim Press.  

Along with William Brewster and Edward Winslow, the trio publishes seditious booklets whose adversaries reach all the way to King James in England!  Talk about enemies in high places!  As a result, the men become wanted criminals.  Brewster escapes to the safety of Scrooby Manor where he has the resources to hide for three years until the Mayflower can bring them to the New World.  Winslow is too young to pursue.  But Brewer gets caught. Fortunately, he is able to talk his way out of prison, at least for a time.

Sarah is successful in her pursuit of a new husband.  On 18 August 1618, she marries Roger Simmons (also written as Simmonson).  However, Desire does not live with them.

Barely 18, Desire boards the Mayflower bound for Plymouth Colony in the wilds of Massachusetts, as a ward of John Carver, colony governor and his wife Katherine, Sarah’s friend.  Another young ward they are responsible for is Jasper More. At 12, he is one of the four More children who are pawns in a divorce battle. Jasper is also the first child to die that winter in Plymouth Harbor. 

In addition to their young wards, the Carvers have three servants: Roger Wilder (who died that winter), Dorothy (last name unknown) who married Francis Eaton and later died, and John Howland, a memorable and strong young man.

During a fierce storm at sea one night, Howland was washed overboard and should have drowned!  But miraculously, in the dark, his hand brushed a rope that was attached to the ship. Grabbing it, the sailors were able to pull him back aboard!  His courage must have made him very attractive!

Pilgrim Maiden Statue in Plymouth, MA

After the Pilgrims eventually reached land and built tiny wooden shacks to live in, they all worked hard to plant crops so they could survive another winter.  No one worked harder at this than Governor John Carver and his wife Katherine.  So much so that both of them died – he from heat exhaustion and she, it is said, from a broken heart.

So now Desire is on her own.  Likely leaning for support on John Howland who is no longer a servant. Her stepfather Roger Simmons dies back in Leiden and she may have received mail about it prompting her to consider returning.  

Within the typical 3 months though, Sarah remarries. This time to Roger Eastman. It’s not clear from the paper trail if Desire received word about this marriage.

In the 1623 land division, Desire is given one acre of land - the portion that every Pilgrim adult earned.  On this land she would have to build her own house.  In addition, she would be expected to help grow the communal crops for food.  This is where the help of a husband would come in handy.  

Desire looked around and saw her friend John Howland.  Unfortunately for her, he chose instead to marry Mayflower orphan Elizabeth Tilley.  Perhaps as a tribute, when their first child was born the next year, they named her Desire.

I think that might have been the impetus for Desire to go back to England. Or it could be the agreement that had transpired in Leiden between Thomas Brewer and Roger Eastman, Sarah’s latest husband. For reasons known only to Brewer, he volunteered to pay Desire 120 guilders a year for her care and education. And on her 21^st birthday, he would gift her 1900 guilders (about $120,000 today).

Why do you think Desire returned? Not to Leiden, but to England? Whatever the reason, she lived quietly until one of the many plagues of the day struck her down at age 50.