April 28.......

Plimoth Plantation...yes without a "y" (the town is spelled Plymouth and the original plantation is spelled Plimouth with an "i".  Why you say?  Museum guests often question the unusual spelling of Plymouth in Plimoth Plantation. Plimoth is an old-fashioned spelling used by Governor William Bradford in his history of the colony, Of Plymouth Plantation. This spelling was adopted to differentiate the Museum from the modern town of Plymouth. There were no rules for the spelling of English words in the early 17th century, and each writer did as he or she pleased, phonetically spelling the word as seemed fit – sometimes differently on a single page. Plymouth is spelled a number of ways in colonial documents, including Plymouth, Plimouth, Plymoth, and Plimoth. When Plimoth Plantation was founded, it was decided to use Governor Bradford's most common usage, Plimoth.

Today I realized a dream of going back in time to see where my ancestors came from.....back to my roots.  Let me start at the beginning for those that haven't been entertained by my "I'm a Pilgrim" talk.  Last summer, we were at my aunt's house and we were looking at some old family albums and papers and as I started reading them in depth, I got really excited.  It appeared that a relative in my grandmother's family had put together an extensive family tree with a few branches.  The most exciting one right off the bat was the one that traced her family back to the Mayflower....WOW!  Being the history buff that I am, this was one of the most exciting discoveries that I have ever made for myself personally!  So, I took the basic names and dates that she had written down and traced them on ancestry.com and started my own quest.  I traced the line even further back into Englands middle ages and I am related to royalty....I don't think I will be seeing the crown jewels anytime soon or invited to tea with the Queen but it is just fun to know where you come from.  

My 10th great grandfather was John Alden, a cooper from England (although not a pilgrim by faith but a pilgrim by defintion, in the sense that he left his homeland to come to another), he came over on the Mayflower and is said to be the first one fromt he ship to set foot on Plymouth rock in 1620.  Being just 21, he was a single young man with no family on the journey.  He eventually married Priscilla Mullins, a young gi rl whose family had passed away during the early months of this colony.  This is how Wikipedia describes my(10th) great grandparents: 

 John Alden (1599 – September 12, 1687) is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620.^[1] He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton.^[2] He was also one of the founders of Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. Distinguished for practical wisdom, integrity and decision, he acquired and retained a commanding influence over his associates.^[3] Employed in public business he became the Governor's Assistant, the Duxbury Deputy to the General Court of Plymouth, a member under arms of Capt. Miles Standish's Duxbury Company, a member of Council of War, Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, and Commissioner to Yarmouth

Priscilla was most likely born in Dorking in Surrey, the daughter of William and Alice Mullins. Priscilla was a seventeen-year-old girl when she boarded the Mayflower. She lost her parents and her brother Joseph during the first winter in Plymouth.^[1] She was then the only one of her family in the New World, although she had another brother and a sister who remained in England. She spun wool and flax for the colony, taught children, and helped with the cooking.
John Alden and Priscilla Mullins were likely the third couple to be married in Plymouth Colony. William Bradford’s marriage to Alice Carpenter on August 14, 1624, is known to be the fourth.^[2] The first was that of Edward Winslow and Susannah White in 1621. Francis Eaton’s marriage to his second wife, Dorothy, maidservant to the Carvers, was possibly the second.^[3]
Priscilla is last recorded in the records in 1650, but oral tradition states that she died only a few years before her husband (which would be about 1680). She lies buried at the Miles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury, Massachusetts. While the exact location of her grave is unknown, there is a marker honoring her. 

The John and Priscilla Alden Sites property consists of the c. 1700 Alden house and the c. 1632 original Alden Homestead site. The property owes it significance to the cultural impact of The Courtship of Miles Standish, a poem about the courtship of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, written by Alden descendant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and published in 1858. The public embraced the poem. It became one of the most popular national origin stories in American folklore. The property also is the location of important archeological fieldwork and analysis by Roland Wells Robbins (1908-1987), a pioneer in the field of historical archeology, making the site of national significance in the development in this field. Robbins located and excavated a foundation of the original Alden home in 1960, which yielded nationally significant data that shed light on the lifeways of the first English settlers in North America.^[2]

We arrived at Plimoth Plantation and watched a movie about the Pilgrims and Wamponaug Indians.  We walked down the path to the Wamponaug village.  From there we ventured down the path and entered the gate of the Plimoth village.  There was a blacksmith working in his shop making nails.  Throughout the village, we found residents in their homes. 

this is John and Alden's home in Plimoth

To my disappointment, my 10 great grandfather was not home today.  His neighbors said he was probably working in the common fields gardening, but neither hide nor hair could be found of him. 

We did locate his home and it was fun to see the inside. 

this is the inside of their humble Plimoth home

His home is the only one in Plimoth that has a shingled roof.  The reason for that is that he has the skill needed to make them quickly as he is a cooper (barrel maker) and he is  at word working.  It was fun to see how Grandfather Alden lived and worked.  There is a garden, animals, fort/chapel, community oven and blacksmith shop in the town.    

talking to Mistress Winslow about her food preparation

looking at the cannons in the community house/chapel/fort

We went down to the Craft building to watch artisans creating pottery, weaving, sewing and woodworking.  The pottery was amazing....they make cups, bowls, etc. to be used at the Plimoth Plantation and to sell in the gift shop.  While we were in the gift shop, Gracie lost a tooth.  She has been working on it for a couple days.  It took a while to get it all the way out and she was distressed about it until it came out but she did it and was really excited about it. 

From there we drove to the John Alden House to see the Alden property that was given to John in a 1627 land grant. 

It would be difficult to write a better summary of the significance of the John Alden House than that written by Dorothy Wentworth in the foreword to her publication, The Alden Family in the Alden House:
"There are houses built in the 17th century, but few have survived without 'improvements' such as plumbing, electricity, and modern kitchens. That the property which was granted to the Alden family in the 1620's has never been owned by any other family is remarkable, if not without parallel among historical sites. Today the property is owned by the family association, the Alden Kindred of America."

The house that is standing today was built around 1672.  John and Priscilla may have lived here for a short time and then it was the home of their son, John.  Matt, who runs the house, gave us a tour and let me buy some mementos even though the house is not open yet for the season.  As we walked up to the house, he showed the kids some artifacts that were just found during the garden renovation recently.  That was fun to see and he let the kids touch everything, pottery, nails, and glass.  He was so cool.  He showed us the walk outside with memorial bricks.  There are many names that are relatives and some that are just supporters.

Some Famous Supporters: 

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
Jon Perry (Aerosmith)

Some Famous Relatives: 

President John Quincy Adams
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Marilyn Monroe (rumoured to be a relative)

Inside the house, Matt showed the kids fun house puzzle blocks as an example of how the house has grown and changed over the years.   The house has a really interesting stairway that was called “the good morning stairway”....it is a double stairway that goes along the back of the chimney.  In an old hallway that was made into a closet, the wallpaper is old and peeling away...underneath the wallpaper newspapers can be seen that are dated in the 1800s.  The process then would be to apply the newspaper onto the uneven wall boards to make the surface smooth.   Upstairs, there was a room with childrens toys, a doll and doll cradle.  The wallpaper would be applied onto the newspaper.  I just loved seeing the inside of the house and being able to walk around and hear stories of family that lived there.  One set of brothers had a feud going on when their mother died and left the house to both of them.  They put a wall through the house and one lived on one side and the other on lived on the opposite side....talk about crazy!! 

Plymouth Rock

We hurriedly drove into the town of Plymouth to go aboard the Mayflower II and see Plymouth rock.  The rock is surrounded by an enclosure to protect it from the many people that visit so you can't touch it but you can see it and take pics. 

Imagine, almost 400 years ago my great great great great great great great great great great grandfather stepped off of a weathered ship and placed his worn leather boot onto this rock and then the land of this beach.....wow! So cool!  Over the years the rock has been moved to protect it and it actually split into two pieces and was then repaired glued back together and placed here. 

Across the way, we could see the Mayflower II, a recreation of the ship that crossed the sea and brought these folks to this new land.  We boarded the gangplank and explored the ship.  Christian was looking for the cannons.....There were 3 sailors aboard that told us all about the journey across the sea and what it would have been like to have 120 passengers and crew aboard....cramped, smelly and not all together pleasant in any way.  Many of the passengers were sick and the sailors took to making fun of them, calling them pukestockings.....being mostly made up of Christians, the passengers turned the other cheek and at one point nursed the sailors that ended up taking sick.  Ironic, isn't it??