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.

Robert Waterman of Marshfield, Massachusetts (1616-1652)

The life of Robert Waterman has been detailed in the Waterman Descendants book by Edgar Francis Waterman in 1939.  Fortunately Google Books has digitized the entire volume and provides it for free to those searching for Robert and his descendants!  Thank you Google and thank you Edgar for researching and writing it down!

Here is an excerpt about my 10th great grandfather (on my mother's side), Robert Waterman with my notes in [brackets]:

Robert Waterman first appears in Plymouth County [Massachusetts] records in 1638, when he married a daughter [Elizabeth] of Mr. Thomas Bourne, an original Marshfield settler, and a citizen of standing. Through this marriage, he became brother-in-law of John Bradford, eldest son of [Mayflower Pilgrim] Gov. William Bradford [and Dorothy May Bradford], and also of Josiah Winslow, a brother of [Mayflower Pilgrim] Gov. Edward Winslow.

Ten months later, Robert was fined for intemperance [drinking enough alcohol to be under the influence! At that time, everyone drank alcohol - mostly beer - even for breakfast, but not being able to handle it was illegal!], and since the other three who fell under the displeasure of the Court at the same time for the same offense were all called "Mister," the prefix of respect for social standing, it appears that the young Waterman fell into error in good company. No further entry of this kind has been found, and he was not long after honored by his fellow-townsmen with important offices, so it seems fair to attribute the one lapse from sobriety to inexperience. [This is Pilgrim talk for one and done!]

A letter written by Edward Winslow to John Winthrop [Puritan leader and another of my 10th great grandfathers], dated Plymouth, 7 July 1640 shows that Winslow was indebted to Winthrop, and discharged the debt by payment in cattle [which Robert delivered by boat]. 

"Concerning your acceptance of the five cows I am willing to send them, & becawse the wether is so

hott, the flies so busie, & the woods so thick, I have agreed with Robert Waterman to bring them by water. I pray you send me a receipt under your hand for them upon the back of the note or bill I left with you." 

He was made a freeman of the Colony, 7 Mar 1642, and immediately became one of the two Grand Jurors for Marshfield. He served the town as Committee Deputy in the General Court of the Colony, 1643 to 1644 and 1646 to 1650.  

On 27 Sep 1643, Mr. Thomas Bourne, Robert Waterman, John Bourne, Roger Cook, and John Russell were appointed to keep watch at Thomas Bourne's house. Robert was a member of the military company in Marshfield. 

In 1645 he was one of the twelve men in Marshfield to establish a public school, one of the earliest in New England.

Early in 1651 he was found guilty of an offense, the exact nature of which is not known, save that the charge was made by Sarah wife of James Pitney of Marshfield. The wording of the record is not pleasant, but should not be construed too harshly, remembering that comparatively trivial episodes, such as a kiss in fun or a casual caress, were serious infractions of Puritan manners. The [small] size of the fine indicates that Waterman sinned against the manners of the period rather than against morality. 

There is little on which to base a characterization of Robert Waterman. Well connected by marriage, he possessed some native ability, sufficient to warrant his neighbors in returning him to the General Court for several terms. He seems to have been of a social disposition, and perhaps was too jovial or exuberant in temperament to suit the staid manners of the period. [I inherited this trait!] 

He died in the prime of life, probably under forty years. [Since then, we know his death was in 1642 at age 36 leaving behind his young widow Elizabeth and their 10-year-old son John who grew up to marry Ann Stuartevant and have 6 healthy children who survived to adulthood!]