Taproom Artifacts: The Mayflower Passengers in Print

On September 16th, 1620, 102 passengers and 30 sailors set forth from England on board the Mayflower. Bound for America, the ship spent ten grueling weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean before landing near present day Cape Cod on November 19th, 1620. In the crossing, William Button, a servant of Samuel Fuller died. Over the following months, the Mayflower departed in early April of 1621 leaving the Pilgrims to fend for themselves. From the start, they were ill-prepared for the harshness of winter in the new land. If not for the assistance of the Native Americans, they would have suffered a fate similar to Jamestown where in 1607, 440 of the 500 settlers died within six months. Still, the Pilgrims suffered badly of starvation and diseases including pneumonia, scurvy, and tuberculosis. The Governor and his wife passed in late April of 1621 as the deaths continued. By the first Thanksgiving, only 50 of the original pilgrims were still living.

Inside the event space at Lost Worlds hangs a poster in remembrance of the Pilgrims. It identifies those who sailed across the Atlantic in search of religious freedom – and those who survived the hardships of the new world to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.