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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE TERM
PILGRIM FATHERS

BY
ALBERT MATTHEWS

REPRINTED FROM
THE PUBLICATIONS OF
€^E Colonial M>otiet^ of St^asffiacljutfettsi
Vol. XVII

CAMBRIDGE
JOHN WILSON AND SON
SEntomttg Press
191S

Ch

3.B7

THE TERM
PILGRIM FATHERS
AND
EARLY CELEBRATIONS OF FOREFATHERS' DAY

Under the auspices of the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Associa
tion, on August 20, 1907, was laid the corner-stone of the monument
at Provincetown commemorating the landing there of the May
flower passengers on November 11-21, 1620. In his address de
livered upon that occasion, President Roosevelt said:
The coining hither of the Puritan three centuries ago shaped the
destinies of this continent, and therefore profoundly affected the des
tiny of the whole world. . . . We cannot as a nation be too profoundly
grateful for the fact that the Puritan has stamped his influence so deeply
on our national life. . . . The splendid qualities which he left to his
children, we other Americans who are not of Puritan blood also claim
as our heritage. You, sons of the Puritans, and we, who are descended
from races whom the Puritans would have deemed alien — we are all
Americans to-day. We all feel the same pride in the genesis, in the his
tory of our people; and therefore this shrine of Puritanism is one at

294 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
which we all gather to pay homage, no matter from what country our
ancestors sprang.^
In the early part of this address, which later became political, the
speaker used the words Puritan and Puritanism frequently, but
the terms Pilgrim and Pilgrim Fathers not once; and his hearers
listened in vain for a contrast between the Pilgrims of the Plymouth
CAlony and the Puritans of the Massachusetts Colony. There was
considerable dismay in this part of the country — a dismay not
allayed when it became known that the President had only just
learned of the existence of such a distinction.^

' Boston Evening Transcript, August 20, 1907, p. 1/7. An editorial note in
the Boston Evening Transcript of August 23, 1907, reads:
The Springfield Republican says: "It is as much popular impression that the
Pilgrims were Puritans as that the witches of Salem were burned at the stake."
If so, it is a good thing the mistake has been pubMcly made in high circles. It
will tend to dispel a gross popular error (p. 8/2).
This paragraph is so awkwardly expressed as to leave its precise meaning some
what uncertain, but apparently the "gross popular error" is the belief that the
Pilgrim Fathers were Puritans.
The following skit appeared in the New York Sun of September 10, 1907,
p. 4/6:
THE REVISED CONSTITUTION.
I, the President of the United States, in order to form a more decent govem
ment, provide for the common regulation, promote the welfare of desirable citi
zens and secure the blessings of My Policies to posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America: . . .
ARTICLE VI.
Section 1 — The "PUgrims" shall be called "Puritans" after this date.
2 I refer to and quote from the speech as actually delivered and given to the
press by Mr. Roosevelt. It appears, however, that the two following remarks
were made by the President as an extemporaneous introductory to his oration:
Men and women of Massachusetts: Let me at the outset ask to be excused
for one error in my speech of which I was unaware until I read it to a Massa
chusetts man. I have mixed up the Pilgrim and the Puritan.
Out in a remote region hke New York we tend to confound men. I ask your
pardon for not having appreciated the difference between them. When, there
fore, I speak of the Puritan, I speak in the large generic sense that takes the
Pilgrim in (Boston Herald, August 21, 1907, p. 31).
And in the speech as afterwards (1911) printed in E. J. Carpenter's The
Pilgrims and their Monument, the first sentence quoted in the text was altered so
as to read as follows: "The coming hither of the Pilgrims three hundred years

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 295
It is perhaps well for us New Englanders, who are too apt to in
sist that the Mayflower Compact' was the beginning of constitu
tional government in this country, and too prone to forget that a
legislative assembly met in Virginia a year before the sailing of the
Mayflower, to have our cherished notions challenged or ignored.
For, after all, the distinction that we in New England now so sharply
draw between the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony and the Puritans
of the Massachusetts Colony is one of somewhat recent growth, is
more or less local, and is still far from being universally recognized.
It is not a little singular that, in spite of the numerous volumes
that have been written about the Pilgrims and the Puritans, it has
hitherto occurred to no one to investigate the term Pilgrim Fathers.
What is the history of this term? What is its origin? Is its applica
tion appropriate? What is its precise meaning? Why are the set
tlers who came before 1692 to what is now the State of Massachu
setts differentiated as the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony and the
Puritans of the Massachusetts Colony? The present paper is an
attempt to answer these questions.
History of the Term
Forefathers' Day was first celebrated at Plymouth in 1769 and in
Boston in 1797 or 1798. Accounts in some detail will be given of
the celebrations at Plymouth down to 1820 and of the early Boston
celebrations. It will perhaps be thought that these accounts are
unnecessarily long. Ordinarily, in illustrating the history of a term,
it is necessary to quote only the sentence containing the term in

ago, followed in far larger numbers by their sterner kinsmen, the Puritans,
shaped the destinies of this continent, and therefore profoundly affected the
destiny of the whole world" (pp. 74^75).
' The word "compact" was first applied to this document, as I am informed
by Mr. George E. Bowman, in 1793 (1 Massachusetts Historical Collections, ii. 6
note). A few earlier terms may be given: "an Association and Agreement,"
1622 (Mourt's Relation, in Arber's Story of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 409); "a
combination," 1630, Bradford (History of Plymouth Plantation, ed. Ford, i.
189), and 1636 (Plsrmouth Colony Records, xi. 6, 74); "a Solemn Contract,"
1736 (T. Prince, Chronological History of New-England, i. 73; "the covenant,"
1773 (C. Turner, Sermon, 1774, p. 21 note); "a solemn contract," 1793 (C. Rob-
bins, Sermon, 1794, p. 33). The exaggerated language usually apphed to the
compact apparently originated with John Quincy Adams in 1802 (Oration, 1803,
pp. 17-18, 20), before which time little attention was paid to it.

296 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
question and enough of the context to show clearly its exact mean
ing. The present case, however, is an unusual one in that passages
which do not contain the term Pilgrim Fathers may yet be of value
in showing exactly what those who did employ the term meant by
it. There are other reasons, too, which make it desirable to quote
in full many of the accounts. The half-century from 1769 to 1820
was a momentous one in our history. The writers about to be
quoted witnessed the American Revolution, the adoption of the
Federal Constitution, our strained relations with France at the close
of the eighteenth century, the transfer of the national government
from the Federalists to the Republicans or Democrats, the purchase
of Louisiana, the abolition of slavery in some of the States and the
prohibition of the importation of slaves into the country, the War
of 1812 with England, and "the era of good feelings" which was
ushered in by the inauguration of President Monroe.' Moreover, it
was a period when people took their politics very seriously, when
party feeling was extremely bitter, and when antagonists applied
to one another epithets that now, fortunately, are seldom encoun
tered in poHtical warfare. In addition, that period saw the intro
duction of an American episcopate, the spread of Unitarianism,
and many departures from the customs and manners of "the
fathers." The feelings engendered by these great political, religious,
and social changes are reflected in the discourses delivered on
Forefathers' Day and even more in the newspaper accounts of the
celebrations.
Plymouth Celebrations
On January 13, 1769, twelve young men, —
having maturely weighed and seriously considered the many disadvan
tages and inconveniences that arise from intermixing with the company
at the taverns in this town of Plymouth, and apprehending that a well
regulated club will have a tendency to prevent the same, and to increase
not only the pleasure and happiness of the respective members, but also

' These historic words headed an editorial note in the Columbian Centinel of
July 12, 1817, beginning: "During the late Presidential Jubilee many persons
have met at festive boards, in pleasant converse, whom party politics had long
severed. We recur with pleasure to all the circumstances which attended the
demonstrations of good feelings" (p. 2/3).

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 297
will conduce to their edification and instruction, do hereby incorporate
ourselves into a society by the name of the Old Colony Club.'
On Wednesday, December 20, 1769, it was —
Voted, That Friday nest be kept by this Club in commemora
tion of the first landing of our worthy ancestors in this place. ^
That the Club dine together at M' Rowland's,^ and that a number
of gentlemen be invited to spend the evening with us at the Old Col
ony Han.*
Accordingly on December 22^ the celebration took place:

• 2 Proceedings Massachusetts Historical Society, iii. 389. The Records of
the Old Colony Club are printed in this volume, pp. 381-444. References in this
paper to these Records are to that volume.
^ The Mayflower passengers who landed at Provincetown on November 11-21
landed from the Mayflower itself. The popular notion that those who landed at
Plymouth on December 11-21 also landed from the Mayflower is a mistake.
There were three expeditions — or "discoveries," as the term then was — from
the Mayflower. The first, consisting of Standish and sixteen men, was a land
expedition and lasted from November 15-25 to November 17-27. The second,
consisting of •thirty-four men, was in the shallop, and lasted from November 27-
December 7 to November 30-December 10. The third, consisting of seventeen
men (of whom John Alden was not one), also in the shallop, started on December
6-16; reached Clark's Island on Friday, December 8-18; landed at Pljrmouth
on Monday, December 11-21; and returned on December 12-22 to the Mayflower,
which reached Plymouth on Saturday, December 16-26. (Narrative and Criti
cal History of America, iii. 270-272 and note.) Hence those traditions are with
out foundation which state that the first person to land on Plymouth Rock was
either Mary Clulton or John Alden. The landing from the Mayflower, it may
be added, was not completed untU about March 21-31, 1621: see Mourt's
Relation, ed. Dexter, p. 90.
^ Thomas Southworth Howland.
* Records, p. 400.
^ The legal change in England and the American colonies from Old Style to
New Style took place in September, 1752, there then being a difference of eleven
days. The members of the Old Colony Club, all of whom were young men, were
probably not aware of the fact that in the seventeenth century the difference was
ten days, not eleven. Hence the error in the date of celebrating Forefathers' Day.
In a sermon delivered in Boston December 22, 1820, the Rev. James Sabine said:
"The reader must bear in mind, that all the dates and events, in relation to our
Fathers, are Old Style, an allowance of eleven days therefore must be made; as,
for instance, the Fathers landed the 11th. December, which in New Style, is the
22d" (The Fathers of New England, 1821, p. 31). The error was apparently
first pointed out in 1832 by Dr. James Thacher in his History of the Town of
Plymouth (pp. 15 note, 25 note). In his Discourse (p. 53) delivered at Plymouth
December 22, 1832, the Rev. Convers Francis also called attention to the error.

298 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [DEC.
Old Colony Day.
Friday, December 22. The Old Colony Club, agreeable to a vote
passed the 20th instant, met in commemoration of the landing of their
worthy ancestors in this place. On the morning of said day, after dis
charging a cannon, was hoisted upon the Hall an elegant silk flag with
the following inscription, "Old Colony 1620." At eleven o'clock a.m.
the members of the Club appeared at the Hall, and from thence pro
ceeded to the house of M"' Howland, innholder (which is erected upon the
spot where the first hcensed House in the Old Colony formerly stood).
At half after two a decent repast was served up, which consisted of the
following dishes; namely, —

citing Thacher. On December 15, 1849, the Pilgrim Society appointed a com
mittee "to consider the expediency of celebrating in future the Landing of the
Pilgrims, on the twentyfirst day of December, instead of the twentysecond;" in
1850 the committee made its Report (see p. 390, below, for fuU title); and on
May 27, 1850, the Pilgrim Society " Voted, That this Society will hereafter regkrd
the twentyfirst day of December, as the true anniversary of the Landing of the
Pilgrims" (Report, p. 2; New England Historical and Genealogical Register, iv.
350). In a discourse delivered at Dedham December 21, 1851, the Rev. Alvan
Lamson (The Memory of John Robinson, 1852, pp. 4—5, 39-40) noted the old
error, citing Thacher.
The practice of the Pilgrim Society has been somewhat erratic. In October,
1862, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register remarked: "We
beheve, however, that the force of habit has proved stronger than the love of
truth, and that the Pflgrim Society has rescinded its vote [of May 27, 1850], and
again celebrates the 22d of December" (xvi. 347-348). In July, 1871, the same
journal said: "The Pilgrim Society have lately again given their sanction to the
celebration of the true day, the last anniversary . . . having been commemo
rated by them on the 21st of December, 1870" (xxv. 302-303 note). But on
May 29, 1882, the Pilgrim Society voted: "While we recognize the historical fact
that the passengers on the shallop of the Mayflower' landed on Plymouth Rock
on the 11th of December, 1620, and that the twenty-first of the new style corre
sponds to the day of landing, yet in view of the fact that the twenty-second has
been hallowed by an observance during a period of over one hundred years, and
consecrated by the words of Winslow, Webster, Everett, Adams, Seward and
many other great orators of our land, it is hereby resolved that hereafter the
twenty-second of December be observed by the Pilgrim Society as the anni
versary of the landing of the Pflgrims" (Register, xxxvi. 327). This vote
led the Register to remark: "This action is surprising. It seems that the
anniversary henceforth to be celebrated at Plymouth is not that of the land
ing of the Pilgrims, but of the orations of their eloquent eulogists." A singular
error occurs in the vote of the Pilgrim Society: Seward's oration in 1855 was
delivered on December 21st, not the 22d. By 1895, however, the Pilgrim Society
had returned to its vote of May 27, 1850, and December 21st is now the anni
versary day.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 299
1. A large baked Indian whortleberry pudding.
2. A dish of sauquetash.'
3. A dish of clams.
4. A dish of oysters and a dish of codfish.
5. A haunch of venison roasted by the first jack brought to the Colony.
6. A dish of sea-fowl.
7. A ditto of frost-fish and eels.
8. An apple pie.
9. A course of cranberry tarts, and cheese made in the Old Colony; dressed
in the plainest manner (aU appearances of luxury and extravagance being avoided,
in imitation of our worthy ancestors whose memory we shall ever respect).
At four o'clock p.m., the members of our Club, headed by the steward
carrying a folio volume of the laws of the Old Colony ,2 hand in hand
marched in procession to the Hall. Upon the appearance of the proces
sion in front of the Hall a number of descendants from the first settlers
in the Old Colony drew up in a regular file and discharged a volley
of small arms, succeeded by three cheers, which were returned by the
Club, and the gentlemen generously treated. After this appeared at
the Private Grammar School opposite the Hall a number of young gen
tlemen, pupils of M'' Wadsworth,^ who to express their joy upon this
occasion, and their respect for the memory of their ancestors, in the
most agreeable maimer joined in singing a song ^ very applicable to the
day. At sun setting a cannon was discharged and the flag struck.
In the evening the Hall was illuminated, and the following gentlemen
(being previously invited) joined the Club; . . .

1 Succotash as made at Plymouth is a soup. For the following recipe I am
indebted to Miss Catherine E. Russell:
Bofl two fowls in a large kettle of water. At the same time boil in another
kettle one-half pound of lean pork and two quarts of common white beans, until
like soup. When the fowls are boiled, skim off the fat and add a small piece of
corned beef, one-half of a turnip sliced and cut small, and five or six potatoes
sliced thin When cooked tender, take out the fowls and keep them in the oven
with the pork. The soup of beans and pork should be added to the water the
fowls and beef were bofled in. Add salt and pepper. Four quarts of hulled com
having been bofled soft are added to the soup. Before serving, add the meat of
one fowl. The second fowl should be served separately, as also the corned beef
and pork.
2 Foho editions of the Plymouth Colony Laws were printed in 1672 and 1685.
' Peleg Wadsworth (H. C. 1769) taught a private school in Plymouth.
* This was apparently John Dickinson's famous Liberty Song, written in 1768.
"The song was recently discovered among the papers of the late Benjamin M.
Watson, Esq. of this town, with a memo, appended, stating it to have been sung
at the first pubhc celebration of the anniversary, by the O. C. Club, Dec. 22d,
1769" (W. S. Russell, Airs of the PUgrims, appended to his Guide to Plymouth,
1846, p. 14).

300 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
The President (being seated in a large and venerable chair which was
formerly possessed by William Bradford, the second worthy Governor
of the Old Colony, and presented to the Club by our friend Dr. Lazarus
LeBaron of this town) dehvered the following toasts successively to the
company; namely, —
1. To the memory of our hrave and pious ancestors the first settlers of the
Old Colony.
2. To the memory of John Carver and all the other worthy governors of the
Old Colony.
3. To the memory of that pious man and faithful historian Mr. Secretary
Morton.' 4. To the memory of that brave man and good officer Cap* MOes Standish.
6. To the memory of Mtissasoit, our first and best friend and ally of the natives.
6. To the memory of Mr. Robert Cushman, who preached the first sermon
in New England.^
7. The union of the Old Colony and Massachusetts.
8. May every person be possessed with the same noble sentiments against
arbitrary power that our worthy ancestors were endowed with.
9. May every enemy of civfl or religious liberty meet the same or a worse
fate than Archbishop Laud.
10. May the Colonies be speedfly dehvered from aU the burdens and op
pressions they now labor under.
11. A speedy and lasting union between Great Britain and her Colonies.
12. Unanimity, prosperity, and happiness to the Colonies.
After spending the evening in an agreeable manner in recapitulating
and conversing upon the many and various adventures of our forefathers
in the first settlement of this country and the growth and increase of
the same, at eleven o'clock in the evening a cannon was again fired,
three cheers given, and the Club and company withdrew.^
On December 19, 1770, it was —

' Nathaniel Morton came in the Anne in 1623.
2 Robert Cushman arrived in the Fortune in November, 1621, and, though a
layman, preached a sermon on December 9-19 following which was printed in
London in 1622. The statement that this was "the first sermon preached in
New England," though often made, is a mistake. On Sunday, August 9, and
again on August 19, 1607, the Rev. Richard Seymour preached sermons at St.
George's Island, Maine, to the Popham colony. (Collections Maine Historical
Society, 1853, iii. 298, 301.) In 1820 the Rev. J. Sabine expressed the opinion
that the 1620 sermon was written by Brewster, not Cushman (The Fathers of
New England, 1821, pp. 10-11, 31).
' Records, pp. 400-405. This account, substantially as given in the text, was
printed in the Boston Gazette of January 22, 1770, p. 2/1; and in the Boston
News Letter of January 25, 1770, p. 1/1.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 301
agreed upon and resolved that the twenty-second day of Decern) )er, be
ing the day of the first landing of our pious forefathers in this town,
and which has been kept as a solemn festival in commemoration of the
heroic transaction, falling in this year upon Saturday,' being an unsuit
able time for that purpose, it was therefore resolved that Monday the
24th of this instant be set apart and religiously kept for that purpose.
On December 24 the members met at ten at Mr. Howland's house,
where they were Joined by others; at twelve, "after having amused
themselves in conversation upon the history of emigrate colonies
and the constitution and declension of empires, ancient and modern,
they were served with an entertainment foreign from all kinds of
luxury, and consisting of fish, flesh, and vegetables, the natural
produce of this Colony; after which, the company being increased
... a number of toasts were drank grateful to the remembrances
of our ancestors, and loyal to those kings under whose indulgent
care this Colony has flourished and been protected."
On this occasion two or three new features were introduced,
among them an oration — or, as the records of the Club say, " words
. . . spoken with modesty and firmness" — by Edward Winslow,
Jr., and a poem by Alexander Scammell.^
In 1771 December 22 fell on Sunday, and so —
Monday the 23d of December . . . was celebrated as a day of fes
tivity in commemoration of that important event, The landing of our
forefathers in this ¦place. ... At noon the Club, being joined by a num
ber of the most respectable' gentlemen in town, met in a spacious room
at the house of M' Wetherell, innholder, when they partook of a plain
and elegant entertainment, and spent the afternoon in cheerful and
social conversation upon a variety of subjects peculiarly adapted to the
time. At sunset . . . the members of the Club, with the gentlemen of
the town, repaired to the Hall, where the aforesaid subjects were re-

1 This was the only year between 1769 and 1780 that the 22d fell on a Satur
day. In 1798 it again feU on a Saturday, and that day the celebration took place
in Plymouth. In 1804 it once more feU on a Saturday, but in that year the cele
bration occurred on the 21st — presumably because the 22d was Saturday. I
am informed that as late as about 1840 Saturday evening was regarded at
Plymouth as part of the Sabbath. In 1804 the Boston celebration was held on
Saturday, and gave rise to criticism: cf. p. 345, below.
2 Records, pp. 413, 414r-415, 416. Edward Winslow, Jr., was in the Harvard
class of 1765, and Alexander Scammell in that of 1769.

302 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
assumed, and several important matters relative to the conduct of our
ancestors were discussed with freedom and candor, and a number of
pleasing anecdotes of our progenitors were recollected and communi
cated by some of the aged men who favored us with their company. An
uncommon harmony and pleasantry prevailed throughout the day and
evening, every person present exerting himself to increase the general
joy. The Old Colony song ' with a number of others was sung, after
which the company withdrew.
On the same day the Rev. Chandler Robbins addressed a letter
to the Club in which he said:
I'm told it was expected by some that as the anniversary of our fore
fathers' arrival in this place fell out on the Sabbath past, I would have
taken some public notice of it in the pulpit. I must acknowledge I think
there would have been a great propriety in it, and I am sorry it was
entirely out of my mind that that was the day till I was reminded of it
to-day; otherwise I should certainly have taken notice of it, and at
tempted to say something suitable to the occasion. However, 't is past
now; but I would on this occasion, if it would not be esteemed assuming
in me, humbly propose to the gentlemen of your Society whether it
would not be agreeable, and serve for the entertainment and instruction
of the rising generation more especially, for the future on these anniver
saries to have a sermon in public some part of the day pecuharly adapted
to the occasion, wherein should be represented the motives that induced
them to undertake such an enterprise, the amazing dangers and diSicul-
ties they conflicted with and overcame, the piety and ardor with which

1 Exactly what "the Old Colony song" was I have been unable to ascertain.
Possibly it was " Our Foebpathee's SONG. Composed about the year 1630,"
which was first printed, so far as I am aware, in the Massachusetts Magazine
for January, 1791, ui. 52-53, where a note says: "The above, was taken memor-
iter, from the lips of an old Lady, at the advanced age of 92." The first two
lines read: THE place where we Hve is a wilderness wood.
Where grass is much wanting that 's fruitful and good.
It was again prmted in 1838 in 3 Massachusetts Historical Collections, vii.
29-30, where a note says: "Composed about 1630, author unknown; taken
memoriter, in 1785, from the lips of an old Lady, at the advanced period of 96."
It was also printed in 1846 by W. S. RusseU in his Airs of the Pilgrims, pp. 1-3
where likewise appears a letter dated December 15, 1817, in which Dr. Benjamin
Waterhouse says: "Who the author was I know not; nor do I when it was
written; neither have I been informed who the old lady was who repeated
these verses in 1767, when 94 years of age."

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 303
they persevered through numberless discouragements and opposition, the
time, manner, and other circumstances of their first arrival, with all the
train of surprising events that ensued, the appearances of the Divine
Providence and Goodness for them, the noble and godlike virtues with
which they were inspired, so worthy the imitation of their posterity,
etc., etc., with many other things that would naturally fall in upon a
discourse of this kind. ... I do but propose the thing, gentlemen, for
your consideration this evening, and if it should prove agreeable I would
beg leave to suggest one thing further; namely, that the minister to
preach the sermon be chosen by your Society somewhere within the Old
Colony, . . .
In their reply, dated December 31, 1771, and approved by the
Club January 7, 1772, the committee to whom this letter was
referred said in part:
We have impatiently waited for a proposal of this kind to be made to
some gentleman of the clergy by persons whose ages and situations and
life have given them greater influence than ourselves; but as it has been
hitherto omitted, we would modestly request (as you are the pastor of
the first church that was gathered in the Old Colony, have the greatest
advantages and opportunities for collecting all the historical facts and
other materials that may be necessary for this work, and in every other
respect are peculiarly qualified therefor) that you would upon the en
suing anniversary prepare and deliver a discourse " suitable to the time."
Accordingly, on December 22, 1772, " (to show our gratitude to
the Creator and Preserver of our ancestors and ourselves, and as a
mark of respect justly due to the memories of those heroic Chris
tians who, on the 22d of December, 1620, landed on this spot) the
members of this Club joined a numerous and respectable assembly
in the meeting-house of the First Parish in Plymouth, and after an
hymn of praise and prayer to God, the Reverend M' Chandler
Robbins delivered an historic and pathetic discourse." His sermon
" closed with an address to the audience which did honor to human
ity and himself;" the "New England Hymn, composed by Doct'
Byles,' sung with uncommon melody, finished the exercise;" then
"the members of the Club, together with the reverend gentlemen
of the clergy and others the most respectable of the congregation,
1 See Rev. A. W. H. Eaton's Famous Mather Byles (1914), p. 110.

304 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OP MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
repaired to the house of M' Howland, where a table was spread and
abundantly furnished with the various productions of this now
fruitful country, at which the Hon'''^ General John Winslow pre
sided;" and "after partaking of these bounties, and spending a few
hours in the most social conversation upon the history of our coun
try, the adventures of our ancestors, etc. (subjects at this time
peculiarly pleasing), the company proceeded to Old Colony Hall,
where the same sociability and harmony prevailed throughout the
evening." '
This celebration was thus noticed in the Boston Gazette of
December 28, 1772:
Tuesday the 22d of this instant December, was observed in the an
cient Town of Plymouth, as a Day of public Festivity, in Commemora
tion of the important Event, the Landing of their Forefathers in that
Place. In the Morning the Rev'd. Mr. Robbins (having been previously
requested) delivered to a numerous and respectable Congregation, (con
sisting of a Number of the Reverend Gentlemen of the Clergy and others.
Inhabitants of Plymouth and the Towns in the Vicinity,) a Discourse
adapted to the Occasion, from those remarkable Words of the Psalmist,'
... — The profound Silence and solemn Attention which was observ
able thro'out this vast Concourse of People, sufficiently demonstrated
their Approbation of the Sentiments of the Speaker. — A plain and ele
gant Entertainment was prepared at a public House, at which the
Gentlemen of the Clergy, and a large Number of others, the most re
spectable of the Congregation, were present. The Afternoon passed in
recapitulating and recollecting a Variety of curious Anecdotes of our ven
erable Predecessors, Subjects at this Time peculiarly pleasing. — The
Evening was spent at OLD COLONY-HALL, in the most social Man
ner. — Joy, Gratitude and Pleasure were apparent in the Countenances
of every Person, through the whole of this agreeable Day and Evening
(p. 2/2).'
On January 6, 1772, the Rev. Charles Turner was invited by the
Club to preach the next anniversary sermon; but the "uncommon
harmony and pleasantry" that prevailed in 1771 had, owing to the
1 Records, pp. 421-422, 424, 434-435.
" Here foUows Psalms, Ixxviu. 5-7.
' The same notice also appeared in the Boston News Letter of January 7,
1773, Supplement, p. 1/2.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 305
growing political turmoil, disappeared before the anniversary day
was reached, and the records of the Old Colony Club itself, most of
whose members were LoyaHsts, came to an abrupt end with an entry
dated December 15, 1773.' It is certain, however, that Mr. Turner's
sermon was duly preached; and probably it was delivered before
the Club, the town, and the First Parish.^
The celebration in 1774 was thus noticed in a Boston newspaper:
Messieurs Edes & Gill,
THE 22d of December was celebrated at Plymouth, in commemora
tion of the first landing of our Ancestors in New-England: — A
learned and ingenious Discourse was delivered on the Occasion, by the
Rev. Mr. Gad Hitchcock, of Pembroke, from Genesis 1, 31; and Psalms
119, 134; which, for the honor of the dissenting Clergy, and for the bene
fit of mankind, will speedily be published. A splendid entertainment
was provided at Mr. Howland's, and propriety and decorum marked the
conduct of the day. We the Posterity of those illustrious Heroes are
now sufFering under the galling pressure of that power, an emancipation
from which, was one grand object they had in view, in the settlement of
this Western World; in the prosecution of which divine enterprize, they,
with christian magnanimity, surmounted the most discouraging obsta
cles; and it may safely be affirmed, that all the potent thunders of
Britain, cannot reduce us to more tremendous sufferings, than those
distinguished patrons of religion and freedom, animated by a sacred
ardour, patiently endured. But, wonderful as it may seem, a pitiful
number, who bear the names, and descended from the loins of these ever
to-be-revered Patriots, by their infernal intrigues, and persevering ob
stinacy, have involved their native Country, enriched with the Blood of
their Fathers, in accumulated Calamities and Distresses; but (by the
gracious munificence of Heaven) many rays of light breaks through the
gloom which surrounds us; and, Nil desperandum, Deo duce, et auspice
Deo.3 From 1774 to 1780, both included, Forefathers' Day was cele
brated by the town of Plymouth. For the next twelve years —

1 Records, p. 444.
2 The dedication reads : " To the ancient and respectable town of Plymouth,
To all the descendants from the first Plantbes of the Old Plymouth Colony,
and To his native Country, The following Seemon is inscribed By their as
sured Friend, and very humble Servant, C. TURNER."
' Boston Gazette, January 2, 1775, p. 2/3.

306 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OP MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
from 1781 to 1792, both included — there was no celebration. In
1793 the day was again celebrated, when a sermon was preached by
the Rev. Chandler Robbins.' Of the celebration in 1794, we have
the following account:
FEAST OF GRATITUDE.
Plymouth, december 23, 1794.
YESTERDAY, being the anniversary of the landing of our ancestors
at this place, which was the fkst lasting settlement, made in New-
England, a number of gentlemen of this and the neighboring towns con
vened to celebrate the day. With social glee and harmony, they partook
of a frugal meal, which was designed to bring to remembrance the cir
cumstances of those good and great men, whose memories they were
assembled to revere. Various anecdotes, respecting their emigration
and settlement, were related by those, acquainted with the early history
of the country; and the mind was led to recollect, vdth veneration and
sublime pleasure, the daring enterprise, the noble zeal, and the deter
mined valor, of that illustrious band, who, in this place, laid the founda
tion of empire; and who prepared, in this western clime, an asylum for
the persecuted and oppressed of the old world. — - Several toasts were
given, pertinent and sentimental; and the following ode, written for the
occasion, was sung and repeated, with the most sensible satisfaction and
pleasure.'* Then follows the ode written by Judge John Davis.' If the day
was celebrated in 1795 and 1796, no accounts have been found; but
the celebration in 1797 was thus described :

1 The only celebrations previous to 1797 of which I have found accounts in
the newspapers are those of 1769, 1772, 1775, and 1794.
2 Federal Orrery, December 25, 1794, p. 2/2.
' Much confusion exists in regard to this ode, which is variously said to have
been written in 1792, 1793, 1794, or 1799. The statement in the text would seem
to be decisive in favor of 1794. It was printed not only in the Federal Orrery of
December 25, but also m the Columbian Centinel of December 27, 1794 (p. 4/1),
and very Ifliely in other newspapers. It was also printed in the New England
Palladium of December 25, 1801 (p. 1/2), under the heading "Native Poetry"
and with this introductory note: "2ll=° The foUowing chaste and elegant pro
duction we beheve has never been published. It deserves to be handed down
¦n-ith the memory of the interesting occasion which gave it birth." The "inter
esting occasion" is said to have been "the celebration of the Festival of the Sons of
the Pilgrims, at Plymouth, 1793;" but Judge Davis's name is not attached to

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 307
MK. RUSSELL, Plymouth, Dec, 23, 1797.
1AM aware it will be a political apostacy with some people to trace up
a descent from the wicked island of Great-Britain. But from no
country wicked as it is, had I rather be descended than from that. The

the ode. Neither Pilgrim nor Pflgrim Fathers occurs in the ode, which consists of
eight stanzas, the first and sixth as follows (as printed in the Federal Orrery) :
AN ODE,
for the 22d of december, the anniversary of our
ancestors' landing at Plymouth, 1620; —
B Y
JOHN DAVIS, ESQUIRE:
SUNG BY
CAPTAIN J. THOMAS.
SONS of renowned sires.
Join in harmonious choirs,
SweU your loud songs: —
Daughters of peerless dames.
Come with your soft acclaims;
Let their revered names
DweU on your tongues!
Columbia, child of heaven —
The best of blessings, given,
Rest on thy head:
Beneath thy peaceful skies,
Whfle prosperous tides arise,
Here tum thy grateful eyes —
Revere the dead!
In every version of the ode I have seen from 1794 down to 1835, when it was
included in the second^ edition of Thacher's History of the Town of Plymouth
(pp. 342-343), the sixth stanza reads as printed above. But in Airs of the Pil
grims, appended to W. S. RusseU's Guide to Plymouth, 1846, pp. 20-22, the sixth
stanza reads as foUows: Columbia, child of heaven.
The best of blessings given.
Be thine to greet;
Hailing this votive day,
Looking with fond survey,
Upon the weary way,
Of Pflgrim feet.
RusseU adds the foUowing —
Note. This copy has received the revisal of the venerable author of
the composition, and is entirely conformable to the original, excepting in

308 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OP MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
manners, the rehgion, and the future policy of a country are influenced
for ages by the manner, the religion, and the sciences of the country of
the first settlers. To the country of our forefathers, long illustrious for
their treatment there, as well as the virtue and sufferings in this, are we
indebted, with our own improvements, for the most of our civil enjoy
ments. Accordingly it has been a custom to commemorate their land
ing in this town, on the 22d Dec. 1620, by some public testimony of a
grateful recollection. This year it was likely to pass over in silence hy
the gentlemen — ¦ sensible of this advantage, the young Ladies took up
the neglected outcast like the daughter of P H a r o a H, and nourished
it for their own. In the evening they gave the Gentlemen an elegant
Ball; and the taste and decorations of the entertainment, were equalled
only by the splendor of the usual constellation of beauty in the hall.
In the midst of festivity our pleasures were by no means destitute of
sentiment. A beautiful Ode, composed sometime since by J. Davis,
furnished an agreeable interlude, in which the fanciful antiquarian
might think himself conversant with his "rude forefathers." Indeed,
the whole went on with the regular confusion that gives fluidity to
mirth, and dancing and careless conversation, and charming good hu
mour gave way only to a sphited song composed by B. Seymour,
which finished the evening.
A. B.'

the fifth [error for sixth] verse, in which a variation has been introduced by
him (p. 22).
It thus appears that the word Pflgrim was introduced into the ode at some
time between 1835 and 1846. In 1871 the late Wflham T. Davis prepared for
the press the "Proceedings of the Celebration by the Pflgrim Society at Plym
outh, December 21, 1870." In this volume (pp. 17-18) Judge Davis's ode is
printed, as it appears in RusseU's Airs of the Pflgrims (1846). At p. 198 Mr.
Davis says: "The ode of Hon. John Davis is here printed as revised and cor
rected by its author about fifty years after it was written;" and then proceeds
to give the sixth stanza as originaUy written. This statement, made by Mr.
Davis himself in 1871, had, not unnaturaUy, completely gone from his mind
by 1906, in which year he pubflshed his Plymouth Memories of an Octogena
rian, for in this work he said (p. 28): "The word Pflgrim, as applied to the
Plymouth settlers, was never used, as far as I can leam, for more than a
hundred and seventy years after the landing. They were caUed 'first-comers'
or 'forefathers' untfl 1794, when Judge John Davis, in his ode written for
the anniversary celebration in that year fii-st used the word 'Pflgrim' in the
foUowing verse." Mr. Davis then quotes the revised version of the sixth stanza
of the ode.
Judge John Davis graduated from Harvard CoUege in 1781.
1 Columbian Centinel, December 27, 1797, p. 2/4.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHER 309
Of the celebration in 1798, the following account has been
preserved : Celebration of our Forefathers. Plymouth, Dec, 25.
THE 22d inst. being the anniversary of our forefathers landing in
this place, was celebrated with every demonstration of decent con
viviality and fihal respect. This was not confined to a few individuals,
but excited a general joy, that pervaded the bosoms of hoary age and
pratthng childhood. A discharge of cannon announced the dawn, and
the vessels in the harbour, among others the Governor Caevee and
Miles Standish, displayed their colours, in honor of those venerable
worthies, whose names they bear.
At 11 o'clock, the inhabitants of the town, accompanied by several
respectable gentlemen from the vicinity, assembled in the meeting-house,
where the Rev. Dr. Bobbins, in a reverential and impressive manner,
peculiar to himself, offered a solemn tribute of thanks to the Supreme
Ruler of the Universe, for his divine and providential patronage, ex
tended to the small though illustrious band of heroes, who at this in
clement season began here, and by their indefatigable perseverance,
effected a settlement, which, considered in all its circumstances, has
scarcely a parallel in the annals of mankind. Doct. Zacheus Baetlett,
in an oration, replete with good sense and a knowledge of antient his
tory, traced the general principles of emigration, feelingly pointed out
the striking events which distinguished the enterprise of our ancestors,
and introduced and enforced many exceUent pohtical observations.
A hymn adapted to the occasion, and the appropriate Ode of " Sons of
renowned Sires," composed for a former celebration, closed the exer
cises. In the afternoon a large company partook of a dinner, provided
by Mr. Wetheell, in which were to be found all the varieties, that
our hays, shores and woods afford, and the pleasures of the social board,
decorated with a piece of the consecrated rock, were heightened by com
memorating the eventful scenes, of which our mother town has been
the theatre. The favorite songs of "Adams and Liberty," "Hail Co
lumbia," ' and the aforementioned Ode were sung with great animation
and applause, and among others the foUowing toasts were drank.
' Of these two "favorite songs," one was famous in its day and the other re
mains so. The foUowing advertisement appeared in Claypoole's American Dafly
Advertiser (PhUadelphia) of Aprfl 25, 1798:
New Theatre. MR. FOX's NIGHT. THs Evening, April 25, BY DESIRE.
Wfll be presented, . . . The ItaUan Monk. . . . After which, an intire new

310 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
The DAT.
Our Forefathers, May the blessings purchased by their perseverance, suffer
ings and tofls, enkindle a flame of gratitude in the bosoms of their descendants,
that shall be extinguished only by the last beat of their hearts.
The antient town of Plymouth, May every view of the consecrated rock, excite
in its inhabitants, an emulation of the enterprize and industry of the first
settlers. The venerable Sachem Massasoit, whose unshaken adherence to treaties,
forms a dignified contrast, to the "punic faith" of modern Frenchmen.

song, (written by a Citizen of PhUadelphia) ta the tune of the " Presidenfs March."
Will be sung by Mr.- Fox; accompanied by the fuU band, and a grand chorua
(p. 3/1).
In the same paper of April 27 we read:
NEW THEATRE. Mes. Francis's Night. THIS EVENING, April 27,
WiU be presented a new Comedy, . . . caUed TIT FOR TAT. . . In the
course of the Comedy Mr. Fox wfll, for the second time and by particnlar de
sire, sing a new Song (written by a Citizen of PhUadelphia) to the tune of the
PRESIDENT'S MARCH (p. 3/3).
Under the title of "SONG," the words were printed in the same paper o£ Satur
day, Aprfl 28 (p. 1/2), and in the same issue it was stated that "Chi Mnrnfay
afternoon wiU be published At Carr's Musical Repository, The Tsy fewonmte
New Federal Song As sung by Mr. Fox at the New Theatre, -wikSss^-X Hnp^
kinson. Esq — adapted for the voice, piano forte, flute, violin, guEraaramEoiaiinBt,
and ornamented with a very elegant Portrait of the PresidetU Prag Z? ^snis" (p.
2/2). Under the title of "NEW SONG," Hafl Columb^ -s^a? irme-a it the
Columbian Centinel of May 2, preceded fey this note: "'TSag ^tiEawv^ has been
sung on the boards of PhUadelphia. Every man of the leasi faaweti xdents, aught
to leam it, and sing it to his fellow citizens" (p. 3/1).
The foUowing advertisement appeared in the Columbian Ce'irnw li Wednes
day, May 30, 1798:
Adams and Liberty, ON FRIDAY Morning wifl be published fsnt she pres
of Thomas and Andrews, and sold at aU the Book-stores, The BOSTV?N FATRI-
OTIC SONG, CaUed, ADAMS & LIBERTY. Written by Thomas Faixb, a. m.
To be sung at the Anniversary Meeting of the Massachusetts CharOabiit Fire
Society, on that day (p. 3/2).
The same paper of Jime 2 stated:
CHARITABLE FIRE SOCIETY. Yesterday, at the Anniversary of the
Charitable Fire Society, an exceUent and weU adapted Oration was deEvered by-
Judge Tudor, to the most numerous and briUiant Assembly we have seen on any
similar occasion. The Boston patriotic song of "Adams and Ltbebty," written
by Mr. Paine, was sung and re-echoed amidst the loudest reiterated plaudits.
Dr. Fay did great justice to its merits (p. 2/'4).
In the same paper of June 2 (p. 3/2) Mr. Barrett announced that he would
sing the song at his benefit on June 4, and it was printed in the same paper of
June 9 (p. 1/3). Dr. Nahum Fay (H. C. 1790) and Gfles Leonard Barrett are
the persons alluded to.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 311
Success to the Fisheries, and unfading laurels to tho able negociators, who
secured to the United Stales this incalculable source of wealth, and nursery of
seamen. Governor Sumner. May his Administration be as wise and pure, and his
memory as lasting and precious, as the first Governor of the Old Colony.
The memory of Dr. JeriAiy Belknap. May some future Biographer, render
that justice to his exalted merit, which his masterly historic pages, have done to
our Ulustrious ancestors.
Congress. May it be purged from the unblushing perfidy of Mason,^ and the
poUuted saliva of Lyon.''
The warm political feelings of the time were hinted at by the
PljTnothean who wrote the account of the 1797 celebration. The
main exercises of the day were always conducted with dignity at
Plymouth, but the informal entertainments which followed afforded
opportunities for the display of partizanship which were not neg
lected; and the toasts offered in 1798 drew from a Boston newspaper
the foUowing criticism:
THE CELEBRATION OF OUR FOREFATHERS
AT PLYMOUTH
By their truly pious and worthy Minister and others of the primitive
stamp as to Religion and Politics (as given in Saturday's Centinel) does
real honor to the memory of their departed worthies. The doings of
some Federalists of the modern stamp after Dinner, is a melancholy dis
covery that in Plymouth as well as Boston, there are too many of their
Posterity who dishonor them by their sentiments and practises, and
are melancholy evidences that they are indeed the degenerate Plants
of a noble Vine.^
The Rev. Chandler Robbins died in 1799 and was succeeded by
the Rev. James Kendall, who was ordained on January 1, 1800.
Hence in 1799 "The day was so near that appointed for the ordina
tion of the Rev. Mr. Kendall, that it was not celebrated by a public

• Stevens Thomson Mason, United States Senator from Virginia; Matthew
Lyon, Member of Congress from Vermont. The foUo-wing toast was offered at
the celebration of Washington's birthday at Concert HaU: "May the Lion of
the Green Mountains be considered by every good citizen as the meanest rep-
tUe in creation: — the pismire of America" (Columbian Centinel, February 24,
1798, p. 2/4).
2 Columbian Centinel, January 5, 1799, p. 1/3.
3 Independent Chronicle, January 7, 1799, p. 3/2.

312 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
discourse; " ' nor, apparently, by a private meeting. Of the cele
bration in 1800, we read :
FEAST
Of THE "SONS OF THE PILGRIMS" at
PLYMOUTH.
Plymouth, Dec. 24, 1800.
THE anniversary of the first landing of our Fore-fathers in this town,
which forms a distinguished era in the history of our country, was
celebrated on the 22d instant, in a manner worthy the interesting
occasion. ...
When assembled in the sanctuary, the Rev. Mr. Kendall, intro
duced the exercises, with an appropriate prayer, . . . After singing an
ode, composed for the celebration, by a gentleman of the town, who
has taken deep draughts at the "castalian fount;" John Davis Esq.
delivered a discourse, in which with his accustomed ability and delicacy,
he traced the heaven born Pilgrims,^ through the immense toils, hard
ships and perils, they were compelled to conflict with, from debihtating
scarcity, and pestilential disease, from the rage of the elements, and the
desolating sword of the wilderness, from the first impression of their
feet, on the shores of this new world, until their settlement assumed the
face of security, and in a natural as well as moral sense, " the wilderness
blossomed as the rose." In fact, this discourse, will be a valuable ac
quisition as a picturesque and correct historical epitome, of one of the
most stupendous enterprizes, recorded in the annals of time, and effected
by a set of worthies, who exhibited a hardihood of character, and a dig
nified christian philanthropy, unknown in the systems, or to the feelings,
of infidel philosophers.
The services concluding, -with another ode, sung on former similar
occasions; a very large number of the inhabitants of Plymouth, with
strangers of the first distinction, both of the clergy and laity, met at
Mr. Wetherell's and were richly regaled, from a table plentifully fur
nished, . . .

1 T. M. Harris's Discourse (1808), p. 32.
' This word appeared for the first time at Plymouth in the oration delivered
that day by Judge Davis, who said: "Driven by storms, or deceived by their
ship master, instead of their place of destination, this spot is selected for settle
ment, and this day completes one hundred and eighty years, since your sofl was
first impressed by the weary feet of those illustrious pflgrims" (in J. Morse and
E. Parish, Compendious History of New England, 1804, p. 375).

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 313
After this congenial entertainment, the following toasts were drank
by the company with great cordiality. . . .
The memory of the governors Carver, Winslow, Prince and Bradford, In whom
were eminentlj' combined, the suavity of a Sumner, the inteUigence of a Bowdoin,
the fortitude of a Trumbull, and the energy of a Oilman.^ , . .
The memory of the intrepid Captain Miles Standish, who, by his active vigi
lance, in shielding the illustrious Pflgrims, from the remorseless tomahawk,
merited, hke Lincoln'' the appeUation of the christian hero, . . .
The Boston pflgrim society.' Descended from the same renowned origin, may
no other emulation be known, than a soUcitude of superior exceUence.
Toasts were also drunk to John Adams, Governor Strong, Massa
soit, Uncas, the memory of Dr. Belknap; and "A splendid ball in
the evening, in which the ladies, brightened by their charms, the
scene of hilarity, closed the celebration; and perfect decency and
rational enjoyment were the order of the day." ^
In 1801 an interesting piece of pageantry^ was performed:

1 Increase Sumner, Governor of Massachusetts; James Bowdoin, Governor
of Massachusetts; Jonathan Trumbull (H. C. 1759), Governor of Connecticut;
John Taylor Gihnan, Governor of New Hampshire.
2 Presumably the reference is to Gen. Benjamin Lincoln.
' Though caUed the "Boston pilgrim society," I do not understand that those
who celebrated Forefathers' Day in Boston had a regular organization.
•* Columbian Centinel, December 31, 1800, p. 1.
' In a book just published Ralph Davol says:
A procession through the streets of floats, on which historic occasions are
rigidly impersonated by "live people trying to look like dead ones," is commonly
called a pageant in America, for example at Philadelphia, or the Hudson-
Fulton celebration. . . . Research as to the beginning of modem American
Pageants indicates that the spirit was manifest as early as 1627 at the Merry
Mount revels. The Meschianza given by British soldiers at Phfladelphia in
the Revolution was an old English pageant. The first use of the name "pageant"
the writer has been able to find applied to a community festival in America was
at Marietta, Ohio, (1888). This was before modern pageants became the rage
in England (Handbook of American Pageantry, 1914, pp. 27, 31).
Mr. Davol does not say when the procession of fioats at Philadelphia took
place, but perhaps he refers to the one that occurred there on July 4, 1788,
of which a description, beginning as foUows, wfll be found in the Columbian
Magazine for July, 1788:
ON Friday the fourth day of July, 1788, the citizens of Phfladelphia, in
commemoration of the great event of American Independence, and in
honour of the ratification of the Federal Constitution by Ten of the United
States, presented the most briUiant and interesting spectacle that ever oc
curred in the annals of the new world, and which has scarcely been surpassed by

314 THE COLONIAL SOCIETT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
Plymouth, Dec. 25.
The anniversary of the landing of our ancestors, at Plymouth, was
celebrated here on the 22d inst. with fihal piety, and affectionate regard.
The usual procession was formed, headed by the public officers, and
consisting of the inhabitants of all ages, with many gentlemen of dis
tinction from the vicinity, preceded by Capt. Tuenee's independent
company, in complete uniform; and making a circuit round the town,
escorted the officiating clergyman, accompanied by several of his re
spectable brethren, to the meeting-house of the Rev. Mr. Kendall.
After a solemn address to Heaven, and singing an appropriate ode, the
Rev. Mr. Allyne, of Duxborough, in a well chosen discourse, delighted
a crouded audience, by pourtraying with great energy of illustration,
the exalted character of the Pilgrims, . . . The solemnities of pubhc
worship being ended, the gentlemen were sumptuously regaled with all
the varieties of fish and wild meat the climate affords at this season, at
Old Colony, and Freedom Halls; no one room being spacious enough to
accommodate the whole company. After dinner, the following toasts
were drank at Old Colony Hall: . . .

the splendor of the ancient or modem triumphs of Asia or of Europe (u. 391-
400). Fifty-eight trades and professions were represented, and "The number of
persons in the procession has been calculated (but we think too low) at 5000,
and it is likewise said that there were about 17,000 on Union Oreen" (ii. 400).
This, however, was not the earUest procession of the sort. The Federal Consti
tution was ratified by the Massachusetts Convention on February 6, 1788,
and on February 8th a huge procession of trades took place in Boston. This,
declared the Massachusetts Centinel of February 9th, was "an exhibition, to
which America has never witnessed an equal; and which has exceeded any thing
of the kind, Europe can boast of" (viu. 169. See also the issue of February
13th, vfli. 174). "The Processions in our Capitals," said the Massachusetts
Spy of August 7, 1788, "have hitherto been novelties in this country. That at
Boston, on account of the State's adopting the Federal Constitution, was the
first — since which almost every capital town in the United States, among other
demonstrations of joy for the Federal Constitution, have produced a Proces
sion" (p. 1/4).
The word "pageant," which Mr. Davol has not found in this country earUer
than 1888, was employed in a somewhat unexpected quarter in 1852, when
Lieutenant John W. Gunnison described under that name the dedication by
the Mormons of their temple at Nauvoo just before being driven from that place
in 1846, and "the presentation" at Salt Lake City, a few years later, "to the
governor of Desergt of the Constitution of the United States, and their own,
for his and his successors' guardian care" (The Mormons, or, Latter-Day Saints,
pp. 132, 138). The word also occurs, apphed to celebrations on Pope Night,
as eariy as 1752 (Massachusetts Archives, xlvu. 357.)

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 315
An Indian, dressed in the habilaments of a sachem, met Capt. Turner
in the place where Massasoit was first discovered, and the emblems of
peace and friendship, which were interchanged, brought into view, an
interesting scene, that existed soon after the arrival of our ancestors.
A sprightly ball at Old Colony Hall, in which the ladies, by their par
ticipation, heightened the social enjojTnent, crowned the anniversary
festival.'

In 1802 among the toasts were the following:

Christianity and the Clergy : — Washington believed — Adams be
lieves, and what if Tom Paine and his friend ^ do not believe?
JNIay the New-England sun of federalism, which illumines a Strong, a
Trumbull, a Oilman, and a Tichenor, no longer suffer a partial eclipse in
the state of Rhode-Island.'
Our Sucktash and our Chowder:^ — May they never be supplanted by
the soup-meagre of France, or the revolutionary luhiskey of the ancient
dominion. ¦ The memory of a Belknap, a Phillips, a Lotvell, and a Minot ^ —
Worthy of being enrolled among New-England Sages.
The President of these United States — May he, by his future ad
ministration, prove that he has at heart the good of his country.^
In 1803 the Rev. John T. Kirkland delivered "a pathetic prayer
and very excellent discourse;" from "this mental feast, about one
hundred gentlemen, with grateful hearts, retired to the 'Feast of
Shells,' "^ which displayed a sumptuous variety, consisting, not of
clams and succatash alone, but of the more delicious rarities of the
soil and forest : — nor was the table abandoned until the cheering
glass, accompanied by the usual number of toasts, both appropriate
and patriotic, closed the interesting scene;" in the evening, "the

1 Columbian Centinel, December 30, 1801, pp. 2-3.
2 The aUusions here are to the English Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson.
" Caleb Strong, Governor of Massachusetts; Isaac Tichenor, Governor of
Vermont. * The earHest example of chowder quoted in the Oxford EngUsh Dictionary
is under date of 1762. Versified "Directions for making a Choudeb'' were
printed in the Boston Evening Post of September 23, 1751, p. 2/1.
' Rev. Jeremy Belknap; Samuel PhiUips (H. C. 1771), Lieutenant-Governor
of Massachusetts; John LoweU (H. C. 1760); George Richards Minot (H. C.
1777). ^ New England PaUadium, December 28, 1802, pp. 2-3.
' For this term, rarely met with at Plymouth, see p. 327, below.

316 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
decorated Hall was crouded by a brilliant assembly of ladies and
gentlemen, the progeny of the Pilgrims;" and among the "toasts
drank by the younger sons of the Pilgrims in the Town Hov^e" were the
following: 3. " The enlightened government of France." — May it be remu
nerated for the quit-claim of Louisiana, while our citizens "manage
their oion affairs in their own way, unopposed by fiscal exactions."
7. " The daughters of pierless dames." ' — May they never put off
the swaddling clothes of their pristine virtue, in exchange for the habli-
ments of a Walstonceaft.^
In 1804 it was "a proud reflection, that native hymns and odes
furnished the songs, and the joy of the day;" and in the afternoon
"a large company of citizens, and literary strangers, partook of an
elegant dinner, where the moral and votive festivity of the enter
tainment was occasionally enlivened by the following toasts; and
a brilliant Ball 'sent away the night in song:'"
6. John Adams, late President of the United States: — Whose pri
vate rectitude and honor, the slanderous tongue of party has never
dared to assail. ... 8. The memory of Gen. Hamilton — " whose
developement of truth, was lucid as its path." ... 12. The constitu
tional power of impeachment. "It poisons Justice, when the rancour
of party tinctures her current." . . . The Upas of Monticello. May
Judge Chase' keep to the windward. . . . Johnny Randolph.* May
he find it a hard chase to run down an independent Judge.^
These toasts drew from a Boston Republican paper the following
comment: rr^HE federahsts, in every transaction, evidence the folly and incon-
A sistency of their conduct. The Plymouth pilgrims have carefully
confined their approbation of John Adams to his private character; and
under this distinction, have presumed to screen their disapprobation
of his pubhc acts. Their toast is, "John Adams, late President of the
U. S. whose private rectitude and honor, the slanderous tongue of party
> See Judge Davis's ode, p. 306 note 3, above. The aUusion at the close of the
toast IS of course to Mary WoUstonecraft Godwin (1759-1797).
2 New England PaUadium, December 30, 1803, p. 2/5.
' Judge Samuel Chase was impeached.
* John Randolph of Roanoke.
' Columbian Centmel, December 29, 1804, p. 2/4.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 317
has never dared to assail." This is altogether applied to his private
" rectitude and honor." But, in a subsequent toast, they reprobate in
the strongest terms his public conduct; which is thus evinced — "the
memory of Gen. Hamilton, whose developement of truth, was lucid as
its path." — E^'ery man knows what Hamilton wrote about Mr. Adams:
if then he was accurate in what he said, surely Mr. A. was of all men
the most improper person for President. Thus glares the inconsistency
of these modern pilgrims — Hamilton was " lucid in the developement
of truth," when he calumniated Mr. Adams in his political reputation!! '
In the following letter we have a suggestion that was not car
ried into effect until twelve years later:
PILGRIMS.
THE important atchievements and pious examples of illustrious
characters of former times, are both interesting and instructive to
rising generations. Among the glorious events recorded in our history,
none claim our grateful recollection more, than the pilgrimage of our
venerable fore-fathers. As a testimony of high respect for their char
acters and memory, the anniversary of their landing and establishment
on our shores, should be commemorated as "the glory of children are
their fathers." What scene can be more interesting to the best feelings
of the human heart, than a social union, celebrating the virtues and
recounting the sufferings of our pious ancestors. While in the full en-
jojrment of their inestimable inheritance, let it not be imagined that
prosperity has contracted our hearts, or debased our character; but,
let us pay our annual tribute to their shrine, and perpetuate the theme
to future generations. Plymouth should be the consecrated spot; there
the footsteps of our fathers, the revered rock, and their more sacred
relics are proper objects to employ our contemplations and animate
our zeal. The duties of the anniversary have for several years past de
volved upon a few individuals, and although we express no apprehension
that the genuine sons of the Pilgrims will " be weary in well doing," yet
inauspicious circumstances may exist by which the occasion may be
perverted, or the celebration discontinued. It is therefore extremely
desirable, that an institution for the purpose should be established, upon
principles honorable to ourselves, and to those whose virtues we com
memorate. The writer would propose, that an association be formed,
to be denominated the Pilgrim Society. The number of members to

1 Independent Chronicle, January 3, 1805, p. 2/4.

318 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
consist of 101, corresponding with the number of the first settlers.
Whether the members should be selected from the native inhabitants
of the late Old Colony exclusively, the writer is not prepared to deter
mine; nor is he tenacious of the precise number, should that be deemed
inadequate to the purpose intended. The first object of the society
should be, to render permanent the celebration of the anniversary. —
By assessment or subscription, a fund should be raised, and a proper
edifice erected for the festive occasion. In one of its apartments may
be deposited such appropriate portraitures and antiquities, as can be
procured. A valuable collection might probably be obtained, by dona
tions from those who are generously disposed to promote the views of
the institution. A monument, erected contiguous to the edifice, and
inscribed to the memory of the Pilgrims, would be a valuable acquisi
tion. But the particular objects which the institution may embrace, as
also the necessary arrangements for its formation, are reserved for future
consideration. The foregoing observations are intended merely to
solicit attention to the subject. The scheme is at present immature —
it is expected that it will receive improvement, or a more eligible one be
devised. A. B.'
Plymouth, Jan. 3, 1807.
In 1816 the sermon was preached on December 22, which that
year fell on Sunday; but on Monday "a large and respectable num
ber of citizens and strangers, partook of an excellent dinner," at
which "appropriate toasts and occasional songs added to the
pleasure of the festival;" and "A splendid Ball in the evening
graced with the beauty and elegance of a brilliant collection of the
' Daughters of peerless Dames,' concluded the celebration." ^
The following accounts of the celebrations in 1817, 1818, and 1819
are given, because they indicate the nature of the discourses de
hvered in those years, which were never printed.
THE PILGRIM ANNIVERSARY
Was celebrated at Plymouth, on Monday last, in the usual appropriate
style, and vnth undiminished interest. The severity of the weather did
not prevent a full attendance on the exercises and entertainments of
the day. The address by the Rev. Mr. Holley, corresponded to the
' Columbian Centinel, January 7, 1807, p. 2/3.
' Columbian Centinel, December 28, 1816, p. 2/3.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 319
high expectations which were entertained, and his admiring audience
will long cherish the remembrance of a performance in which just and
elevated sentiments, embodied in the happiest expression, were de
livered with peculiar grace and oratorical ability. It was the first visit
of Mr. Holley to the Old Colony. Early in the morning of the anni
versary he -viewed the places, which, from any peculiar circumstance,
are considered as the most striking memorials of The Fathers, and in
the short interval between the return from his walk about town and
taking his assigned place in the desk, he was introduced to some aged
inliabitants, whose communications suggested considerations, which
he thought applicable to the occasion. The reflections originating from
these sources, and from ascertaining his own descent from an ancient
settler in the territory, formed an apt and pleasing introduction to his
Discourse, and created a sympathy of the happiest tendency. The
eloquent speaker was followed by his audience with cheerful, animated
and unremitted attention through the train of refined and weighty con
siderations which he ingeniously associated with the subject. It will
not be attempted, in this notice, to analyze the Discourse. With its
fine polish, there was a solidity of material, rendering it a most accept
able intellectual entertainment, and we hope that the request of the
Selectmen, of a copy for publication, will not be denied.' . . .
LANDING OF OUR FOREFATHERS.
Plymouth, Dec. 26, 1818. The Landing of our Forefathers at Pljrm
outh was celebrated at that place on the 22d inst. by the inhabitants
of that ancient tovm and its vicinity. — The descendants of the Pilgrims,
forgetting all differences of party and opinion, united to celebrate the
occasion with an affectionate remembrance of their common origin. A
procession was formed at 11 o'clock, and escorted to the Meeting-House
the Rev. Mr. Kendall by the Standish Guards, a new military corps,
under the command of Capt. Weston,^ who now made their first public
appearance, and by their correct discipline and military appearance
proved themselves worthy of their illustrious name and descent. — The
anniversary oration was delivered by the Hon. Wendell Davis, of
Sandwich, and gave high satisfaction to a crowded audience. It was an
animated and eloquent description of the toils and sufferings, the pious
resignation and triumphant perseverance of our venerable Ancestors.' . . .

" Columbian Centinel, December 27, 1817, p. 2/3.
2 Coomer Weston.
3 Columbian Centinel, December 30, 1818, p. 2/3.

320 THE colonial SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
Plymouth, Dec. 25, 1819.
THE landing of our Forefathers, at Plymouth, was celebrated at
that place by their descendants on the 22d, with filial gratitude
and joy. The celebration was conducted by the Pilgrim Society, which
has recently been established to commemorate this distmguished en
terprise, and to perpetuate the respect, which is due to those illustrious
men, who, surrounded by danger and exalted by religion, became the
founders of an empire. ... An eloquent and interesting address was
delivered by Feancis C. Geay Esq. of Boston, who dehghted a crowded
assembly by displaying the toils and sufferings, the ardent piety and
triumphant perseverance of our venerable ancestors, connected with
impressive inculcations of maxims, principles and practice correspond
ing to the illustrious model suggested by the occasion.' . . .
It is usually stated that the first celebration under the auspices
of the Pilgrim Society ^ was in 1820, when Daniel Webster delivered
1 Columbian Centinel, December 29, 1819, p. 2/2.
2 In 1832 Thacher said: "1820. — ^As the present year closes the second
century since the pflgrim fathers first landed on our shores, a respectable number
of inhabitants of this town, impelled by a sense of duty and pious gratitude to
divine Providence, have instituted a society, which was by our legislature in
corporated February 24th, by the name of Pilgrim Society" (p. 246). In 1847 a
writer stated that "a society was formed, November 9, 1819, by the name of the
'Old Colony Pflgrim Society,' and immediately went into operation. . . . On
February 24, 1820, the Society was incorporated and made a body politic, by
the name of the 'Pflgrim Society.' . . . The 'Landing of our Forefathers' was
first celebrated by the Pilgrim Society December 22, 1820, that being the com
pletion of the second century since the settlement of New England, or the land
ing of the Pflgrims'' (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, i. 119).
The following is a correct statement of what occurred. The first entry in
the records of the Pflgrim Society states that at a meeting of certain citizens
of Plymouth at the house of Joshua Thomas on November 9, 1819, it was
voted " To form a society for the above purpose (to commemorate the Landing
of the Fathers in the Town of Plymouth)." The next entry is, "Voted, That
the name of the society be the Old Colony Pflgrim Society." A committee
was then appointed to obtain an act of incorporation at the next session of the
General Court, which began on January 12, 1820; and "An Act to incorporate
the Pilgrim Society" was passed, and was approved by the Governor on Jan
uary (not Febmary) 24, 1820. The first section enacted "That John Watson,
Joshua Thomas, Beza Hayward, WiUiam Davis, and Barnabas Hedge, ... be,
and they hereby are incorporated into a society, by the name of the Pilgrim
Society," etc. The second section enacted "That the time and place, for hold
ing the first meeting of said society, may be appointed by any three of the
aforementioned persons, by giving their notice thereof, in the Columbian Centi
nel, printed in Boston," etc. (Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
1822, pp. 309-310; Private and Special Statutes of the Commonwealth of

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 321
his famous oration; but the last extract shows that the celebration
of 1819 was "conducted by" the Pilgrim Society, on which occasion
Mt. Gray, the orator, gave a toast to "The Pilgrim Society — in
stituted in honor of the Forefathers, may it be durable as their fame."
On the same day, also, "an elegant standard, with appropriate em
blems, the gift of some gentlemen of Plymouth, was presented to
the Standish Guards, from the rock of our Forefathers, by John
Watson, Esq.;" and "the usual sequel to the entertainments of
this anniversary, a Ball, in the evening, gave a cheerful close to the
exercises of the day." '
Massachusetts, 1823, v. 334). Accordingly, the foUo-mng notice was inserted
in the Columbian Centinel of May 10, 1820 (p. 3/1) :
PILGRIM SOCIETY.
THE Subscribers being authorized by an act, entitled, an act "to incorporate
the PUgrim Society," to appoint the tune and place for the holding the
first meeting of said Society; hereby give notice, that a meeting of said Society
will be held at the Court-House, in Plymouth, on THURSDAY, eighteenth
day of May instant, ten of the clock, A.M. for the purpose of choosing such
Officers as may be deemed expedient; of establishing such bye-laws, as may be
necessary to regulate said Society, and of acting and doing aU other matters
and things, requisite to carry the objects of the association into effect.
JOHN WATSON,
JOSHUA THOMAS,
BEZA HAYWARD,
WILLIAM DAVIS,
BARNABAS HEDGE.
Plymouth, May 5, 1820.
No meeting of the Society was held between November 9, 1819, and May 18,
1820; and the records of the Society state that the latter meeting was " To
organise the Society imder the act of incorporation." Hence it is impossible to
say exactly when the committee appointed to obtain an act of incorporation
concluded to alter the name from the Old Colony Pflgrim Society to the Pil
grim Society; but the passage quoted in the text shows that the change must
have taken place before December 22, 1819. A notice, beginning as foUows,
was printed in the Columbian Centinel of June 21, 1820 (p. 2/3) :
PILGRIM SOCIETY.
The Anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in the month
of December, 1620, has been publicly celebrated in that ancient town for a
series of years. Considerations connected with that memorable event, have
given rise to the " Pilgrim Society." . . .
The following officers of the Society were chosen the 29th May: . . .
1 Mr. Watson's address and the reply of Ensign RandaU are printed in the
Columbian Centinel of December 29, 1819, p. 2.

322 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
Of the celebration in 1820 we read that "The ball in the evening
was attended by more than 600, of all ages; and the costume of the
Ladies was at once beautiful and uniform; uniting to real elegance
the simplicity of their venerable foremothers;" and that among the
toasts drunk were the following: '
8. New England's Worthies — and the memory of their illustrious
biographers — Belknap and Eliot,
9. The character of William Penn,
The memory of Lady Arabella Johnson,^ the Queen of the Pil
grims, and a Martyr in their cause.
The memory of Gov. Wintheop; the friend and protector of the
Plymouth Pilgrims.
The memory of Gov. Endicott; worthy to be the Chief Magistrate
of a Colony of Puritans.'
Boston Celebrations
The following letter was printed in the Boston Gazette of Decem
ber 28, 1772 (p. 2/3):
Messi'ks Edes & Gill,
Was Yesterday informed that the Inhabitants of the ancient Toivn
of Plymouth celebrated the Anniversary of the Landing of their An
cestors in that Town, in a Manner which demonstrated their Sense of
the invaluable Blessings of that Liberty for which their Fathers left
their native Country; and also their Gratitude to the supreme Disposer
of all Events, under whose Direction they steered to this new World,
and by whose Assistance their arduous Undertaking was so happily ac
complished — The whole Colony of Plymouth are under indispensable
Obligations to be ever mindful of those Vertues which so eminently dis
tinguished their illustrious Progenitors. — Nor can it be supposed that the
respectable Town of Salem, the most ancient Settlement in what was
called the Massachusetts Colony, can suffer the memorable Day to
pass unnoticed, in which their ever honored Predecessors first reached

1 Columbian Centinel, December 27, 1820, p. 2/5-6.
2 Lady ArbeUa Johnson, daughter of Thomas CUnton (aUas Fiennes), third
Earl of Lincoln, and her husband Isaac Johnson came with Winthrop in 1630,
the admiral (or most considerable ship) of his fleet ha-vdng received her name.
Both she and her husband died shortly after their arrival.
^ For a bibliography of the Plymouth discourses, see pp. 384-391, below.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 323
the American Shore: And the most publick Demonstration of their
Thankfulness to the great Governor of the Universe, as well as a firm
and steady Resolution to do all in their Power to transmit to their
Posterity the noble Birthrights derived from those Ancestors — is what
God and their Fellow Countrymen have the justest Right to expect
from them. PHILADELPHUS.
Nahant Beach, Dec. 24, 1772.
This suggestion appears to have fallen on deaf ears. But in 1797
the Rev. Jeremy Belknap and others are said to have held a private
celebration in honor not of the first settlers at Salem or at Boston
but of those at Plymouth, though of this I have been unable to find a
contemporary account. In 1798, however, a public celebration took
place. Up to this time, as already pointed out, the Plymouth cele
brations had always been dignified and free from partizan politics,
but at once the Boston celebrations became a high Federalist car
nival. In an interleaved copy of Thomas's Almanack for 1798, the
Rev. John Eliot recorded: "Dec. 22. Dined Concert Hall. Feast
of Shells." ' In the Massachusetts Mercury of December 25 ap
peared this —
APOLOGY.

' It is with regret that we feel ourselves obliged to omit the details
of the celebration of the most important day in our History — the ar
rival of our Forefathers. They are in Press and situated exactly in the
place of the preceeding News — and was the only matter which could be
withdrawn without a total derangement of our form. S@"They shall
appear on Friday (p. 2/4).
In the Columbian Centinel of December 26 was printed this
announcement:
TO OUR READERS,

'We are necessitated to defer many articles intended and pre
pared for this day — Amongst others the particulars of " The Feast of
the Sons of the Pilgrims" (p. 2/4).
1 I am indebted to our associate Mr. Worthington C. Ford for suggesting that
something might be found in Eliot's interleaved almanacs, but unfortunately
there was nothing in them relating to the meeting said to have taken place in
1797.

324 THE colonial society of MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
The following account appeared in the Massachusetts Mercury
of December 28 :
TOASTS
DRANK AT THE CELEBRATION OF OUR
COUNTRY'S NATIVITY.
The 177th Anniversary of the arrival of our Forefathers at Plymouth,
was celebrated by a respectable Company at Concert Hall, on Saturday
last. Gen. Lincoln presided, and Joseph Russell, Esq. was Vice
President. A Dinner, composed of similar food to what sustained our
renowned Predecessors, in the arduous task of commencing our Country,
was pro-vided. The Hall was decorated with the sacred Portraits and
bright Swords of our pious and brave Ancestors. The Independent
Spirit of their Sires, is fully inherited by their sons. The innovations
of the Mother Country were opposed with a Courage which commands
Success  nor is the same energy wanting to repel the attempts of
any other Power. The Genius, Integrity and Patriotism of this large
and respectable Company is amply evidenced by the following Toasts.
"The Pilgrims of Leyden." — May the Empire which has sprung from their
labours be permanent as the rock of their landing.
John Robinson, of whom it was declared hard to judge whether he dehghted most
in ha-wng such a people, or they in having such a pastor.
Governor Carver — The leader of the Ulustrious band, and an early victim to
the hardships of their enterprize.
Governor Bradford, — Who sought to avoid, not to obtain office; a man of
fidelity and honor.
William Brewster, ruling elder — to whom his Bible and his arms were alike
famfliar. Edward Winslow. — Who, "exceUent in parts and wisdom," in all his diplo
matic conduct, "cleared the country from blame and dishonor.''
Miles Standish. — The military commander of the Pilgrims, foremost in
every hazardous enterprize, brave in combat, and forbearing in victory.
John Winthrop. — Father and Governor of Massachusetts, "who overcame
others by overcoming himself," and also had the honor of being caUumniated by
the Jacobins ' of his time.
The swords of Endicott and Standish, by which the first Sedition Pole in New-
England was demolished.
The goodly land, which God has given us. May we never surrender it to Satan.
The Liberty of our Forefathers, "a civfl, moral, federal liberty," a liberty for
that only which is just and good.^
' Those who sympathized with France were so caUed by the Federalists.
2 In 1645 Winthrop said: " For the other point concerning hberty, I observe
a great mistake in the country about that. There is a twofold hberty, natural (I
mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal" (Journal, 1908, u. 238).

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 325
May all movers of Sedition, and lords of mis-rule, whether native or imported,
meet the fate of Oldham and Morton, of Mount Wallaston ! '
Our Fore-Mothers: — let their heroism, patience, and conjugal love be conse
crated to everlasting esteem and imitation.
To the revered memory of our lamented divine, biographer, and historian, Dr.
Belknap, who has conducted us thro' the pleasant paths of ancient times.
The spirit of the Old Colony Executive,^ who for a present of Arrows and a
Snake-skin, from a savage enemy, returned powder and ball, with this answer —
"// you wish war, you may have it"\
The Federal Constitution: hke the "shaUop of our fathers," may it find a
"Rock" and a shelter in Old Colony virtues and principles!
The President of the United States.^ — In the glorious work of animating and
guiding the patriotic spirit of his country, may he go on and prosper \
Lieut. General V,'ashi7iglon. — May his sword be successfully wielded against
foreign insolence and oppression, and the hero of American hberty yet have the
satisfaction of again contemplating in his retirement, the independence and
prosperity of his country.^
John Jay. — May the lasting happiness and gratitude of his country, and the
plaudits of an admiring world, be the recompense of his talents, patriotism, and
services. Alexander Hamilton. — May the future ser-vices of this luminary of our western
hemisphere be as useful and briUiant as the past.
Governor Sumner. — May he long enjoy the rich reward of the love and rever
ence of his countrymen.
Chief Justice Dana.^ — May his fame be as permanent as our law, and our law
as pure as his integrity.
Timothy Pickering. — The Rock of State, firm whfle Frenchmen froth around
its base.
Oliver Wolcott.^ — When French men or the friends of Frenchmen come to our
treasury, may he keep the key.
Buonaparte, and his army. — May they wander in the wfldemess of Egypt
without manna to feed, or the brazen serpent to heal them.
The Red Sea. — May it continue faithful to the cause of God and men, if the
modem Egyptians should attempt its passage.
The mflitary and naval establishments of the United States. — May they be
encreased and supported in proportion to our exigences.
The strong arm of govemment — May it be felt by inlrigaing aliens, and
seditious citizens J

' John Oldham, who came in the Anne in 1623; and the notorious Thomas
Morton of Merrymount.
2 Bradford. The "present" came early in 1622 from Canonicus, the great
sachem of the Narragansetts: see Bradford's History (ed. Ford), i. 240-241.
' John Adams.
* Washington had accepted the position of Lieutenant-General and Com
mander-in-Chief on July 13, 1798.
5 Francis Dana (H. C. 1762).
« Secretary of the Treasury.
' An aUusion to the Alien and Sedition Acts, passed by Congress in 1798.

326 THE colonial SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
The Apostate Talleyrand^ — & man by chance, a bishop by grace, and a knave
by instinct.
The foUowing elegant and patriotic Ode written for the occasion by
Mr. Thomas Paine was repeatedly sung amidst the most unbounding
applause.^ Paine's ode, to the tune of the "President's March," ^ contained
eight stanzas, of which the second and fourth are as foUows:
Round the consecrated bock,
Conven'd the patriarchal stock.
And there, whfle every lifted hand
Affirmed the charter of the land.
The storm was hush'd, and round the zone
Of heaven the mystic meteor shone;
Which, like the rainbow seen of yore,
Proclaim'd that slavery's flood was o'er;
That pflgrim man, so long oppress'd,
Had found his promis'd place of rest.

Sons of glory, patriot band.
Swear to guard this chosen land!
To your Children leave it free,
Ob a desert let it be !
Heirs of Pflgrims, now renew
The oath your fathers swore for you.
When first around the social board,
Enrich' d from Nature's frugal hoard.
The ardent vow to heaven they breath'd
To shield the rights their sires bequeath'd!
Let Faction from our realm be hurl'd; —
United, you defy the world; —
And, as a tribute, scorn to yield
The Worm, that bhghts your blossom'd field!

' In 1797 John MarshaU, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Elbridge Gerry
had been sent on an unsuccessful mission — commonly known as the "XYZ
Mission'" — to France to treat with Talleyrand. It was then that Pinckney
used an expression that has become famous : " ' MiUions for defence,' " said
the Independent Chronicle of January 28, 1799, " ' but not a cent for tribute.'
This has been the language of those who are in favor of War [with France] "
(p. 2/3).
" Massachusetts Mercury, December 28, 1798, p. 2/4. Thomas Paine (H. C.
1792), who afterwards (March 8, 1803) changed his name to Robert Treat
Paine, was the son of Robert Treat Paine (H. C. 1749) the Signer.
' See p. 310 note, above.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 327

Sons of glory, patriot band.
Swear to guard your native land!
To yoiu- children leave it free.
Or a desert let it be I '
The account promised by the Columbian Centinel duly appearea
in the issue of December 29, and began as follows:
"THE HEIRS OF THE PILGRIMS"
Celebrated on Saturday Dec. 22, the 177th Anniversary of the landing
-of their Forefathers at Plymouth Rock. — As it was the day of the
nati-vity of New-England, the commemorating banquet was attended
by a very numerous and respectable company, most of whom were
hneally descended from the first settlers of the Old Colony. Gen. Lin
coln presided, and Jos. Russell, Esq. was Vice-President, at the board
of the "Pilgrims," which was amply and characteristically furnished
with every species of wild food, which the elements afford, at this period
of the year. The portrait of the pious Wilson, and the swords of Carver
and Standish were conspicuous among the embellishments of the hall ;
and the following toasts evinced that the spirit of the Old Colony patriots
had been bequeathed to the inheritors of their soil (pp. 2-3).
It is thus seen that the term Feast of Shells ^ at once made its
appearance, and that the word Pilgrim, as specifically applied to

1 Massachusetts Mercury, December 28, 1798, p. 4/1.
^ The Boston celebration perhaps received this name (see p. 347, below)
in aflusion to the shell-fish so often mentioned in early days. It should be
pointed out, however, that the expressions "the shefls of the feast," "the shefls
of joy," "the shell of feasts," "to rejoice in the sheU," "the haU of sheUs,"
"the feast of sheUs," occur in the Ossianic poems; Macpherson explaining
that "To rejoice in the shell, is a phrase for feasting sumptuously, and drinking
freely;'' and further says: "The ancient Scots, as well as the present High
landers, drunk in shells; hence it is that we so often meet, in the old poetry,
with the chief of shells, and the halls of shells." See Poems of Ossian, London,
1805, u. 154, 161 note, 201 note, 235 and note, 297 and note, ui. 6-7. Cf.
Notes and Queries, 11th Series, ix. 108, 175. Oscar and Malvina, a pantomime
"taken from the Poems of Ossian," was given at the Boston Theatre on March
14, 1796. "At the opening of the Piece the Theatre represents the HaU of
Fingal at the Feast of SheUs" (Oscar & Malvina, Hamburg, 1795, p. 6).
At all events, the Boston celebration was not caUed the Feast of SheUs in
reference to the scaUop-shell as a pflgrim's badge. In 1896 W. T. Davis said:
The comer stone of the canopy over the Rock was laid on the 2d of August,
1859, and the structure was completed in 1867. . . . The use of scaUop sheUs on

328 THE COLONU.L SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
an early settler, was first used by Thomas Paine and immediately
caught the popular fancy .^
It was not to be expected that the gross partizanship displayed
by the participants in the celebration should have escaped criticism.
A communication signed "Propriety" appeared in the Independent
Chronicle of December 31 :
The " Feast of Shells."
FOE THE CHEONICLE.
" Several of the Rev. Clergy were present." No doubt recommended
by their politicks, suitable persons for such a feast, they boast of feast
ing on such a dish once in their fives. But politicks gave even shells a
rehsh. — Their parishioners complain that these shepherds feed them
¦with the husks of politicks once a week, without the least tincture of
truth to season husks — though they pay them weekly and weU, to be
served with Clu-istian truth, and not with the fibs and artifices of the
Politieian. The Feasts all Shell and no Fish, as one would conclude, must have
ended with — all Bottle and no Liquor. — But that was not the case.
It was necessary there should be wine and that the best of priests' wine,
sufficient for twenty-nine Toasts from their priestly lips, which last
served to fit them for a song of the American Tom Paine to the tune of
the President's march. . . .
Strange it was that the managers of that feast, should imagine that
those Heavenly Pilgrims could approve of the practice of toasting, to
which they were so much averse on earth. They thought it to be of
evil tendency, and immoral, and therefore not to be countenanced;
they thought it could be borne with only by Bachanalian Topers. To
have heard 29 toasts given, must immediately have ended their journey

its top was suggested by the fact that this shell was the emblem wom by the
Pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. . . . The first use of the scallop sheU
associated with the Plymouth Pflgrims was at the anniversary celebration in
1820, when a,t the ball in the evening some young ladies hung a sheU suitably
decorated on the breast of Mr. Webster, the orator of the day (Plymouth Memo
ries of an Octogenarian, pp. 27, 28).
1 In E. C. Stedman and EUen M. Hutchinson's Library of American Liter
ature (1888, iu. 185) are quoted, under the heading "To the Heirs of the Pfl
grims," twenty-six fines from a poem written by Dr. Benjamin Church in 1765.
The lines are correctly quoted from pp. 7-8 of "The Times. A Poem. By an
American" (1765), but the heading under which they appear in the work cited
is of course due to the editors.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 329
thi-ough this then howling wilderness, and carried them strait to their
desired home.'
But those men of sobriety only perceive that they led to tipling, but
not that they might be improved by Tories and Courtiers to injure the
essential interests of a free and virtuous People. The publisher of the
toasts given at the Feast of Shells, says that justice is done to our ftrst
and later worthies with affection, cordiality, and sincerity. Yet as to
some of those toasts, tho' called federal, they surely do not discover the
features of a Pilgrim, — I mean of one traveling to the land of purity
and peace — Such were our venerable Ancestors. . . .
Let us take a look at some of the Toasts and see if they discover more
judiciousness. . . .
"Alexander Hamilton. May the future services of this Luminary of the
Western hemisphere be as useful and brilliant as the past." — Astonish
ment almost stops my pen. What! and was there no Phineas present,
to take up the faithful sword of one of the chiefs of the first Settlers and
which helped to decorate the Hall, and with a laudable zeal have
avenged the shameful insult offered in this toast to the conjugal purity
of those Ancient Worthies? ^ And why in the name of common decency
did not the brave and virtuous General then in the Chair, give out im
mediate orders to his Drum Major to go round the Hall and beat to the
tune of — "Drunk or sober, go to bed Tom — go to bed Tom" (pp.
2-3). 3

' In a letter to Sir Robert Naunton dated November 28, 1619, Sir Dudley
Carleton, referring to Thomas Brewer, who had charge of the Pilgrim press
(cf . p. 384 note 1, below) at Leyden (though he did not come to this country),
said: The states fleet now prepared against the pirates could not possibly put to sea
until this day; which is the first easterly wind we have had for these six weeks
past. I hope it wfll carry over sir William Zouche with mr. Brewer to your
honour, who have lain long together at Flushing; and his feUow Brownists at
Leyden are somewhat scandalized, because they hear sir William hath taught
him to drink healths (Letters from and to Sir Dudley Carleton, 1775, p. 423).
2 The reference is to Hamflton's Observations on Certain Documents, etc.,
1797, usually known as the "Reynolds Pamphlet," in which he explained his
pubhc conduct at the expense of his private character. In the Independent
Chronicle of January 27, 1803, there is an allusion to " Maria's financier "
(p. 2/4).
2 In the same paper of January 10, 1799, "Propriety" again wrote: "The
Salem Gazette contains the celebration of the Feast of shells, and the printer has
honoured himself by shewing his regard to Propriety, in leaving out the exception
able toasts, given at that feast" (p. 2/4).

330 THE colonial society of MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
The celebration of 1799 was thus described in the Columbian
Centinel of December 25 (p. 3):
FEAST OF THE "SONS OF THE PILGRIMS."
The anniversary of the landing of our Ancestors, at Plymouth, in 1620,
was celebrated in this town, on Monday last, by a large number of gen
tlemen, who dined together at Concert-Hall. The guests were several im
mediate descendants of the first company of emigrants, with a large num
ber of native citizens sprung from the early settlers oi Massachusetts, or the
Old Colony; or connected with them by the affection and respect they
bear to their memory. Stephen Higginson, Esq.' presided; and Joseph
Russell, and Peleg Coffin, Esquires, officiated as Vice-Presidents.
The tables were covered with a choice collection of fish, wild meats,
and birds: And a shell of uncommon size, borrowed from the Museum
of the Historical Society,^ adorned the head of the table, containing the
appropriate succatash, sufficient for the numerous company.
The following toasts were given. [They shall be given to the public on
Saturday.] After the first toast, an Ode, in honor of the Fathers, was sung, with
suitable solemnity by the company to the tune of Old Hundred. Lines
adapted to this ancient tune were conceived to be well adapted to the
occasion. It was pleasing to recollect that our ancestors sang together
their sacred hymns in this tune; which on good ground is supposed to
have been composed by the celebrated Reformer, Maetin Luthee. —
The "Plymouth Ode," composed for the celebration of the anniversary
there, in 1793,^ was also performed; and Mr. Paine's admired song of
" Sainted Shades," composed for the last anniversary.*
1 Born November 28, 1743; died November 22, 1828. In his Life and Let
ters of Stephen Higginson (1907), the late Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson
gave a brief account (pp. 219-229) of the celebrations in 1801-1804, drawn from
notes furnished by the present -writer. Oddly enough, "No aUusions to these
festive occasions are apparently to be found m Stephen Higginson's correspond
ence" (p. 229).
2 Mr. GrenvUle H. Norcross writes me: "When the Massachusetts Histori
cal Society began, it had a Natural History attachment, the remains of which,
consisting of two pairs of horns and two big ' oyster ' shells, remained down to
my time as Cabmet Keeper. We offered the horns and sheUs to the Boston
Society of Natural History, but they were decUned." Later, they were aU given
to Dr. Edwin H. Brigham,- who informs me that they are at his house at
South Hanover, that " one sheU is much the lai-ger," that it weighs two hun
dred pounds, and that its capacity is " at least a bushel, perhaps more."
2 An error for 1794: see p. 306 note 3, above.
* See p. 326, above.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 331
The celebration of this anniversary leads us to the tombs of our
Fathers; and naturally excites some degree of not unpleasing sensibility;
— But it was the lot of the company who assembled on Monday to have
the soothing contemplations on the deeds and characters of the Fathers,
overwhelmed by the intelligence of a most affiicting event, which -will
excite the sympathy of the whole civilized world. In the forenoon of
the day, a rumor prevailed, that WASHINGTON was dead! Before
noon it was rendered painfully certain.
Common festivals upon such intelligence would have been omitted:
But the impressions arising from the celebration were thought not in
consistent with a due sensibility to the sad event which was announced.
The usual expressions of gaiety had no place; and the guests appeared
assembled rather for condolence than festivity. Had it been possible,
none could wish to exchange his tender emotions, for thoughtless hilarity;
since every heart capable of sympathy will pronounce,
"The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears,
"Less pleasing far than even Virtue's tears."
At the close of the first Ode to the memory of the Fathers, a tribute of
respect was attempted to the memory of the Great Man who has fallen.
As the Ode was originally prepared, it concluded with the following
verse: — HaU Pflgrim Fathers of our race,
With grateful hearts your tofls we trace,
Oft as this votive Day returns,
We'U pay due honors to your urns.
After the afflicting intelhgence of the day arrived, the following fines
were added. Ah! while we gather roimd your urn,
Joins your blest band, great WASHINGTON. —
Hark, to that kneU * — a NATION'S sighs
Waft his PURE SPIRIT to the skies.
* The bells were then tolling.'-
In this ode, written by Samuel Davis, the term Pilgrim Fathers
occurs for the first time.^ The list of toasts promised by the Colum
bian Centinel, duly appeared in the issue of December 28 :
1 Columbian Centinel, December 25, 1799, p. 3.
' For a memoir of Samuel Davis, who was a brother of Judge John Davis, see
3 Massachusetts Historical CoUections, v. 253-255. As there has been confu
sion in regard to Judge Da-vis's ode of 1794, so too has there been with respect to
Samuel Davis's ode of 1799. An account of the 1845 celebration at Plymouth,

332 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
TOASTS.
g^"The following are the toasts given at the Feast of the "Sons of
the Pilgrims," at Concert-Hall, on Monday last.
1. nnHE 22d of December, 1620. — May its perpetual celebration be a monu-
Jl ment to the virtues of our fathers, durable as the rock of their landing.
2. The President of the United States — The venerable Chief, who sustains our
empire, by toils and virtues, like those by which it was acquired. 3. The Ad
ministration of the United States. — May it display the wisdom of Car-veb, the
integrity of Beadford, the fii-mness of Winslow, the piety of Brewster, and
the spirit of Standish. 4. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. — May it ever
find Governors like the last;^ resembling Bradford and Winthrop. — Men who
did not seek office, yet whom office sought; who were wflling to rule, and not
less wflling to be ruled. 5. The Fathers of New England. — May the healthful
stamina of their institutions resist the infection of insidious philosophism. 6.
Antient maxims and antient manners. — May they be duly respected by modern
pohcy and modem phflosophy. 7. The memory of our Ancestors. — May their
ardour inspire and their success encourage their descendants to maintain their
birth-rights, and may aU their enemies be converted like Massasoit, or suffer
like Phillip. 8. The American Judiciary. — Lord Coke's benediction to them,
"The gladsome fight of jurisprudence, the loveHness of temperance, and the
solidity of justice." 9. The American Navy. — Let it be remembered, that the
ocean it is to defend bore our sires on its bosom. 10. Those Foreign Ministers,
who, like Car-ver, "carry themselves with good discretion,'' and like Winslow,
"clear the country from blame and dishonor." 11. Our Envoys to France,^ who
will remember that the sons, hke the fathers, would rather be blotted from the
book of that republic, than "become marginal notes to a French text, which is
yet but apocryphal." 12. The sixteen United Fires.^ — May they bum bright
and pure; full of genial warmth to the friends of our country, and of deadly heat
to its enemies. 13. Correct systems in politics and religion; and sharp swords
to defend the one, and sound sense to maintain the other. 14. May the doc
trine older than our fathers never be forgotten, that liberty of the people is in
separable from the authority of the rnagistrate. 15. The prudent policy of our

¦written by the Rev. John Pierce, is printed in 2 Proceedings Massachusetts
Historical Society, x. 393-403. "Then the choir," wrote Mr. Pierce, "sung the
ode by Judge Davis, written m 1799" (p. 396). An editorial note says, "Here
foUows the well-known ode, written by the Hon. Judge Davis, third President of
the Historical Society, beginning 'Sons of reno-wned sires.'" This editorial
statement is correct, though Mr. Pierce gave the year 1799 instead of 1794 (see
p. 306 note 3, above). Mr. Pierce continued: "The hymn then for 22 December,
written by Judge Davis, was sung to Old 100." An editorial note says, "Here
foUows Judge Davis's scarcely less famfliar hymn, beginning 'Hafl, pflgrim fathers
of our race ! '" The attribution of this hymn to Judge Davis was a mistake.
J Increase Sumner died while in office June 7, 1799.
2 Wflham Vans Murray, OHver EUsworth, and Wflliam Richardson Davie.
" Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee had been admitted into the Union in
1791, 1792, and 1796 respectively.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 333
fathers- — welcoming worthy emigrants and refusing to the sons of sedition a
resting place for their feet. 16. The antient Town of Plymouth. — Prosperity to
those who dweU around the cradle of our country. 17. GEORGE WASHINCi-
TON — " My father, my father; the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."
VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
From the Chair. WhUst we celebrate the memory of our Fore Fathers, may
we imitate their virtues, that we also may be had in remembrance.
The memory of the Historian of our Ancestors, Dr. Belknap. — Devouring
time or barbaric fury shaU destroy marble monuments; but nothing shall de
molish his labours.
The virtuous Matrons, who attended the PUgrims. — The image of their fair
example of conjugal love and simple manners will never be wanting in their
daughters (pp. 1-2).
The names of those who presided or were present in 1800 do not
appear in the newspaper accounts of that celebration, but among
the toasts drunk were the following:
6. May Federalism, like the Live Oak, though prostrate prove the
country's best defense.
8. May the exulting notes of antifederalism, like those of the swan,
prove the prelude of its death.
10. May the ghosts of our pious forefathers walk during the approach
ing reign of infidelity, and deter the daring philosophists from attacking
the sacred temple of religion.'
A correspondent who signed himself "A. X." thus freed liis mind
in the Independent Chronicle of December 29 (p. 2/3) :
The fag end of the Faction described.
THE first settlers in New-England fled from the cruel hand of perse
cution. . . . When, therefore, the day of their arrival is celebrated as a
festival, it ought to be done in a temper suited to the principles which
brought them to this country. But in a late assembly, which stiled
their entertainment The Feast of Shells, that very spirit of persecution,
that mahgnity of heart, that superb haughtiness of spirit, and that
same claim to lawless rule and uncontrouled domination, which drove
our Ancestors from Europe, were exhibited at fuU length.
The Feast of Shells was introduced some years ago by a number of

1 Columbian Centinel, December 24, 1800, p. 2/3. In the presidential election
of 1800, Jefferson and Burr received each 73 electoral votes, the election thus
being thrown into the House of Representatives, where Jefferson was successful.

334 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
men, who wished to perpetuate the honor of the first American emi
grants. It was not intended as a political engine, to contaminate and
wound the true principles of civil liberty. Nor was it intended as a
poHtical measure, or for any other purpose, than that of doing honor to
the virtues of those who fled to these shores for the enjoyment of freedom.
The pubHc ought to be informed, that the men who assumed the feast
this year, are not the men who originated it. That a number of men,
whose politics have poisoned the sources of science, have made even
their public devotion subservient to the "dlest party purposes — have
dissolved the bands of friendship — have subverted all sincerity and
truth in political communications — have, under the mask of Federal
ism, attempted to overthrow the best Constitution on earth. These
men contrived to collect themselves, as a party in opposition to the
great body of the people. To countenance their indecency and con
temptible abuse, they in-vited others, who perhaps did not know their
intentions. The toasts they drank, and all their arrangements was an
insult upon the President, the Republic of America, and upon the great
body of the Citizens.
The fact is, that this festival, as they celebrated it, was the overboil-
ings of their chagrin and disappointment. They came forward with
the torch of discord in their hand; and the flame was increased by the
oil of revenge and disappointment.
The man who presided at the festival,' has been the avowed enemy
of John Adams. He was no greater friend to Washington before the
capture of Burgoyne, than he was to Samuel Adams, John Hancock
and Thomas Jefferson.
The feast was supported by the same men, who feasted Gen. Ham
ilton, when he was lately in Boston. It was arranged with a view to
support the interest of a man, whose morals are as infamous, as his
politics are dangerous to the American Republic. . . .
In 1801 Stephen Higginson presided, while Joseph Russell, Martin
Brimmer, and Peleg Coffin assisted as vice-presidents; and among
the guests were "the Hon. John Adams, Hon. Timothy Pickering,
the President of the Senate, the Hon. Judges of the Federal and
State Courts, the President and Professors of Harvard University,
several of the Rev. Clergy, the Hon. John Q. Adams, George Cabot,
and Fisher Ames, Esquires." ^ The presence of John Adams,
' Possibly Stephen Higginson.
2 Columbian Centinel, December 23, 1801, p. 2/4. Broadsides containing
songs to be sung at the Boston celebrations were sometimes printed. Professor

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 335
Timothy Pickering, and Fisher Ames led the Independent Chronicle
of December 24 (p. 3/1) to declare:
The "feast of shells," we understand, was celebrated in this to-wn,
on Tuesday last, by a number of rare characters. "Strange times,
strange times indeed," have come to pass! when we can behold the Brain-
tree Lion,' the Essex Hyena, and the Dedham Watch-Dog quietly
feeding in open day within the same enclosure 1 1 1
The celebration of 1802 was thus described in the Columbian
Centinel of December 25:
"SONS OF THE PILGRIMS."
On Monday, the 22d December, was celebrated in this town, the
Anniversary of Our Fathers^ landing at Plymouth, Anno Domini 1620.
A hundred and one gentlemen, the number that arrived in the first
ships, sat down at the "Feast of Shells," with those joyous and elevated
emotions that rise from contemplating the characters of great and good
men. Among the distinguished guests were His Honor the Lieut-
Goveenoe,^ Gen. Lincoln, The Hon. Timothy Pickering, the Officers
Kittredge calls my attention to one (owned by the Massachusetts Historical
Society) that was evidently prepared for the celebration in 1801. It is headed
"FESTIVAL of the SONS of the PILGRIMS," and contains four songs: that
of Judge Da-vis in 1794 (wrongly dated 1793), that of Samuel Davis in 1799
(without date or name of the author), that of Paine in 1798 (wrongly dated
1800), and that " Composed for the Festival at Plymouth, 1800." The last was
printed in the New England PaUadium of January 27, 1801, p. 3/2, and is stated
in W. S. RusseU's Airs of the Pflgrims (1846, p. 39) to have been written by
Samuel Da-vis. The Boston Pubfic Library also owns a mutUated copy of the
same broadside, on which is written in pencil " Four odes and hymns for the
anniv. festival at Plymouth." But clearly the broadside was printed for the
Boston celebration. The Boston Pubhc Library also owns a broadside that was
e-vidently prepared for the celebration in 1802. It is headed " FESTIVAL of
THE SONS of THE PILGRIMS," and contains five songs: the above four, and
in addition an ode " Composed for the Anniversary Festival of the SoNS of the
Pilgrims, 1801." This last was printed in the New England PaUadium of
December 29, 1801, p. 1/2.
' In later years John Adams was also called Duke of Braintree and Old Brim-
borion (Columbian Centinel, November 4, 1812, p. 2/4; October 28, 1812, p. 1/4).
In a former communication to the Society I inadvertently stated that "the
sobriquet of 'the Duke of Quincy' was sometimes appUed to John Adams"
(Pubhcations, x. 180). For a curious coUection of nicknames current early in
the nineteenth century, see Proceedings American Antiquarian Society, xix.
23-29. ' Edward Hutchinson Robbins.

336 THE COLONLiL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
of the University, several of the Revd. Clergy of this and the neighbor
ing towns, the Hon. Judge Paine, Hon. Messrs. Cabot, Ames, Dwight
and Beigham.' Stephen Higginson, Esquire, was President of the
day, Joseph Russell, Peleg Coffin and Maetin Beimmee, Esquires,
were Vice Presidents. The HaU was appropriately ornamented with
the portraits of Wintheop, Endicott, Levekett, Higginson, Bead-
steeet, and Wilson; together with an historical painting, "The Land
ing of the Fathers," ^ from the pencil of Mr. Saegent, and many curiosi-
1 Probably Thomas Dwight (H. C. 1778), and Ehjah Brigham (Dartmouth
College 1778).
2 This is the earhest allusion I have found to Henry Sargent's painting, now
called The Landing of the Pflgrims. A very long advertisement appeared in the
Columbian Centmel of March 4, 1815 (p. 3/1), which begms as foUows:
Landing of the Fathers,
THIS celebrated Painting by H. Sargent, Esq. is now exhibiting near the
corner of Walnut and Beacon Streets, back of the unfurnished buildings
belonging to Mr. Cotting. The doors wifl be open every day for a few weeks,
Sundays excepted, from the hour of 9 in the moming, untU 4 in the afternoon. —
W^ Admittance 25 Cents. Free Tickets of Admission, (11 each,) wiU admit the
bearer at all times vAen exhibiting; to be had at the room. . . .
In the same paper of June 21, 1815 (p. 2/3) was advertised —
Col. Sargent's New Painting.
Our FATHERS intend speedily, we are informed, to -visit the Southern
States. — They hold their levee however, at the accustomed dweUing for a few
days. . . .
In the same paper of July 8, 1815 (p. 2/1) is an advertisement headed " Close of
the Exhibition of the Fathers." But in September foUowing the picture was here
again. In his Discourse on December 22 of that year, the Rev. James FUnt sug
gested that the picture should be bought and placed in Plymouth, adding, "It
would gratify many sons of the pilgrims, to see measures taking to carry this
suggestion into effect" (p. 22). Presumably Sargent was unable to sell his pic
ture, for in 1834 he himself presented it to the Pflgrim Society (New England
Historical and Genealogical Society, 1850, iv. 193). For notices of the picture,
taken from Boston newspapers of 1815, see 2 Massachusetts Historical Collec
tions, in. 225-232. Mr. Lord calls my attention to a letter -written March
9, 1830, by G. O. Verplanok to Washington AUston; "But does our ante-
revolutionary history present no subject? The ' Landing of the Pilgrims,' a
threadbare subject in some respects, has never been -viewed with a poet's and
painter's eye." On March 29th Allston rephed: "To the first subject you
propose, ' The Landing of the Pilgrims ' (not unpicturesque), I have a personal
objection. It has already been painted by an old friend of mine, Colonel Sar
gent, a high-minded, honorable man, to whom I would on no account give pain;
which I could not avoid doing were I to encroach on what, at the expense of

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 337
ties connected with the manners and persons of the time. At proper
intervals several Odes and Songs, written for this occasion, were sung
¦with the spirit which inspired them, and the festival was concluded with
a propriety and gladness of heart becoming the "Sons of the Pilgrims"
(p. 2/4).
Among the toasts were:
4. Brewster, Cotton, Norton, Higginson, Eliot,' and the ven
erable Elders of New-England: . . .
5. New-England : — Here may Republicanism ever be at home —
Democracy ever be an alien. [" Yankee Doodle."]
14. Our Sister Virginia: — ^^^len she changes the three-fifths^ of her
Ethiopian Skin, we will respect her as the head of our white family.
[" Go to the Devil and shake yourself."]
The memory of Dr. Belknap, the founder of this Celebration: May
he be revered with the monuments of our Ancestors, and hve in the
virtues of their Sons. Volunteer by Judge Paine. ^
Great-Britain: May that Nation, which stood the Friend of Liberty
when Liberty had no other Friend among the Nations, be refined and
confirmed, and remain the Jachin, while the United States of America
stands the BoAz, of True Political and Social Liberty, until Sun and
Moon shall be no more (p. 2/4).
This account was the cause of great hilarity among the Demo
crats. One critic remarked:
The Toasts given at Vila's are worthy a serious notice, but as
there are so many degenerate Sons of our worthy Forefathers, we could
not expect a more decent coUection. — The only one which we now

several years' labor, he has a fair right to consider as his ground. I do not hke
rivalry in any shape, and my picture on the same subject would seem hke it "
(J. B. Flagg's Life and Letters of W. AUston, pp. 235, 236).
' Elder WUliam Brewster of Plymouth; Rev. John Cotton, Rev. John Norton
of Boston; Rev. Francis Higginson of Salem; Rev. John Ehot, the Apostle to the
Indians. 2 The framers of the Constitution avoided the use of the word slaves. Hence
Article i, section 2, reads: "Representatives and direct Taxes shaU be appor
tioned among the several States which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective Numbers, which shaU be determined by adding to
the Number of Free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of
Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of aU other Persons."
' Robert Treat Paine, the Signer: cf. p. 326 note 2, above.

338 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
particularly notice, is Judge Paine's; what the old man means is some
what difficult to explain; his Boaz and Jachin is a new species of Federal
nonsense. At the next meeting, we expect he -will give Gog and Magog.^
He concluded by asking "whether it is decent" for a man holding
an office worth from ten to fifteen thousand dollars a year to asso
ciate with those who throw odium on the President. Another writer
said: It is asked whether Judge Paine is a Jew or a Christian^ One would
suppose neither; unless it can be proved that Jews and Christians may
drink profane toasts at Bachanalian revels. — To introduce Scripture
allusions at a carousal, is a new thing under the sun. But we will not
say what the intefiectual condition of the learned judge was, after he
had voluntarily borne his part of eighty bumpers in honour of our pious
& venerable Forefathers! ^
"Plymouth Rock" declared that —
THE Federal troops seem to be totally disbanded; and the "Grand
King," with all his subalterns, are crying out to the champions of their
cause, to appear on the parade of the newspapers. The scribblers in
these several papers, are charged with tardiness; they are called on to
rally, and bring into the field all their ammunition. Even Stephen,
the Shell-President, the man whom they describe as the most powerful
antagonist, seems to betake himself to the back-ground, and, coward
like, entices an Old Man to expose his folly, in the uncouth dialect of
Jewish phraseology. Stephen has long been an old "Rat," he smells the
trap as well as the cheese, and generally adopts some cunning artifice,
when he intends to spring it; but who would think that he should per
suade an old fox to his purpose, or should be so artful as to make an old
man lug into Vila's two such heavy pillars as Jachin and Boazl . . .
Stephen, ... if the old Judge was really under the pressure of Jachin
and Boaz, or the whole Porch of the Temple, . . . would not have put
forth his little finger to relieve him; but would let him "Go to the Devil
and shake himself! " ^
"MUST private character," asked "Spintext," "be constantly
lacerated by the forked tongue of the envenomed slanderer? " Then,
remarking upon the persons present, he continued:
1 Independent Chronicle, December 27, 1802, p. 3/1.
2 Ibid. January 6, 1803, p. 1/4.
' Ibid. January 6, 1803, p. 2/1.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 339
The officers of Cambridge University. These are the men to
teach the " young ideas how to shoot " — to fan into life, the expiring
spark of ambition — and to blow the coal of genius into a flame. . . .
Was it to inculcate such illiberal principles, that our enlightened An
cestors planted the tree of life in Cambridge? — Would they have nur
tured and fostered the tree, if they had been apprehensive of such
fruit? — What will be the sensations and reflections of those southern
Gentlemen, who have placed their children under the instructions of
such men? — Will they feel obliged, when they read, that their en
lightened Instructors were regaled at this mock feast of the Pilgrims?
— and, with federal devotion and savage glee, drank a full glass to the
damnation of more than eight hundi-ed thousand souls! — "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." '
"Cotton Mather" made the foUowing —
Observations on a late Toast at the Feast of Shells.
IT would be matter of curiosity, if we could have the names of the
Sons of the Pilgrims who celebrated at Vila's the emancipation of our
Forefathers from the British house of bondage; we could then form some
idea of Judge Paine's Jachin and Boaz. ... If the Judge did not mean
to confine his idea solely to the Pilgrims present, but intended to em
brace Great-Britain as the great Ally of America, in support of the
Liberty of the world; yet even this sentiment must be foreign from the
intentions of Solomon; . . .
The whole proceeding of the late Feast seems a jumble of inconsisten
cies; the Toasts are made up of a farrago of nonsense and impropriety.
The Constitution of the United States, or the respective States, are not
even mentioned; we can't say these persons are in favor of either by
what they declare; they seem only intent to the elevation of particular
men, and these are so strangely connected and designated as to shew
the foUy of the Baccanalian Pilgrims : — ... The whole proceeding
discovers a paltry attempt to deceive the public in the political -views
of the Lacoites by leading honest Pilgrims from the right road.^ . . .
But the most ludicrous part of the whole business commences at the
moment when they give "The State of Virginia:" — This ancient State,

' National jEgis, quoted in the Independent Chronicle of January 27, 1803,
p. 2/1. " An aUusion to the Writings of Laco, attacking John Hancock, attributed to
Stephen Higginson. They appeared in the Massachusetts Centinel in February
and March, 1789, and were reprinted in a pamphlet in the same year.

340 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
the birth-place of Washington, is stigmatized with every degrading
epithet, and to top the climax, it is accompanied by the tune of "Go to
the Devil and shake yourself!" This is a pretty ditty for the Sons of our
pious Forefathers: — what an appearance must Gen. Lincoln & Judge
Paine, in company -with Stephen Higginson, Fisher Ames, Timothy
Pickering, Dr. Parker,' the Reverend Mr. John Gardner,^ &c. &c. make,
while attentively hstening to the music of Go to the Devil and shake your
self? . . . What a figure must these pious Pilgrims make, while hsten
ing to a tune, the appellation of which strikes every man of morahty
-with disgust and horror? . . .'
In 1803 Stephen Higginson again presided, while Peleg Coffin,
Martin Brimmer, and William Tudor were vice-presidents. Among
the toasts were the memories of Brewster, Cotton, Norton, Higgin
son, and Ehot, "the five burning and shining lights in 'golden can
dlesticks' in the early churches of New-England;" and "Louisiana —
a country without patriots — May our Patriots without a country
occupy what they have bought, and leave us to enjoy what we have
inherited." * A satirical poem was printed in the Independent
Chronicle, of which a few lines follow:
TJie modem Clam-Eaters.
THE Pilgrim's Sons who dweU on earth,
God knows from whom they claim their birth;
On some pretence, as rumour teUs,
Each year renew their feast of shells.
At faction-haU, where tories meet,
Apostate whigs and priests to greet; — ...
For there the fi-ving act their part.
And lay the bottle close to heart.
Whflst clams and oysters round are spread,
And -wine to rouse «ome drooping head.
Old Stephen mounted in the chair
Of federal feasts and toasts lord mayor.
Proclaims again their cause of meeting
Once more his brother tories greeting.^

1 Rev. Samuel Parker, rector of Trinity Church, later Bishop.
2 Rev. John Sylvester John Gardiner, then assistant of Dr. Parker at Trinity
Church. ' Independent Chronicle, December 30, 1802, pp. 1-2.
* New England PaUadium, December 27, 1803, p. 1/5.
' January 9, 1804, p. 4/1. In the same paper of December 26, 1803, a
writer remarked (p. 2/4) :

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 341
In 1804 Stephen Higginson once more presided, Christopher
Gore, Peleg Coffin, and William Tudor acting as vice-presidents.
The hall was decorated with portraits of Winthrop, Endicott, Hig
ginson, Bradstreet, and Rogers, and with busts of Washington and
Hamilton. One account reads :
LANDING OF THE FATHERS.
The 184th anniversary of the landing of the first settlers of New-
England, was celebrated on Saturday last, in this town, by a numerous
company, who dined together, in the usual appropriate style, at Concert-
Hall. About 35 years since, this anniversary began to be celebrated,
by the Inhabitants of Plymouth, where the first settlement in New-
England was effected in 1620. In 1797, it was first noticed in this to-wn,
by a small company, of whom the late Dr. Belknap was one. Since that
time, it has been annually observed, by increased numbers. The recent
enlargement of the Hall, afforded accommodation to a larger collection,
the present year, than had ever before assembled on a similar occasion.
Nearly two hundred gentlemen partook of the entertainment, among
whom were many of the Clergy of the To-wn and Vicinity, Officers of
the University, the President of the Senate, and several other respectable
guests. . . . Sentiment and Song enlivened the feast; and appropriate
music accompanied the Toasts, a copy of which we have procured. . . .
3. The New-England Minority — Like true Puritans, not intimidated, though
involved in the "sin and danger of Non^conformity."
16. The memory of Lady Arabella Johnson, and aU the primitive Dames of New-
England, who cheered the toils of the Pilgrims, and participated in the hardships
of their arduous enterprise.
Louisiana — A country of golden dreams and leaden reahties.
The memory of Dr. Belknap — The American Plutarch; the distinguished
Biographer of the Pilgrims.' . . .

Among the guests who attended the feast of sheUs are said to be, the judges
of the Supreme Court! — Quere, if they can find time to attend at Vfla's, why
cannot they fiflfil the duties of their office? ... Oh! the rare sons of the pfl
grims! eating and carousing to celebrate the hardships, toils, and dangers of their
forefathers! Car-ver and Standish, we beheve, were more respected by these
young pilgrims for their appropriate names to a dissected vnldfowle, and a haunch
of venison than for their pohtical principles. . . .
1 The two volumes of Belknap's American Biography (1794, 1798) contain
the fives of many early explorers and settlers, among the latter Carver, Brad
ford, Brewster, Cushman, Winslow, Standish, John Winthrop, and John Win
throp, Jr.

342 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
The pleasures of the feast were greatly enhanced by a number of
excellent songs and catches by Mr. Shaw professor of music, and Messrs.
Fox and Bernard of the Theatre.'

» Gilbert Fox and John Bernard, the noted English actor. The latter had made
his first appearance in Boston a year before, as appears from an advertisement
in the Columbian Centinel of November 5, 1805 :
On Monday Evening, Nov. 7, wiU be presented for the first time these four
years, a Play in 3 acts, (interspersed with Singing,) caUed, The Battle of Hex
ham; — or Days of Old. Written by CoZman, the Younger. Gondibert, Mr. Bar-
ratt; Gregory Gubbins, Mr. Bernard; (his first appearance in Boston) From the
Theatres of Philadelphia and Baltimore (p. 3/1).
Of the twelve who formed the Old Colony Club in 1769, five were graduates
of Harvard CoUege: Oakes Angier, 1764; John Thomas and Edward Winslow, Jr.,
1765; John Watson, 1766; and Alexander ScammeU, 1769. Plays were acted by
the students, sometimes -with the sanction of the coUege authorities, as early as
1758 (Nation, March 19, 1914, xcviu. 295) ; and some if not aU of the above five
may weU have taken part in them. At all events, though the Boston Theatre
T,'as first opened on February 3, 1794, it is interesting to note that on February 8,
1770, "This evening was read at the Hall the 'Provoked Husband,' a comedy,
by M'' M. A. Warwel, to a company of about forty gentlemen and ladies, by
invitation of the Club" (Records, p. 407). Among the guests of the Club pres
ent on July 29 and August 5, 1772, was Joseph Croswell, "a shop-keeper in Plym
outh'' (Records, pp. 430-431, 431 note). In later years CrosweU wrote a play
entitled: "A New World Planted; or, the Adventures of the Forefathers of New-
England; who landed in Plymouth, December 22, 1620. An Historical Drama
— in Five Acts. By Joseph Croswell. Boston: . . . 1802." A notice in the
Boston Weekly Magazine of Saturday, December 18, states that "On Monday
next, wfll be published ... an Historical Drama, ... By Joseph CrosweU"
(i. 31). The play, which is the earliest kno-wn to me on the subject of the Pfl
grims, deals chiefly -with the conspiracy of John Lyford and John Oldham; but
among the characters are Pocahonte, a daughter of Massasoit, and "Hampden,
a young gentleman, who came to view the country, in love with Pocahonte."
So far as I am aware, Croswell's play was never acted.
It was stated in the Columbian Centinel of December 21, 1808, that "A new
Melo Drama, entitled 'The Pflgrims,' is in rehearsal, and wiU speedfly be brought
forward" (p. 3/3) at the Boston Theatre. It was given on December 23d, 1808;
on December 26th "for the second time;" and on January 2, 1809, "for the
3d and last time this season . . . (with alterations)." Among the Indians are
Massasoit, Squanto, Samoset, Chickatawbut, and "Yankee, an Indian Woman;"
and among the "EngUsh PUgrims" are Governor Carver, Capt. Standish, "Boat
swain Blunder," Mr. Winslow, Mr. Cushman, and Juliana. Also, the "Genius
of Columbia." Among the performers who played " Other Pilgrims " occurs
the name of " Mrs Poe," who, seventeen days after the last performance, be
came the mother of Edgar AUan Poe. I have been unable to ascertain who the
author of this play was, or whether it was ever pubUshed. The following
description is taken from a copy of the play-bUl owned by the Boston Pubhc
Library:

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 343
It will appear strange to many, that a festival originating in a grate
ful sense of the -virtues of our forefathers, and a desire to perpetuate
their memories, should not escape the malignity of democratic opposi-

The Pilgrims, a new Melo Drama, never performed.
On FRIDAY EVENING, Dec 23, 1808,
WiU he presented, Tobin's celebrated Play, in 3 Acts, caUed the
CURFEW:
OR, THE DANISH BANDITTI.

To which will be added, a new Melo Drama, written by a gentleman of Boston,
in 3 acts, called
THE PILGRIMS,
Or, the Landing of our Forefathers at
PLYMOUTH ROCK.

In the course of the Melo Drama, the following Scenery, Incidents, &c.
A View of the Rock and Plymouth Bay, and the landing of the Pflgrims. The
whole scene represents Winter, with a snow storm. After returning thanks
to Heaven for their safe arrival. Carver orders one of the Pilgrims to cut
on the Rock', DECEMBER 22d, 1620, the day of their landing.
An alarm of Indians; the PUgrims place themselves in an attitude of defence;
Squanto and Samoset enter, and by the friendly disposition of the former,
an arrangement is made; the Indians are loaded with presents and depart
well, satisfied.
A comic scene between an Irish Boatswain and an Indian Woman. The perU-
ous situation of Juhana through the treachery of one of the Pilgrims. The
act concludes with a GLEE and CHORUS.
In act II — Scene 1st Represents, several half finished Houses, at the end the
Store House, with the Standard fixed — a sheU sounds to announce the
arrival of Massasoit. A Grand INDIAN MARCH. A Treaty of Peace
and Amity made and confirmed between Carver and Massasoit. The
treachery of Samoset, who attempts to carry off the person of JuUana.
She struggles and seizes his Tomahawk and pursues him — he implores her
pardon — which she grants — he wrests the Tomahawk from her and aims
a dreadful blow, when Winslow rushes in to her rescue — his gun misses
fire — he draws his sword and a combat ensues — in the mean time Juli
ana takes the gun and fires at Samoset without effect — Winslow is wounded,
and Samoset pursues Juliana — who is seen ascending a rock — she reaches
the summit, and as Samoset is following, she strikes him with the fuzee, and
he falls headlong down the precipice. JuUana is at length rescued by
Massasoit.

344 THE COLONLAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
tion. But so it is. The feast of the Sons of the Pilgrims is detested
by the ranting Innovators of the present day, and the very mention of
the habits and principles of those, to whom we owe many of our best
institutions is a rock of offence.^
The following satirical piece appeared in the Independent Chroni
cle of December 27, 1804 (p. 2) :
THE PILGRIMS — a dream.
IN consequence of the parade that is made previously to this mock-
celebration, by our eating Aristocracy, I was induced to reflect upon
the subject, and was lamenting that such a solemn, providential and
virtuous occurrence as that of the landing of our forefathers, at Plym
outh, should be thus satirized and rendered into burlesque, by men
who neither possess their principles of pious thought nor liberal action;
who would rather welcome a British tyrant to our shores, than retreat
here from one. In this state of rumination and regret, I fell asleep;
and, methought I was translated to the Concert-Hall, where a great
number of well-fed, well-dressed Pilgrims, who had never endured
penance beyond a drunken head-ache, were walking about with some
impatience, looking at their gold watches, and demanding the dinner
forthwith. At length the folding-doors of this magnificent banquet
room were thrown open, and the perspiring cooks entered, with all the
rarities of the season. ...
At the upper end of the room was written, in letters of gold,
Eamus quo ducit gula, peregrini!
and at the lower end was inscribed,
"'T is merry in the hall.
When chins wag all,"
THE INDIAN METHOD OF LYING IN AMBUSH.
And the act concludes with a Procession of Indians, carrying
Winslow and Juhana on their boughs.
In act 3, The Indians preparing to sacrifice one of the Pilgrims. Scene 2d,
A dreadful Combat with Clubs and Shields, between Samoset and Squanto.
Scene last — A View of an Indian Encampment. A Marriage and Nuptial
Dance. aftbb which.
The Genius of Columbia descends in a Magnificent Temple, surrounded with
Clouds. ' New England PaUadium, December 25, 1804, p. 2/5; Columbian Centmel,
December 26, 1804, pp. 1-2.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 345
I observed that the company attempted to eat their soup, at first,
with cockle shells, (o la Palcrin) but his honor, the moderator, having
spilled some fat broth on a new pair of black satin breeches, he called
for spoons, and the antique fashion was abandoned. . . . When they
filled a bumper to the memory of our oppressed but honored forefathers,
I observed that some quizzing Pilgrims leered in derision, while they
gulphed down the votive potation!
When the cloth was removed, the presiding actor at the serio-tragic
comic, annual farce, called on Pilgrim Ben for a sentiment; who archly
gave, "in gaining a pint, may we never lose a gallon." — Some of the
party began to murmur at this idea, as a sarcasm, retrospectively
levelled at the recent misfortune of the Aristocracy. At length order
was restored, by the president calling for the following annual com
memorative song or hymn: —
The Pilgrims in Masquerade,
OR
FEDERALISM in the SUDS!
IN penance for past folly.
We Pilgrims, melanchoUy,
Get drunk to make us jolly.
And laugh at Liberty!
Th' Electoral Ticket fafls us,
Abhorrent Truth assaUs us;
Now what the Devfl afls us,
Is known 'twixt you and me! . . .
Nor did the fact that the celebration this year occurred on a
Saturday escape the notice of the Democrats, as appears from two
criticisms :
Forefathers, — In celebrating the arrival of our forefathers, it is
proper, not only that their political, but religious principles should be
venerated. — Quere, whether our pious ancestors spent their Saturday
evenings in a bacchanalian repast, and trespassed on the solemnities
of the Sabbath, by jocular songs, and other demonstrations of irreligion.
— But this is modern religion under the sanction of federalism.^
Say, ye Priests, ye ministers of the pure, peaceable, and holy religion
of Jesus, how can you mingle, in the laugh of revenge, the toasts of
slander, and the song of personal contempt, on a Satm-day evemng,
and bend vnth confidence over the board of devotion on the day fol-
lovnng!^ 1 Independent Chronicle, December 24, 1804, p. 3/1.
2 Ibid. December 27, 1804, p. 2/4. Cf. p. 301 note 1, above.

346 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
In 1805 the day was celebrated on December 21st, as the 22d fell
on Sunday. "Among the gentlemen present," we read, "were the
descendants of Bradford, Winslow, Brewster, Standish, Win
throp and Higginson, the most prominent characters among
those who estabUshed the oldest colony in this part of America;"
but neither their names nor those of the presiding officers were
printed in the newspapers.^
The Independent Chronicle of December 26 remarked:
ANNIVERSARY.
It has been announced in our papers, that a number of the "most
respectable" gentlemen celebrated the anniversary of the landing of our
forefathers at Plymouth. Who these most respectable characters are,
we are not told. . . . The toasts on this occasion are a kind of enigmatical
declaration of political principles, which would puzzle any man to com
prehend. Their volunteers are not promulgated; being, it is supposed,
either too absurd for perusal in a cool moment, or too high seasoned for
the present taste of the public. We understand, however, that the favorite
song of "Rule Britannia," was sung among the sons of the pilgrims; in
honor, no doubt, of the late " glorious victory," ^ which enables the
British navy to extend its sovereignty over the ocean. . . . How a
merchant ' could sit with composure to hear a song in praise of a nation
which had interdicted almost the whole commerce of this country, is
as remarkable as any narrative we could find in Mather's Magnalia.
How wonderfully profound must these "wise men of the east" have ap
peared. A lawyer on one side, a priest on the other, and a merchant on
the centre, aU joining a chorus — "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the
waves!" , . . Callipee and callipash, clams and oysters, succatouch
and pumpkin puddings, turkies, ducks, chickens, beef, venison, meat
pies, custards, and other sweat meats; the whole interlaid and dove tailed
with cider, punch, wine, brandy, and other mouth waters, forming a
salutary repast most grateful to the delicate stomachs of jovial pilgrims
in honor of their ancestors.
How would a Higginson, Broadstreet, Bradford, Winslow, Brewster,
Standish, or a Winthrop, have looked, after partaking of such a pon
derous meal as these "most respectable" gentlemen carried away under
their jackets on Saturday night last! Our worthy forefathers would
1 Columbian Centinel, December 25, 1805, p. 2/3.
2 Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805.
' Perhaps an allusion to Stephen Higginson.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 347
not have been able to stagger under such a load, ospecially if some of
them had to preach on the next day. Alack n-da.y, (some of their ]jurish-
ioners would cry) our parson looks as if he had been a husking!
It is understood, however, that the song was not generally applauded,
though some who ought to imbibe the spirit of their ancestors were
more elated than others of their brother pilgrims (p. 3/1).
Under the signature of "Agricola" appeared in the Independent
Chronicle of January 2, 1806 (pp. 1-2), the following — -
Reflections on a late Feast of Shells in Boston,
. . . Some years ago, a number of persons, who had been engaged in
the toils, dangers and anxieties of the revolution, proposed to celebrate,
annually, the origin of our country, and to honor the memory of the
men, who fled to these shores to secure their natural, civil & religious
rights. In honor to the ancestors of the country, who were fed with
clams, and other bounties of the sea, they called it a feast of shells.
There were no parties in pofitics or religion among them; but all was love,
peace, and harmony. No offensive or abusive toasts were given, no
irritating, obscene or lascivious song was heard; but a cheerful, and
dignified gravity, adorned the priest and the people, while decent sacri
fices were offered, and the libations of temperance and chaste propriety
were poured at the passover of New England. . . .
The terrible party, united under the auspices of colonel Hamilton,
held all the ideas of republicanism in derision; . . . He died in the field
of murder, in a duel, yet his party, the party at the late feast of shells,
celebrate his character, and his praises have even tinged the forms of
public devotion with the pollution of guilt.
This party have crouded themselves into every public place, where
impudence can remove the bars of decency and patriotism; and having
gained .the seats at the feast of shells; having polluted the anniversary,
with the principles of monarchy,^ and having served up the leeks, the
onions, and the flesh pots of Egypt, on the alter of the New England
passover — the men who love the principles of our ancestors, retired
from their noisy uproar, and do not appear at the irregular Jubilee.
But as these men have published their toasts to the world, and have

1 "Q. What is the chief end of FederaUsm? A. FederaUsm's chief end is to
glorify the Pope and enjoy him in a free land" (The Federal Catechism Meta
morphosed: or, the Natural Sphit of FederaUsm Exposed, from the Works of
their Federal HoUnese, 1805, p. 3. On the same page is an aUusion to "the reign
lOi John Adams"),

348 THE COLONIAI- SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [DEC.
had the audacity to call themselves the principal men of the town of
Boston, their indecency of conduct merits some serious remarks. . . .
This renders it necessary, that the public should know who those
heroes of the bottle are, that have the confidence to call themselves the
principal men of the town of Boston. Were there any senators, coun
selors, or representatives there? . . . Were ministers of religion there?
if they were, let it be known. Did they smile on the obscene song, or
join in the chorus of Britlania rule the ivavesf . . .
Besides this, while we are contending for the important and enrich
ing privileges of national nutrality, what wiU other nations conceive of
us, when they shall read in our gazettes, that the principal men of Bos
ton, at a public feast, openly, in the noise of the loud chorus, and in the
riotous huzza of the pointed toast, appeared to be already inhsted on
one side of the beUigerent powers, had realed, by pohtical iaclination,
over the line of nutrality, and avowed themselves the decided, though
intoxicated, volunteers of one party in the European war? . . .
To this a Federalist replied :
MR. RUSSELL,
HE toasts given at the last " Feast of Shells," in this town, which

T

the Chronicle first found innocent or, at worst, enigmatical, are
now pronounced, by an infuriated " Agricola," to be seditious, a profa
nation of the principles and characters of our ancestors, "an abuse of
our happy constitutions and of those who formed and are determined to
maintain them."
Such wanton perversion of language, such malignant and unquali
fied calumny of good citizens and respectable men, can only proceed
from the pen of an occasional contributor to the Chronicle, whose de
lirious effusions exhibit a melancholy picture of human extravagance
and folly; and who generally interlards his miserable productions with
an affected parade of historical learning, of which he knows little; —
and with scraps of Latin, of which he knows nothing, . . .
"Agricola" makes a clamorous call for the names of those who so
audaciously dined together on this occasion, and seems solicitous to
have the Bill of Fare. He knows, or ought to know, that being charged
with the high crimes of sedition and rebellion, they are not bound to fur
nish evidence against themselves. As to their bill of fare, they do not
apprehend that they could be endangered by giving it, in all its variety;
but in a case so critical, it is discreet to be silent.^ . . .
' Columbian Centinel, January 4, 1806, p. 2/4.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 349
The writer's refusal to divulge the names of those present seeins
to indicate some uneasiness of mind. At all events, the Boston
celebrations reached their height in 1804, and the vigorous attacks
on those who managed the festival in 1805 had their effect, for,
though the celebrations were continued for a few years, they lost
their political significance and soon ceased altogether.^ It is worth
noting that at none of these Feasts of Shells was there a discourse,
nor does it appear that there were ever any speeches. But in 1813
the day was celebrated by the Massachusetts Historical Society in a
formal manner, a notice of which will bring to a close these accounts
of Boston celebrations :
Commemoration of the Landing of the Fathers.
"VM5 are happy to hear that this interesting anniversary is about to
be celebrated by the Massachusetts Historical Society, in a manner
appropriate to the occasion and worthy of this highly valuable insti
tution. At eleven o'clock, THIS DAY, the Hon. John Davis, will de
liver an ORATION before the Society, in the Stone Chapel; and the
Rev. Dr. Freeman and Dr. Holmes will perform suitable religious
services. It will be, doubtless, a scene, which the taste and refinement
of this metropohs wiU delight to witness. — And notwithstanding the
usual obtrusive modes of attracting public notice have been omitted by
the Society, the interest of the occasion and the rank and genius of tbe
speaker will, unquestionably, assemble a large and discriminating
audience. We understand that the doors will be opened for ladies at
10 o'clock.^
' In 1806 the celebration was duly recorded in the Columbian Centinel of
December 24, p. 2/3. The same paper of December 19, 1807, contented itself
with remarking that "The anniversary wfll also be noticed in this town by the
Descendants of the Pilgrim fathers" (p. 2/3). There is no notice of a celebration
in 1808. The Centinel of December 27, 1809, merely stated that "The above
anniversary was respectfuUy noticed by a number of the Sons of the Pflgrims, in
this town: — who partook of an exceflent dinner in the Exchange Coffee-House"
(p. 2/3). This was apparently the last of the Boston celebrations, except that in
1813. The foUowing advertisement appeared in the Columbian Centinel of
December 22, 1824: LANDING of the PILGRIMS.
THE Columbian and City-Museum, Common-street, (late Tremont) wiU be
briUiantly flluminated in good style, in commemoration of this Anniversary,
THIS EVENING. Music on different Instruments (p. 3/4).
2 Columbian Centinel, December 22, 1813, p. 2/4. A proposal to make the
anniversary permanent fafled (1 Proceedings Massachusetts Historical Societj-,

350 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
Of the celebrations that occurred elsewhere than at Plymouth or
Boston, one only need be mentioned — that at New York on De
cember 22, 1805. It was thus described:
CONTRAST.
[We present the following account of the proceedings of the Sons of the Pil
grims, in New York, as a just satire on those of this town,]
On Saturday last the members of the " New England Society," in this
city, celebrated the 185th Anniversary of the landing of their fore
fathers at Plymouth. An elegant dinner was prepared for the occasion
by Mr. Lovett. The Rev. Docts. Rogers and Beach' performed in a
devout and very appropriate manner the accustomed religious services
of the table. More than 150 gentlemen of the society, forgetting all
differences of party and opinion, united to celebrate the occasion with
an afl'ectionate remembrance of their common origin and in the true
spirit of a society, the objects of which are friendship, charity and mutual
assistance. This we believe, is the first time in this state that the descendants of
New England, now so extensively diffused, have joined in a public and
solemn celebration of that anniversary. . . .
Among the toasts were the following:
2. New England. . . .
3. The city of Leyden. . . .
5. John Carver, first Governor of the first colony of New-England.
6. John Winthrop, the venerable founder and first Governor of
Massachusetts. 7. John Smith, who gave to New-England its name, and to its in
habitants a bright example of naval skiU and courage.
8. The descendants of the first settlers of New-York — we respect
them as our elder brethren, and may they regard us as members of then-
family. 12. The President of the United States — Drank standing.
1. 235-236, 237, 239). Judge Davis's oration was printed in 1814 in 2 Mass
achusetts Historical CoUections, vol. i. pp. i-xxxi; and also separately with the
foUowmg title: "A Discourse before the Massachusetts Historical Society,
Boston, December 22, 1813. At theh' anniversary commemoration of the first
Landing of our Ancestors at Plymouth, in 1620 . . Boston: . . . 1814"
1 Probably Rev. Wflliam Rogers (1751-1824), and Rev. Abraham Beach
(1740-1828).

1914] ' THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 351
It is further stated that "the toasts were interspersed with many
excellent Songs," one of which "had been composed at a few
hours' notice" by Thomas Green Fessenden.^
In the discourses delivered at Plymouth and in the accounts of
the celebrations held there from 1769 to 1798, both included, the
words "ancestors," "ancestry," "fathers," and "forefathers" fre- ,
quently occur, but neither Pilgrim nor Pilgrim Fathers. These
terms were first recorded, in 1798 and 1799 respectively, not at
Plymouth, where one would naturally expect to find them, but in
Boston. It is a reasonable conjecture, however, that they were in
colloquial use before they found their way into print; and it seems
fair to assume that they arose at Plymouth somewhere between
1793 and 1798.^

1 Independent Chronicle, January 2, 1806, p. 2/1. The New England Society
of Charleston was founded January 6, 1819, and incorporated December 20,
1820; and discourses were annuafly dehvered from 1819 to 1835, both included
(p. 61 of "An Oration deUvered on the anniversary of the New-England Society,
Charleston, S. C. December 22. 1835; in commemoration of the Landing of the
Pflgrims upon the Rock of Plymouth, December 22d. 1620. By Joshua Barker
Whitridge, A.M., M.D. . . . Charieston: . . 1836.") Apparently the third
New England Society to be formed outside of New England was that in Phfla
delphia. (Discourse before the Society of the Sons of New England of the
City and County of Phfladelphia, on the History of the early settlement of their
countr5'; being their first anniversary. Dehvered December 21, 1844, by their
President, Samuel Breck. Phfladelphia: . . . 1845.) The "Address delivered
before the New England Society of Michigan, December 22, 1848," by Lewis
Cass, was printed at Detroit in 1849. The "Address delivered before the New
England Society of San Francisco, at the American Theatre, on the twenty-
second day of December, A. D. 1852. By Rev. T. Dwight Hunt. Pastor of
the New England Church,'' was printed at San Francisco in 1853.
2 Though not recorded at Pljrmouth until 1800, it is possible that the word
Pflgrim was employed in the "spirited song composed by B. Sejrmour" in 1797
(p. 308, above), which does not appear to have been printed. Previous to 1798,
apparently the only poems written for these occasions were those by A. Scam
mell m 1770 (p. 301, above), by J. Davis in 1794 (p. 306, above), and by
B. Seymour in 1797. A poem entitled " Thanksgiving Hymn. Deo Optim. Maxim.
Composed for December llth," and dated "Boston, December, 1783," was
printed in the Boston Magazine for December, 1783, i. 70-71. Poems on the
subject of the Pflgrims wifl be found in Thacher's History of the Town of
Plymouth (pp. 373-382 of the 1832 edition, pp. 341-352 of the 1835 edition) ;
m Airs of the Pflgrims, appended to W. S. RusseU's Guide to Plymouth (1846);
and in ZUpha H. Spooner's Poems of the Pflgruns (1881). The most famous
of these poems is of course that written by Mrs. Hemans, about which Mon-
cure D. Conway related the foUowing anecdote in his Autobiography (1904) :

352 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
Origin of the Term
We have seen that, as applied specifically to the early settlers at
Plymouth, Pilgrim first appeared in 1798 and Pilgrim Fathers in
1799. To explain how these terms came to be so used, we must
glance back one hundred and seventy-eight years. But before doing
so, let us consider the words pilgrim and peregrine. The former,
derived from the Latin peregrinum, "one that comes from foreign
parts, a stranger," has, with its derivatives, been employed in Eng-
hsh literature for over seven centuries in various senses, but chiefly
in the following five. (1) "One who travels from place to place; a
person on a journey; a wayfarer, a traveller; a wanderer; a so
journer," found as early as about 1200.^ (2) "One who journeys
(usually a long distance) to some sacred place, as an act of religious
devotion; one who makes a pilgrimage," found as early as about
1225. (3) "Figuratively, chiefly in allegorical religious uses,"
found as early as about 1225. (4) In American history, as discussed
in this paper. ^ (5) "An original settler; a new-comer, a recent im
migrant."^ The word peregrine, derived from the Latin peregrinus,

"When the elder Charming visited Europe he went to see Mrs. Hemans, whose
poems were popular in America, in her home near Windermere. He spoke of
her hymn on 'The Landing of the Pflgrim Fathers in New England,' and told
her that he had heard it sung by a great multitude on the spot where the
Pilgrims landed. But when, in answer to her questions, he was compeUed to
inform her that the coast described in her hymn as 'stern and rock-bound'
was without any rocks, she burst into tears" (i. 161). The following advertis-
ment was printed in the Columbian Centinel of December 20, 1826 (p. 3/4) :
PILGRIM FATHERS.
A SONG written by Mrs.' Hemans, and set to Music by her sister. Miss
Browne — is This Day published by C. BRADLEE, and for sale by
S. H. PARKER, 164, Washington-street.
The profits arising from the sale of the above wiU be appropriated for the
benefit of the author, Mrs. Hemans.
1 These definitions, and the dates of early use, are taken (except in sense 4)
from the Oxford EngUsh Dictionary.
2 The present mvestigation was undertaken for the Dictionary at the request
of Sir James Murray in 1905. At the meeting held in December of that year,
the tentative results then reached were placed before the Society (Pubhcations,
X. 180). » Marked " U. S. and Colonial," the two earUest extracts (1851, 1865) being
from New Zealand sources. The third extract is the following from L. Swin-

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 353
has been employed, with its derivatives, in meanings similar to those
of pilgrim, for over five centuries. In particular we should note the

bume's article on The Bucolic Dialect of the Plains in Soribner's Magazine for
October, 1887:
"Pflgrim" and "tenderfoot" were formerly applied almost exclusively to
newly imported cattle, but by a natural transference they are usually used to
designate aU new-comers, tourists and business-men (U. 508).
This is putting the cart before the horse as regards pilgrim certainly, and
probably as regards tenderfoot also. At all events, the example is a belated one,
and so a few other extracts are cited. In 1841 the Rev. WflUam L. McCalla
probably meant by the word a wanderer, but as his use of the word is the earhest
known to me in the West, I give his sentence:
After such an address from a citizen of that calumniated country [Texas] to a
shattered old pflgrim, I took the Uberty of withdrawing to another apartment,
to enjoy in secret the luxury of weeping, and communing with home and with
heaven (Adventures in Texas, p. 46).
In 1852 Captain Howard Stansbury, speaking of Salt Lake City, but not re
ferring to the Mormons in particiflar, wrote:
The studding, therefore, of this beautiful city with noble trees, wiU render it,
by contrast with the surrounding regions, a second "Diamond of the Desert,"
in whose welcome shade, hke the soUtary Sir Kenneth and the princely Ilderim,
the pflgrim, wayworn and faint, may repose his jaded Umbs and dream of the
purling brooks and waving woodlands he has left a thousand miles behind
him (Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah,
p. 129).In a letter dated Fort Kearney, Nebraska Territory, June 11, 1866, Col. James
F. MeUne said he had "ascertained from the officer on duty there that since
May 15, emigrant trains have gone west from.Keamey City at the rate of eighty
wagons and one hundred and sixty people (men, women, and children) per day,"
and inserted "an extract from the Kearney City paper giving the departures for
two days," June 5 and 6. This is headed "list op FEBiaHTBRs' ajto pilgrims'
trains organized at and passing west op Kearney." MeUne adds this
note: The term Pflgrims for emigrants first came into use at the period of the heavy
Mormon travel — the Mormons styling themselves "Pflgrims to the promised
land of Utah." The word has been retained on the Plains, and appUed indiscrim
inately to all emigrants (Two Thousand Mfles on Horseback, Santa F6 and
Back, 1867, p. 22 and note).
In 1869 Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden wrote:
During the gold excitement in the San Juan Mountains, west of the Rio
Grade del Norte, in 1862, a large number of miners, or, as they were called in
those days, "pUgrims," crossed the Sangre de Christo Pass, and camped for rest
after a long journey from Idaho, Montana, and Northern Colorado, on Placiere

354 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
way in which these words have been employed in the Bible, espe
cially in St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. In the Geneva version
Creek (Prehminary Field Report of the United States Geological Survey of
Colorado and New Mexico, p. 73).
In 1873 the Rev. James D. Butler remarked:
Many pioneers leave their famflies in the old home, until they have prepared
the new ones. Few can leave their farms and go for them, but westward trains
are full of wives carrying children to their husbands. Sixteen babies have been
counted in a single car on this pflgrimage — Japhets in search of their Fathers
(Nebraska: its Characteristics and Prospects, p. 17).
In a letter to the writer dated Unity, Montana, December 27, 1905, Mr. C. W.
Cook said:
In 1868 I was interested in placer mining in Diamond City, at that time quite a
noted mining camp. A gentleman from Chicago spent a few days with me. He was
quite an extensive traveler and a writer of some standing. To him I expressed a
great desire to explore the upper valley of the Yellowstone. It seemed to interest
him as something new in the line of travel, and he proposed to join me. But after
due deUberation I decided it was too late in the season to take a trip into unexplored
mountains with a "pilgrim" not inured to hardship, so the matter was dropped.
Mention should also be made of the fact that there once existed in this
country a fanatical sect caUed the Pflgrims. The only aUusion I have found
to them occurs under date of January 21, 1820, when Thomas NuttaU, then at
the junction of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, wrote :
Not far from this place, a few days ago were encamped, the miserable
remnant of what are called the Pilgrims, a band of fanatics, originaUy about
60 in number. They commenced their pilgrimage from the borders of Canada,
and wandered about with their wives and chfldren through the vast wflderness
of the western states, Hke vagabonds, without ever fixing upon any residence.
They looked up to accident and charity alone for support; imposed upon
themselves rigid fasts, never washed their skin, or cut or combed their hair,
and hke the Dunkards wore their beards. Settling nowhere, they were con
sequently deprived of every comfort which arises from the efforts of industry.
Desertion, famine, and sickness, soon reduced their numbers, and they were
every where treated with harshness and neglect, as the gj^sies of modem
civflized society. Passing through Ohio, Indiana, and lUinois, they at length
found then- way down the Mississippi to the outlet of White river and the
Arkansa. Thus ever flying from society by whom they were despised, and by
whom they had been punished as vagabonds, bhnded by fanatic zeal, they
lingered out then miserable lives in famme and wretchedness, and have now
nearly all perished or disappeared. Two days after my arrival in the territory,
one of them was found dead m the road which leads from the Mississippi to
Arkansas. If I am correctly informed, there now exists of them only one man,
three women, and two chfldren. Two other chfldren were taken from them in
compassion for then miserable situation, and the man was but the other day
seized by a boat's crew descenditig the river, and forcibly shaved, washed, and
dressed (Journal of Travels into the Arkansa Territory, 1821, pp. 226-227).

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 355
of 1557 — and it was this version which the Mayflower passengers
brought with them — Hebrews XI. 13 reads thus:
And they all dyed in faith, and receaued not the promises, but sawe
them a farre of, and beleued them, and receaued them with thanckes,
and confessed that they were strangers and pylgrems on the earth.^
It was design, not chance, that gave to the first child of English
parents born in New England the name of Peregrine White.^
' The English Hexapla (1841). It wifl be of interest to give, from the same
source, five other versions previous to 1620:
Wichf, 1380: bi feith aUe these ben deed, whanne the biheestis weren not takun
but thei behUden hem afer, and gretynge hem wel: and knowlechiden that thei
weren pflgryms, & herborid men on the erthe.
Tyndale, 1534: Ajid they all dyed in fayth and receaved not the promyses:
but sawe them a farre of and beleved them and saluted them: and confessed
that they were straungers and pflgrems on the erthe.
Cranmer, 1539: These afl dyed accordynge to fayth, whan they had not re
ceaued the promyses: but sawe them a farre of, and beleued them, and saluted
them, and confessed, that they were straungers and pflgrems on the erthe.
Rheims, 1582: According to faith died al these, not hauing receiued the prom
ises, but beholding them a farre of, and saluting them, and confessing that they
are pUgrimes and strangers vpon the earth.
Authorized, 1611 : These all died in faith, not hauing receiued the promises,
but hauing scene them afarre off, and were perswaded of them, and embraced
them, and confessed that they were strangers and pflgrims on the earth.
As printed in the 1856 edition of Bradford's History (p. 59), the marginal refer
ence to "Heb. 11" was placed in a footnote and so easfly overlooked. Some
writers have apparently not been aware that Bradford was quoting from the
Bible. Thus John A. Goodwin, remarking that "Bradford never wrote a finer
sentence than this, which ends his story of the departure," quotes the passage
m the text (Pflgrim RepubUc, 1888, p. 49).
^ "And beyond that place they were enioyned not to goe, whereupon, a
Company was chosen to goe out vppon a third discoverie: whflest some were
unployed in this discovery, it pleased God that Mistris White was brought to
bed of a Sonne, which was caUed Peregrine" (Mourt's Relation, 1622, p. 15).
The exact date of his hiith. on the Mayflower is not known, but the late Dr.
Dexter (in his edition of Mourt's Relation, 1865, p. 42 note) put it between
December 7 and 10, 1620 (New Style). He was the son of WiUiam and Susanna
(FuUer) White; was brought up by Edward Winslow, who married his mother
Susanna; and died July 20, 1704. In the Massachusetts Magazine for Septem
ber, 1790, appeared the foUowing:
Newengland, for salubrity of air and temperature of climate, has been much
and very justly celebrated. Frequent instances of longevity confirm this opin
ion. There is a woman now hving in Marshfield, County of Plymouth, in the
ninety fifth year of her age. Although Newengland has been settled almost an
: hundred and seventy years, yet she perfectly remembers Peregrine White, the

356 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
In 1630 Governor Bradford began to write his History of Ply
mouth Plantation. Referring to the departure from Leyden on
' July 21-31, 1620, he said:
And y* time Being that they must departe, they were ac
companied with most of their Brethren out of y" citie, vnto
a towne sundrie miles of called Delfes-Hauen wher the
ship lay ready to receiue them. So they lefte y* goodly
& pleasante citie, which had been ther resting place, nere
.12. years; but they knew they were pilgrimes & looked
Heb. 11. not much on those things; but lift vp their eyes to y"=
heauens, their dearest cuntrie; and quieted their spirits.^
Though Bradford's History was not published until 1856 it was
well known to American historians before the disappearance of the
manuscript at the Revolution, and the above passage had more
than once made its appearance in print before 1798. The first time
was in 1669, when Nathaniel Morton gave it as follows:
. . . and the time being come that they must depart,
they were accompanied with most of their Brethren
out of the City, unto a Town called Delfs Haven, where
the Ship lay ready to receive them: so they left that
goodly and pleasant City, which had been their resting
place above eleven years; but they knew that they were
Hebr. 11. 16. Pilgrims and Strangers here below, and looked not much
on these things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their
dearest Country, where God hath prepared for them a
 City, and therein quieted their spirits.^
first chfld bom after the arrival of our ancestors, and has several times attended
pubUck worship with him. This woman is now in very good health (u. 575).
1 History of the Plimoth Plantation (facsimile edition, 1896), p. 36; Ford's
edition, i. 124. In his New England's Memorial (1669, pp. 144-145), Morton
printed "Certain Verses left by the Honoured William Bradford Esq; . . .
penned by his own hand." These begin as foUows:
MjiROM my years young in dayes of Youth,
-* God did make known to me his Truth,
And call'd me from my Native place
For to enjoy the Means of Grace.
In Wilderness he did me guide.
And in strange Lands for me provide.
In Fears and Wants, through Weal and Woe,
As Pflgrim past I to and fro.
2 New England's Memorial (1669), p. 5. In his Epistle Dedicatory "To the
Right Worshipful, Thomas Prmce Esq;" Morton declares that the Governor's

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 357
In 1702 Cotton Mather wrote:
.Vfter the fervent Supplications of this Day, accompanied by their
affectionate Friends, they took their leave of the pleasant City, where
they had been Pilgrims and Strangers now for Eleven Years.^
If tlie Reader would know, how these good People fared the rest of
the ^lelancholy Winter; let him know. That besides the Exercises of
Rehgion, with other Work enough, there was the care of the Sick to
take up no little part of theh Time. 'T was a most heavy Trial of
theu- Patience, whereto they were called the first ^Vinter of this theu-
Pilgrimage, and enough to convince them, and remind them, that they
were but Pilgrims.^
But the Vessel rose again, and when the Mariners vnth sunk Hearts
often cried out, Wc sink! We sink! The Passengers without such
Distraction of Mind, even while the Water was runnmg into their
Mouths and Ears, would chearfully Shout, Yet, Lord, thou canst save!
Yet, Lord, thou canst save! And the Lord accordingly brought them at
last safe unto their Desired Haven: And not long after helped their
Distressed Relations thither after them, where indeed they found upon
almost all Accounts a new World, but a World in which they found
that they must hve hke Strangers and Pilgrims.'
In 1767 Governor Hutchinson remarked:
After eleven or twelve years residence in Holland, . . . one of the
congregations . . . determined to remove to America. There were
many obstacles in their way and it took up several years of their pil
grimage * to make the necessary preparations for such an undertaking.
* I think I may with singular propriety call their Uves a pflgrimage. Most of
them left England about the year 1609, after the truce with the Spaniards, young
men between 20 and 30 years of age: They spent near 12 years, strangers among
the Dutch, first, at Amsterdam, afterwards, at Leyden. After having arrived to
the meridian of life, the dechning part was to be spent in another world, among
savages, of whom every European must have received a most unfavorable if not
formidable idea. Tantum religio potuit suadere.*

acceptance "shall ever obhge me to answerable returning of gratitude, and ad
minister to me further cause of thankfulness. That God hath given me an Habi
tation under your just and prudent Administrations; and wish for a Succession
of such as may be skilfuU to lead our Israel in this then: peregrination."
^ MagnaUa, bk. i. ch. u. § 4, p. 6.
" Ibid. bk. i. ch. u. § 10, p. 9.
' Ibid. bk. ii. ch. i. § 1, p. 3.
' History of Massachusetts, Boston, u. 451-452 and note.

358 THE COLONLIL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
In 1775 the Rev. Samuel Baldwin preached from Hebrews XI. 8,
and, referring to Abraham, said :
It was a hard though jiist command— "get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house." He quits all his
possessions, foregoes every convenience, in his native land; bids adieu
to dearest relatives, when, or whither ever to return again, he knew not;
all was uncertainty; he departs, not knowing whither he went: How
long he must wander as a pilgrim from city to city, from one kingdom
and country to another; what hardships and difficulties he must undergo,
to what dangers he must be exposed, he was altogether in the dark,
ignorant, and unapprized. . . .
Abraham, acting agreeable to these, acquitted himself in the best
manner, with honour and dignity, with the approbation of his Maker.
And while he wandered about, as a pilgrim, altogether uncertain of the
time of the fulfilment of the promise, there was a part for him to act,
agreeable to his character, as a man of sense and reason,, a servant of
the most High, and the father of the church of Israel. . . .
This is the account given of the rise of the Fathers of this country:
. . . And as the fathers viewed themselves as absolutely under the direc
tion of providence, they held themselves obligated to attend to its calls.^
Whether Baldwin had noted the use of Pilgrim by Morton or by
Mather, it is impossible to determine; but Baldwin does not apply
the term to the early settlers. That is, he does not specifically call
the early settlers Pilgrims, though he does compare their con
dition with that of Abraham.
In his sermon preached in 1793, the Rev. Chandler Robbins,
pastor of the First Church at Plymouth, stated that "although the
accounts chiefly must be derived necessarily from historical facts,
, . . yet, I shaU bring to your view, some circumstances — some
ancient anecdotes, which, I presume, have never yet been made
public, at least, which I have never seen. I shall take them from the
first book of the very ancient records of this church, now in my
hands." These early records had been kept by Nathaniel Morton,
a nephew of Governor Bradford. Robbins continued :
" And now, the trying time being come, that they must depart, (say
the records) they were accompany'd by most of their brethren out of
the city, into a town caUed Half-Haven, where the ship lay readye to
1 Sermon (1776), pp. 9-11, 16, 21-22.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 359
receive them. So they left that goodlye and pleasant city, which had
been theire resting-place, near twelve yeeres. But they knew they were
pilgrimes, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up theire eyes
to Heaven, theire dearest country, and quieted their spirits. . . ." '
Thus, whether the term arose at Plymouth or in Boston, its pedi
gree can be traced back through Robbins, Hutchinson, Mather,
]\Iorton, and Bradford to the departure from Leyden in 1620. There
are several cases where the origin of a term must be sought for many
years before the term itself came into existence, but there cannot be
many to explain which it is necessary to look back one hundred and
seventy-eight years. Propriety of Application
"The latest EngHsh traveller," wrote the Rev. Joseph Hunter of
London in 1849, referring to Sir Charles Lyell's visit to Plymouth,
"describes ... the relics which are exhibited of these 'Pilgrim
fathers,' as they are affectionately called." ^ A little later, however,
doubts appear to have arisen in Hunter's mind as to the appro
priateness of the term, and in 1854 he remarked:
The people of New England pay all proper deference to the colony of
New Plymouth as being the parent colony of their country, and they
speak fondly, if not wisely, of the persons who estabhshed it as The
Pilgrim Fathers.'
' There is something of affectation in this term, which is always displeasing;
and we have seen also very strange appUcations of it: but further, it appears to
me to be phflologicaUy improper. A pflgrim is a person who goes in a devout
spirit to visit a shrine — real in the first instance but afterwards a place where,
it may be, no shrine is, but which is haflowed by some recollections which would
deserve to have a substantial representative. An American who visits the place
from which the founders of his country emigrated is a pflgrim in the proper sense
of the word, whether he finds, a shrine, an altar, or a stone of memorial, or not.
But these founders when they sought the shores of America were proceeding to
no object of this kind, and even leaving it to the winds and the waves to drive
them to any point on an unknown and unmarked shore. There is, however, it
must be owned, the same corrupt use of the word Pflgrim in the EngUsh version
of the Scriptures, "and confessed that they were strangers and pflgrims on the
earth." '

1 Sermon (1794), pp. 17-18, 29-30.
2 CoUections concerning the Early History of the Founders of New Plymouth,
the First Colonists of New England, London, 1849, p. 1.
^ CoUections concerning the Founders of New-Plymouth, London, 1854, p. 5
I and note.

360 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
In an article called " Puritans — Pilgrims — Palmers," printed
in a Boston newspaper in 1870, Charles C. Hazewell made — or,
rather, repeated — the same criticism:
Is it proper to speak of the men who came over in the Mayflower as
"Pilgrim Fathers?" Puritans in language assure us it is not, and they
are right, though time and usage, and poetical associations have sanc
tioned the term, so that it is worse than idle to object to it, seeing that
the objection would lead to nothing but a waste of words, — and the
objector would, it is probable, be regarded by all good Americans as a
bore. Yet we may subscribe to what is said on this subject by one of
the best of our authorities on the history of the Pilgrims.
Mr. Hazewell then quoted the passage from Hunter given above,
and added : " In a certain sense, the term is well used, for if the pil
grim be a wanderer, as he is according to one definition of the word,
the Separatists who came hither certainly were pilgrims; for they
wandered from England to Holland, and from Holland to America." ^
After what has been said in a previous section,^ it need hardly be
pointed out that Hunter's criticism is due to an entire misapprehen
sion of the history and meanings of the word pilgrim, that the Scrip
tural use of the term is not "corrupt," that there is nothing either
"philologically improper" or of "affectation" in our use of the term
Pilgrim Fathers, and that such use is perfectly legitimate.^
Meaning of the Term
For twelve years (1769-1780) the celebrations at Plymouth were
purely local, the speakers and participants being either Plymotheans
or from the neighboring towns in the Old Colony. For the next
twelve years (1781-1792) the celebration fell into abeyance. Re
vived in 1793 and 1794, it was still local, and in 1797 it was merely a
social gathering. It was instituted to commemorate those who
1 Dafly Evening TraveUer, November 21, 1870, p. 1/4-5. The article is
without signature, but was attributed to Mr. Hazewell, the editor of the TraveUer,
by John Ward Dean (New England Historical and Genealogical Register,
1871, xxv. 90).
' Pp. 352-359, above.
' After quoting the passage from Bradford, J. A. Goodwin says: "The hyper-
critics who query why these people should be caUed 'Pflgrims' wiU see that they
applied it to themselves" (Pflgrim RepubUc, p. 49 note). This statement is mis
leading.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 361
"landed" in 1620, and of course only the Mayflower passengers did
land in that year. When, therefore, during the first twenty-nine
years, the participants spoke of their "ancestors," "fathers," and
"forefathers," undoubtedly they had chiefly in mind the Mayflower
passengers, even though occasionally they drank toasts to the memo
ries of a few who, like Cushman and Morton, reached Plymouth after
1620. But in 1798 the celebration began JxLassume a.jdistinctly jiif-
ferent character. Though to commemorate the past was, and con
tinued to be, still the main object of the occasion, yet the present
assumed a much greater prominence than heretofore; current poli
tics were emphasized; the speakers were generally chosen from
beyond the limits of the Old Colony; and the horizon was greatly
widened, including the early settlers of Massachusetts as distinct
from those of Plymouth. When, too, in 1798, the Boston celebra
tions began, the field was still fm-ther broadened, for the Boston cele-
brators, while not forgetful of the early Plymouth settlers, naturally
had principally in mind the early Massachusetts settlers. Hence
by about 1800 the terms Pilgrims and Pilgrim Fathers, which had
then become well established, meant any early settlers of either of
the two colonies which in 1692 were united under the Province of
the IMassachusetts Bay.^ And such use of the term continued for
many years — indeed, stUl continues.^
1 About 1800, too, whfle the term Pflgrim Fathers was of course appUed only
to the early settlers, the meaning of the word Pflgrims was extended to uiclude
hving persons who participated in the celebrations. This special meaning is
now rarely encountered.
2 In the foUowing passages the term is appUed either to the Massachusetts
settlers only, or to the Plymouth and the Massachusetts settlers jointly (it often
being difficult, if not impossible, to distingmsh between the two) : 1820, Rev. G.
Spring, A Tribute to New England, in New England Society Orations (1901),
i. 18, 21; 1822, Rev. P. M. Whelpley, The Memory of the Just is Blessed, ui
New' England Society Orations, i. 133, 135 (WiUiam Stoughton); 1828, Rev. S.
Green, Discourse (1829), pp. 14, 16; 1830, "The Pilgrim Fathers, or the Lives
of some of the First Settlers of New England. Designed for Sabbath School
Libraries" (contains Uves of Robmson, Carver, Bradford, Winslow, and John
Winthrop); 1836, Rev. J. Hawes, A Tribute to the Memory of the PUgruns
(second edition), pp. 93-118, 175; 1841, C. B. Hadduck, The Elements of Na
tional Greatness, m New England Society Orations, i. 280; 1844^ Rev. J^ A.
Albro, The Fathers of New England (1845), p. 20; 1845, Rev. J Pierce, 2 Pro
ceedings Massachusetts Historical Society, x. 398; 1846, C. W. Upham, The
Spirit of the Day and its Lessons, in New England Society Orations, i. 446
(Roger Clap)- 1856, T. Bridgman, The Pflgrims of Boston and then- Descend-

362 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OP MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
Towards the middle of the nineteenth century it was felt by some
that the terms had been used too loosely. Thus in 1841 the Rev.
Alexander Young declared that "The term Pilgrims belongs exclu
sively to the Plymouth colonists." ^ In 1848 the Rev. Samuel M.
Worcester wrote:
There are those who wiU "garnish the sepulchres" of the "Pilgrims"
of Plymouth Rock, and the " Fathers " * their associates of Salem, Charles-
town, Boston, and other primitive settlements; while they are slow to
recognize the true secret of the moral worth, and energy, and endur
ance, by which those godly sires achieved their noble deeds and won
their renowned conquests and possessions.
"It is to be observed," said the Rev. Alvan Lamson in 1851, "that
the term 'Pilgrims' belongs exclusively to the Plymouth colonists.
It is never by accurate writers applied to the Massachusetts colo
nists." ^ In 1866 Benjamin Scott spoke of "the Pilgrim Fathers of
Plymouth Colony" as "the only persons to whom that term has
been historically applied." ^ This restriction, however, of the terms
Pilgrims and Pilgrim Fathers exclusively to the Plymouth settlers is
recognized at the present time only in the Old Colony itself.
About the middle of the nineteenth century, also, an attempt was
made to define somewhat precisely the meaning of the terms. " Those
who came in the first three ships," said Young in 1841, "the May-
* Those who came to Plymouth are properly caUed "The Pilgrims"; — be
cause they had sojourned in HoUand. We speak of them as "the Fathers."
But "the Fathers" were not aU "Pflgrims." *
ants (title) ; 1867, Rev. S. G. Buckingham, Memorial of the Pflgrim Fathers, p. 35;
1874, W. Winters, The Pflgrim Fathers of Nazing, in New England Historical
and Genealogical Register, xxvfli. 140; 1881, Epochs and Episodes of History,
p. 591 (Roger Wflliams); 1882, W. Winters, "Memorials of the Pflgrim Fathers.
John Ehot and his Friends, of Nazing and Waltham Abbey" (title); 1893, J. P.
Rylands, in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xxxix. 39 (Rich
ard Mather); 1909, Rev. A. Whyte, Thomas Shepard, Pflgrim Father and
Founder of Harvard (title); 1913, W. E. A. Axon, in Nation, xcvi. 149 (John
Endicott). ' Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 88 note.
2 The Memory of John Robinson: A Discourse (1852), p. 16.
' The Pflgrim Fathers neither Puritans nor Persecutors (second edition,
1869), p. 5.
* Discourse (Boston, 1849), p. 6 and note. In the first edition of the Discourse
(Salem, 1849) the footnote reads: "Those who came to Plymouth are properly
caUed 'The Pilgrims'; — because they had sojourned in HoUand" (p. 6 note).

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 363
flower, the Fortune, and the Ann, are distinctively called the old
comers, or the forefathers,"^ In 1849 Sh Daniel Wilson wrote:
Tho last of the The arrival of the Anne and Little James, with their
Pilgrim Fathers. ^^w band of emigrants casting in their lot with the
founders of Plymouth, marks a period of peculiar in
terest in the annals of the Pilgrim Fathers. By all the
historians of New England these later pilgrims are
reckoned with those who came in the Mayflower and
Fortune, as the Old Comers or Forefathers, It was the
completion of the band of Pilgrims, the aristocracy of
the New World, from whom, as from a fount of honour,
its titles and its privileges were to be derived to all
after ages.^
About 1884 John A. Goodwin remarked :
The above list closes the catalogue of those who are known as the
Pilgrims, the Furst Comers, or the Forefathers. These names, there
fore, are used synonymously for those who came in the "Mayflower,"
the "Fortune," and the "Anne," with her consort. The number at
landing, it will be remembered, was: "Mayflower," 102; "Fortune,"
35; "Anne," about 96: total, 233.^
In 1897 the late Edward Arber made this elaborate statement:
Who were the Pilgrim Fathers?
The general answer to this must be:
All those members of the Separatist Church at Leyden, who voted for the
emigration to America; whether they were actually able to go there or not:
together with such others as joined their Church from England.
Membership in the Pilgrim Church was the first qualification: intended,
or actual, emigration to New England was the second one.
This general definition will include the Rev. John Robinson and
his family; who were unable to leave Leyden. It also includes the 35
members of the Leyden Church who arrived, at Pljrmouth in New Eng
land, in the Fortune, in November 1621; the 60 who arrived, in the Ann
and Little James in August 1623; the 35 with their families, who arrived
in the Mayflower in August 1629; and the 60 who arrived in the Hand
maid, in May 1630.
1 Chronicles of the Pflgrim Fathers, p. 352 note.
2 The PUgrim Fathers, in History of the Puritans in England, and the PU
grim Fathers, p. 441.
» PUgrim RepubUc (1888), p. 244.

364 THE COLONLVL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
It likewise includes Christopher Martin and his wife, who joined
from Bihericay in Essex: and Richard Warren, and John Billington
SOT. and his family; who came from London.
'It also embraces William King, who started from Southampton in the
Mayflower on the 5th of August 1620; but who, with Robert Cush
man, returned back from the voyage, at Plymouth; . . .
It further includes hired men, such as John Howland, a Man-servant
in Governor Carver's family; and John Alden the cooper: who both
came out in the Mayflower, and eventually embracing the Pilgrim
Cause, became honoured men among the Pilgrim Fathers.
On the other hand, it excludes aU those members of the Pilgrim
Church who had no wish to go to America. . . .
It also excludes all hired men who went out in the Mayflower; and
who did not become members of the Church in the Old Colony. So all
the Mayflower passengers were not Pilgrim Fathers.
It likewise excludes Thomas Weston and all the seventy Adventurers,
as such: for having Shares in the Joint Stock did not make them Pilgrim
Fathers. It further excludes (though it is very hard to make the exclusion) three
of the four London Merchants, now known as the noble Friends of
THE Pilgrims; who were among the number of the Adventurers, and
who also joined with the eight Undertakers of the Colony in the Compo
sition of 15/25 November 1626: Richard Andrews, John Beau-
champ, and James Shirley; but it includes the Fourth of these, Timo
thy Hatherley, because he settled at Scituate about the year 1635.^
In 1898 the Rev. William E. Griffis remarked:
The affectionate term "Pilgrim Fathers," coined by later genera
tions, includes (1) the members of the Leyden church who voted for
emigration, whether able or unable to go; (2) those who came from
England and joined the church. The Mayflower passengers constituted
the "Old Stock" of Bradford's meaning. Those who reached New
Plymouth in the Mayflower, Anne, and Little James were called the
"Old Comers," or " Forefathers." =
The terms PUgrims and Pilgrim Fathers are of popular origin, and
so necessarily are incapable of precise definition; and Arber's fine
spun distinctions are too fanciful and absurd for serious considera
tion. Suffice it to say that at the present time by the terms are gen-
I Story of the PUgrim Fathers, pp. 355-356.
^ The Pflgrims in their Three Homes, p. 161.

1914] THE TERM PILGRQI FATHERS

365

erally meant the passengers who came in the first four ships — the
INIaA^ower in 1620, the Fortune in 1621, and the Anne and the Little
James in 1023.
How the terms came to be applied to them in particular has
already been showm. It now remains to point out that the word Pil
grim was also applied to others, though Plymotheans are so accus
tomed to appropriate the word to their own ancestors as to resent
its application to others. Yet it would be strange indeed if a word
wliich had been in common use for four centuries before the sailing
of the ilaj-flower should in the seventeenth century have been re
stricted to the men and women who came on that historic vessel.
There was a ship named Peregrine in 1594,^ at least two others of the
same name between 1603 and 1625,^ and one of the same name in
Boston in 1659.^ In 1591 there was a ship named Pilgrim; * another
in 1595; ^ another between 1603 and 1625; « and in a letter to Endi
cott dated London, INIay 28, 1629, the Governor and Company of the
Llassachusetts Bay wrote, "Wee send yo'^ also herew'^ a pticuler of
. . . what goods, cattle, or other pvisions, wee now send vpon these
3 shipps, viz, the jMaj-flower, of Yarmouth, ... the Power Sisters,
of London, ... the Pilgrim, of London." ^ Writmg about 1651
Edward Johnson said:
' Hakluyt's Voyages (1904), xi. 46.
2 R. G. Marsden, English Ships in the Reign of James I, in Transactions of
the Royal Historical Society (1905), New Series, xk. 328.
s Suffolk Deeds, ui. 245.
« Hakluyt's Voyages (1904), vU. 44, 49.
5 Purchas His PUgrimes (1906), xvi. 18.
° R. G. Marsden: cf. note 2, above.
' Massachusetts Colony Records, i. 400, 404. Late in the eighteenth century
there is mention of several ships of this name. "We hear the Pflgrim has taken
a ship of upwards of 500 tons burthen, laden with dry goods" (Independent
Chronicle, August 20, 1781, p. 2/3). On November 5, 1781, FrankUn wrote:
"The Admiralty there wifl not accept any EngUsh [prisoners] in exchange, but
such as have been taken by Americans, and absolutely refuse to aUow any of
the paroles given to our privateers by EngUsh prisoners discharged at sea, ex
cept in one instance, that of fifty-three men taken in the Snake sloop, by the
Pilgrim and Rambler, which was a case attended, as they say, with some par
ticular circumstances" (Works, 1888, vu. 306). "Last Monday," said the
Boston Gazette of June 24, 1782, "the Prize Brig Neptune, of about 100 tons
burthen, laden with Lumber, arrived in a safe Port. She was taken on her pas
sage from HaUfax to Antigua, by the Privateer Ship Pflgrim, Capt. Robinson, of
Beverly" (p. 3/2). The sloop Pflgrim was among the port entries noted in the

366 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [DEC
At this time those who were in place of civill Government, having
some addition Pillars to under-prop the building, begun to thinke of a
place of more safety in the eyes of Man, then the two frontire Towns of
Charles Towne, and Boston were for the habitation of such as the Lord
had prepared to Governe this Pilgrim People. . . .
It being a work (in the apprehension of all, whose capacity could reach
to the great sums of money, the edifice of a mean Coledg would cost)
past the reach of a poor Pilgrim people, who had expended the greatest
part of their estates on a long voyage, . . .
Thir year [1650] was the first noted year wherein any store of people
died, the ayr and place being very healthy naturally, made this correc
tion of the Lord seem the greater, for the most that died were children,
and that of an untoward disease here, though frequent in other places,
the Lord now smiting many families with death in them, although there
were not any families wherein more then one died, or very rare if it were
otherwise, yet were these pilgrim people minded of the suddain forget-
fulness of those worthies that died not long before, but more specially
the little regard had to provide means to train their children up in the
knowledg of learning, and improve such means as the Lord hath ap
pointed to leave their posterity an able Minister.^
In a letter to John Winthrop, Jr., dated October 30, 1660, the Rev.
John Davenport said: "It was of Mantoweeze that the land was
bought, whereby N. H. [New Haven Colony] bounds extended neare
unto Cold Spring, beyond Pilgrims Plarbour."^ Pilgrims' Harbor

Massachusetts Centinel of December 8, 1784 (p. 3/3). And in the same paper of
December 22, 1784 (p. 4/2), is this advertisement:
To be S O L D,
[If applied for immediately),
THE good Sloop PILGRIM, British built, burthen about 90 tons, as she
now lies at. the south side of the Long- Wharf. She is a fast sailing vessel,
wefl found, and exceedingly wefl calculated for the Southern Trade
I Wonder-working Providence (1654), pp. 60-61, 193, 216. The references
in the first two paragraphs are to the church gathered at Cambridge in 1633 and
to Harvard CoUege.
2 4 Massachusetts Historical CoUections, vii. 518. There are aUusions (1666-
1687) to Pflgrims' Harbor in the Connecticut Colonial Records (fl. 53, 127, ui.
235), and also (1660-1742) in C. H. S. Davis's History of WaUingford, etc. (1870),
pp. 128-130. Referrmg to the regicides WhaUey and Goffe, on July 18, 1785,
President Stfles wrote: "After the Restor^ of Charles II. 1660 these holy Pil
grims came first to Boston. But being hunted there they fled to New Haven,
... It being stifl dangerous here, they removed to & resided near a Rivulet in

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 367
was "probably a hut where travellers between Hartford and New
Haven found shelter." i In 1660 Henry Gardiner wrote:
... if good Society and English Government were there, people
would rather Mxe there, than in Africk, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, or
England; it transcends all the Baltick Seas, and affords all or any Com
modity they ha^-e, & more plenty of sundry sorts, and of more concern
ment to his Majesty, than if all the Baltic Seas were annexed to his
Empire; as in a short Epitomy and Anotamy of those countries, from
New-found-land to Cape Florida, with Mapps and Cards shall appear,
with Collections of 55 years Pilgrimage.^
In 1694 Joshua Scottow said: "Thus far of the Light and white
side of the Pillar, which attended us in this our Wilderness Pilgrim
age; the black and dark side remains." ' In 1702 Cotton Mather,
referring to Salem, wrote:
An Entrance being thus made upon the Design of Planting a Country
of English and Reformed Churches; they that were concerned for the
Plantation, made their Application to Two Non-Conformists Ministers,

Meriden 20 M. fr. N. Haven at a place known to this day by the name of Pilgrims
Harbor;" and on May 8, 1793: "To Hartfd, . . . Tradition at Meriden & about
here Pilgrim's Harbor so named from two men stopt here tUl could make a
float. Afterw"*" Public buflt a shed for PUgrims caught here by high Freshes"
(Literary Diary, Ui. 170, 494). In the next year (1794) Stfles published his
History of Three of the Judges of King Charles I, and then, after stating that
WhaUey and Goffe arrived at Boston on July 27, 1660, and at New Haven on
March 7, 1661, said: "On the 13th of October, 1664, they left Mflford, and pro
ceeded in this excursion. I shafl suppose that the first night they came over to
New-Haven to their friend Jones, though of this there is no tradition, as there is
of their making a lodgment at Pflgrims Harbor, so cafled from them, being
twenty mfles from New-Haven, at a place since caUed Meriden, half-way between
New-Haven and Hartford. . . . But of this I find no tradition, saving only,
that in their rout to Hadley they made one station at Pflgrims Harbor" (pp. 22,
44, 108). As the letter quoted in the text was written four years before the
regicides are aUeged to have taken shelter at Pflgrims' Harbor, obviously Stfles's
theory that it received its name from that fact is erroneous. "If the regicides
ever made use of it," says E. E. Atwater, "it was after this letter was written.
It was not, as President Stfles suggests, cafled Pflgrims' Harbor because the
regicides lodged m it" (History of the Colony of New Haven, 1881, p. 447 note).
I am indebted to our associate Professor Franklin B. Dexter for the references
to Atwater, to Davis, and to Stfles's History.
1 E. E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven, p. 447 note.
" New England's Vindication (Gorges Society, 1884), p. 37.
2 Narrative, 4 Massachusetts Historical Collections, iv. 297.

368 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
that they would go over to serve the Cause of God and of Religion in the
beginning of those Churches, The one of these was Mr. Higginson, . . .
the other was Mr. Skelton, . . . These Ministers came over to Salem,
in the Summer of the Year 1629. . . . 'Tis true, there were two other
Clergy-Men, who came over about the same time; nevertheless, . . .
we will proceed with our Story; which is now to teU us. That the Pas
sage of these our Pilgrims was attended with many Smiles of Heaven
upon them.^

' MagnaUa, bk. i. ch. iv. § 4, pp. 16-17. In his Discourse deUvered at Plym
outh in 1828, the Rev. Samuel Green said:
Sons of the PUgrims, look at these beacons, as they rise around you, and
beware of forsaking the God of your fathers. Then graves are before you. This
occasion roUs back the fight of their doctrines, and the fight of their example.
"It is reported of the Scythians," says Cotton Mather, "that in battles, when
they came to stand upon the graves of their dead fathers, they would stand there
immoveable tfll they died on the spot: and, thought I, why may not such a
method now engage the chfldren of the Pflgrims, to stand fast in their faith,
and their order, and in the power of godUness? I wfll show them the graves of
their dead fathers; and if any of them do retreat unto the errors of another
Gospel, they shaU undergo the irresistible rebukes of their progenitors, here
brought from the dead for their admonition" (pp. 31-32).
No reference for this quotation is given. It is conceivable that Mather
might have used the expression "chfldren of the Pflgrims," and if so it would
be interesting to know whether in reference to the Plymouth or to the Massa
chusetts settlers. It turns out, however, that Mr. Green's memory was at fault.
On the few occasions when Mather quoted Paradise Lost, he did so inaccurately,
once changing Milton's "Chariot and charioteer" to "Salvage and Sagamore."
In the present instance the tables were turned against Mather, for what he
actually wrote is as foUows:
It is reported of the Scythians, who were, doubtless, the Ancestors of the
Indians first inhabiting these Regions, that in Battels, when they came to stand
upon the Graves of their dead Fathers, they would there stand immovable, 'tiU they
dy'd upon the spot: And, thought I, why may not such a Method now effectually
engage the English in these Regions, to stand fast in their Faith and their Order,
and in the Power of Godliness? I'll shew them, the Graves of their dead Fathers;
and if any of them do retreat unto a Contempt or Neglect of Learning, or unto
the Errors of another Gospel, or unto the Superstitions of Will-Worship, or unto
a worldly, a selfish, a little Conversation, they shaU undergo the irresistible Re
bukes of their Progenitors, here fetch'd from the dead, for their Admonition;
and I'U therewithal advertise my New-Englanders, that if a Grand-child of a
Moses becomes an Idolater, he shall, [as the Jews remark upon Judg, 18. 30.] be
destroy'd, as if not a Moses, but a Manasseh, had been his Father. Besides,
Plus Vivitur Exemplis quam Prceceptis! (MagnaUa, 1702, bk. in. pt. i.. To the
Reader, § 2, p. 11.)

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 369
In 1786 David Plumphreys, in his "Poem, On the Happiness of
America; Addressed to the Citizens of the United States," wrote:
Here equal fortunes, ease, the ground then- own,
Augment theu: numbers with increase unlaiown —
Here hamlets grow — here Europe's pflgrims come
From vassall'd woes to find a quiet home.i
The following extract is taken from the Independent Chronicle
of January 6, 1794: CONCORD, December 26, 1793.
At the Anniversary Meetmg of the Pilgrim Society in Concord, on
the 25th instant, at Lieut. Joh7i Richardson's,* for the purpose of com
memorating the Divine Nativity; after transacting the necessary busi
ness of the Society, they spent the evemng in grateful and Christian
con\'iviahty, and most cordially drank the following pertinent Toasts
on the occasion, viz.
First. The Bhth-Day of our SAVIOUR.
Second. The Pilgrims in Concord.
Third. The Day. — While we feast as strangers and brethren, let us
rejoice as Christians.
Fourth. May the light of Reason and Philosophy, banish super
stition. Fifth. May we never want a Washington, nor a Washington a
grateful People.
Sixth. May the basis of our freedom be virtue, and lasting as time.
Seventh. May those, who are struggling for Freedom and Equahty,
ever enjoy them.
Eighth. May we ever rejoice in each others freedom and prosperity.
Ninth. Strangers, wheresoever they are.
After which the Members retired to their respective places of abode,
in great good order and filled with many good impressions.
" A Society formed in Concord, some years since by a number of young Men,
who emigrated from various towns, and settled in Concord, and replenished from
time to time, with persons only of that description. — The Society now consists of
about 20 members."

1 Boston Magazine, 1786, ui. 397.
2 P. 4/1. Presumably it was at Concord, Massachusetts, that this Pflgrim
Society existed; but no other allusion to it has been found. John Richardson
was born at Watertown July 11, 1758; went to Concord in 1778, opened an
inn there in 1789, but moved away in 1804 ; became a member of the Social

370 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
Between 1785 and 1794, the Rev. Ezra Stiles often spoke of the
regicides who had taken refuge in New England as Pilgrims.^
It is possible that when Mather alluded to Higginson and Skelton
as "these our Pilgrims," he may have been influenced by the passage
in Bradford's History, known to him through Morton; but such
could not have been the case with the other writers just quoted. It
is interesting to find the early Massachusetts settlers called a Pilgrim
people or Pilgrims a century and a half before the word was specifi
cally applied to the Plymouth settlers, and a Pilgrim Society at Con
cord thirty years before a similarly-named society was formed at
Plymouth.

Circle in 1782 ; on March 7, 1790, was married to Anna Bemis of Watertown,
who died July 14, 1796 ; on December 29, 1801, was married to Hannah Bemis
of Watertown, a sister of his first wife ; had several children by both wives ;
and died at Newton May 3, 1837. (Memoirs of the Social Circle in Concord,
i. 52, 159, 163, u. p. ix ; Concord Registers, pp. 323, 387 ; Watertown Records,
ui. 140, 178, 230, iv, 159 ; H. Bond, Genealogies of Watertown, pp. 25, 412 ;
Newton Vital Records, p. 495.) The early history of the Social Circle in Con
cord is somewhat obscure, but apparently there was no connection between it
and the Pilgrim Society. In " A Topographical Description of the Town of
Concord, August 20th, 1792. Presented by Mr. WiUiam Jones, student of
Harvard CoUege," it is stated that " An association is established cafled the
Social Club, who meet once a week at each other's houses. The club is
founded upon principles, and governed by rules, that are admirably promotive
of the social affections and useful improvements" (1 Massachusetts Historical
Collections, i. 239).
1 See p. 366 note 2, above. This use of the word pilgrim, without reference
to the Pflgrims of Plymouth, is of course occasionally met with after 1798. Thus
a poem prmted in the Independent Chronicle of January 21, 1799 (p. 4/1),
began as follows: Wachusett 's true can boast of many trees
Who patriot Uke, display their niches:
But the pflgrim as he 's passing, sees
Contemptuous thorns and ugly bushes.
A novel entitled "Love's Pflgrimage; A Story founded on facts" was adver
tised in the Columbian Centinel of January 8, 1800 (p. 4/1) ; but whether EngUsh
or American, I do not know. The foUowmg lines occur in a pohtical skit pub
lished in 1820 entitled "The PUgrims of Hope: An Oratorio For the Clintonian
celebration of the New Year" (p. 19):
See from the shores of subjugated France,
G*N*T and Adancouet, lead up the dance
Of foreign Pflgrims, who, in devious maze.
Like Shaking Quakers, rigadoon their praise.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 371
^^^^eTe^-e^ the terms Pilgrims and Pilgrim Fathers are found after
179S, of course their use is due to the Pilgrims of Plymouth.^ In 1830
John F. Watson published his "Annals of Philadelphia, being a Col
lection of IMemou-s, Anecdotes, & Incidents of the City and its In
habitants from the Days of the Pilgrim Founders." In 1831 John
V. L. i\IcMahon wrote:
Leonard Cahvrt . . . purchased the town from the natives, and
estabUshed his colony within it by their consent. In pursuance of his
agreement with the natives, the colony was disembarked at the town of
Yaocomoco, on the 27th of March, 1634, and took possession of it by
the name of St. Mary's. Then and thus landed the Pilgrims of Maryland,
and then and thus were laid the foundations of the old city of St. Mary's,
and of our present State. . . . The close of the second century since that
event, is now near at hand; and why should not the return of the day,
which commemorates the landing of these pilgrims, be the occasion of a
jubilee to us? . . . The landing of the Pilgrims of New England, has been
the burden of many a story, and the theme of many an oration. . . .
Yet whilst we would avoid all invidious contrasts, and forget the stern
spirit of the Puritan, which so frequently mistook religious intolerance
for holy zeal; we can turn with exultation to the Pilgrims of Maryland,
as the founders of religious liberty in the new world.^
"Thus much," remarked William L. Stone in 1842, "for the public
career of this great Indian benefactor to the Pilgrim Fathers of Con-

' The foUowing appeared in the Columbian Centinel of January 20, 1802
(p. 4/1): MB. BUSSELL.
6IB — THE following lines were addressed to our late excellent fellow-citizen,
G. R. MINOT, EsQUiBE, while he was composing the 1st Volume of his History of
Massachusetts, by a sincere admirer of his character — ANALASKI.
Then foUows a poem in sixteen stanzas, the last reading:
Yes, ere the fabled Tale is wrought,
Whfle yet the features are imprest,
ShaU thy discriminating thought,
Pourtray the Pilgrims of the West.
The first volume of Minot's Continuation of the History of the, Province of
Massachusetts Bay bears on its title-page the date "Feb. 1798." If the above
lines were written before that date, then their author probably was not influ
enced by the Plymouth and Boston celebrations.
2 Historical View of the Government of Maryland, i. 195, 197, 198 note.

372 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
necticut."^ "It was a beautiful thought," declared Joseph R.
Chandler in 1855, "and does honor to those who entertained it and
gave it utterance, and finally put it into practice, to make a public
celebration of the 'Landing of the Pilgruns of Maryland;' " and m
the oration he delivered on the occasion, he alluded to "the Pilgrim
Fathers of St. Mary's," "the Pilgruns of St. Mary's county," "the
Pilgrim Fathers of Maryland," and "the Pilgrims of St. Mary's
city." 2 "The Pilgruns of Plymouth," wrote Whittier in 1872,
"have not lacked historian and poet. . . . The Quaker pilgrims of
Pennsylvania, seeldng the same objects by different means, have not
been equally fortunate; " and so he composed his poem "The Penn
sylvania Pilgrim," dealing with Francis Daniel Pastorius.^
The Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts
We now reach the last phase of our subject — namely, the dis
tinction between the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony and the
Puritans of the Massachusetts Colony. Were the passengers in the
Maj'flower Puritans in rehgion? During the past half-century this

' Uncas and Miantonomoh, p. 143.
" "Civic and Religious Equafity. An Oration dehvered at the fourth com
memoration of the PUgrims of Maryland, celebrated May 15, 1855. Under the
auspices of the Phflodemic Society of Georgetown College. ... To which is
prefixed a notice of the proceedings at the Celebration. Philadelphia: . . .
1855," pp. 5, 23, 30, 42, 45, 53, 54. Mr. Chandler's "Address ... at the cele
bration of the Landing of the Pflgrims of Maryland, at the site of St. Mary's
City, May 15th, 1855," was also printed at Baltimore. The same use of the
terms wiU be found in New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1877),
xxxi. 224; J. W. Thomas, Chronicles of Colonial Maryland (1900), p. 19; Rev.
W. T. RusseU, Maryland; the Land of Sanctuary (1907), pp. 76-77, 84, 197 note.
' Complete Poetical Works (Cambridge edition, 1894), pp. 103-112, 519-520.
The term is also occasionally used in a figurative sense. Thus on October 18,
1906, Life said: "The early efforts of Josh BiUings and Artemus Ward, the
Pilgrim Fathers of Phonetics, to introduce their Sound System of Spelling were
not taken seriously; these fanatics of funetics were laughed at, and in time speU-
ing as a branch of humor died out" (xlvifl. 431). At the Boston celebration in
1804 was sung a song caUed New-England, " written for the occasion, (by a
gentleman in a neighbouring State)," which contained the following fines
(Columbian Centinel, December 26, 1804, p. 4/1) :
From Discord, oppression, injustice and strife,
Here FREEDOM, the PILGRIM a refuge shaU find,
A covert secure from the tempest of life
The WoNDEE, Example, and Pride of Mankind.

1914] the TER5I PILGRIM FATHERS 373
question has been hotly contested, and admirable authority can be
cited in both the affirmative and the negative. The problem is too
complex for treatment here, and its discussion is reserved for a future
occasion. Moreover, for our present purpose it is immaterial whether
the Mayflower passengers were or were not, properly speaking, Puri
tans. It will be sufficient to show what views have been held on this
subject since 1769.
In 1776 the Rev. Sylvanus Conant said: "In these and the like
ways, God as it were searched out and prepared a place in this wil
derness for the flight of his little persecuted flock. It must be noticed
that the civil and ecclesiastical powers of England at this time, were
against them, on account of their puritan principles."^ "Hence
they," remarked the Rev. Samuel West in 1777, referring to the
enemies of "our fathers," "called them, Fanaticks, Schismaticks,
and, in scorn, Puritans; and they doubtless thought that God would
be glorified by their thus cruelly persecuting their brethren." ^ In
1794 Belknap stated that in 1620 "A Company of ENGLISH PURI
TANS, who had resided twelve years in Holland, began a colony in
New England, which they called New Plymouth." ' "Two Centuries
are this day completed," said the Rev. John Chester in 1820, "since
the Puritan Pilgrims of New England landed on the soil of the new
world;"* and in the same year the Rev. Daniel Huntington remarked,

' Anniversary Sermon (1777), pp. 14r-15.
* Anniversary Sermon (1778), p. 38.
' American Biography, i. 46: cf. u. 151. The foUowing is taken from the
Massachusetts Magazine for May, 1794:
Account of an Ancient and Curious Staff.
DEACON Joseph White, of Yarmouth, in the County of Barnstable, great
grandson of Peregrine,* has in his possession a Staff, which is valuable for
its great antiquity. It had conveyance, agreeably to weU authenticated tradi
tion, in the first ship which came to New England in 1620. When those vener
able puritanic sages landed at Plymouth, one of their company walked with
this Staff. It is three feet in length; and is a strfldng instance of that noble
sunpUcity, which so eminently dignified the character of those primitive, and
justly celebrated fathers of this country.
* Peregrme White was the first bom of EngUsh parents in New England
(vi. 288).
< Sermon (1820), p. 6. The term "Puritan Pflgrims" occurs agam on p. 7
of this Sermon, and is also employed by the foUowuig writers: 1835, P. Sprague,
Speech (1836), pp. 5, 32; 1849, D. Wflson, in History of the Puritans in England,

374 THE colonial society of MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
"Let it ever be remembered with admiration and gratitude, that a
Church of English Puritans began the settlement of New England." ^
"A company of these Puritans," wrote the Rev. Samuel Green in
1828, "among whom were the first of the New England pilgrims, in
1610, bade adieu to their native land and settled in Leyden." ^
"\^^lere were the Pilgrims," asked Rufus Choate in 1843, "while in
this furnace of affliction? Who saw and cared for them? A hundred
persons, understood to be Lollards, or Precisians, or Puritans, or
Brownists, had sailed away some three thousand mOes, to arrive on a
winter's coast, in order to be where they could hear a man preach
without a surplice!"^ In the same year Webster spoke of "the
Puritans who landed upon the Rock of Plymouth." * "But with all
their errors," declared Lewis Cass in 1848, "history has left on record
no name in all the annals of religious controversy, brighter or nobler
than that of the Pilgrim Puritans, who raised an altar in the western
-inlderness, and died around it." ^ In 1851 Joseph Banvard spoke of
"the forty-one Puritan fathers who signed the memorable compact
in the cabin of the Mayflower." ^ In 1855 the Rev. Joseph B. Felt
wrote: The departure of Columbus for the discovery of a new world, and for
opening new sources of commerce, wealth, and knowledge, was an
enterprise worthy of the noblest mind; but the undertaking of the
Leyden Puritans to found a commonwealth suited to cherish and expand
the blessings of civil and religious hberty is one of brighter, sublimer
ends.' "But of the Congregationalism of the Puritans," said our late asso
ciate the Rev. C. Carroll Everett in 1865, "as represented by the
and the PUgrim Fathers, p. 480; 1851, J. Banvard, Plymouth and the Pflgruns,
pp. 25, 33; 1885, G. W. Curtis, Oration, in New England Society Orations, ii.
417-418. ' Discourse (1821), p. 23.
2 Discourse (1829), p. 12: cf. pp. 28, 32 note.
' The Age of the Pflgruns the heroic period of our History, in New England
Society Orations (1901), i. 346: cf. i. 332, 338.
^ Nfles' Register (1844), Ixv. 295; New England Society Orations, i. 361, 366.
^ Address deUvered before the New England Society of Michigan (1849),
p. 33. The term "Pflgrim Puritans" was also employed in 1849 by the Rev.
N. Cleaveland in his Address (1850), p. 22.
« Plymouth and the Pilgrims, p. 273.
' Ecclesiastical History of New England, i. 38.

1914] THE TERSI PILGRIM FATHERS 375
Pilgrim Fathers, during the first years of their residence in America,
our liberal churches are the true and only representatives." ^
Not only does writer after writer,^ from 1769 to about 1800, assert
that the early Plymouth settlers were Puritans, but during that
period apparently no other view was taken. And the same view is
1 Sermon (1865), p. 8.
2 Among the writers who mamtain that the early Plymouth settlers were
Puritans are the foUowing: 1801, Rev. J. AUyn, Sermon (1802), pp. 9-10; 1803,
Rev. J. Strong, Sermon (1804), p. 5; 1804, Rev. J. Morse and Rev. E. Parish,
Compendious History of New England, pp. 24, 36; 1806, Rev. A. Holmes, Dis
course, pp. 9, 12, 19-20; 1809, Rev. A. Abbot, Discourse (1810), pp. 7, 8; 1815,
Rev. J. FUnt, Discourse (1816), p. 23; 1820, Rev. A. Holmes, Two Discourses
(1821), p. 16; 1820, Rev. H. Humphrey, The character and suffermgs of the Pfl
grims (1821), pp. 7, 8, 10; 1820, Rev. G. Spring, Tribute to New England, in
New England Society Orations, i. 14, 15 note; 1820, Rev. J. Woodbridge, The
Jubflee of New England (1821), pp. 3, 4; 1829, S. L. Knapp, Address, in New
England Society Orations, i. 150; 1829, W. SuUivan, Discourse (1830), p. 12;
1830, Rev. B. B. Wisner, Influence of ReUgion on Liberty (1831), pp. 24, 25;
1831, Rev. J. Codman, Faith of the Pflgruns (1832), pp. 7, 21; 1835, J. B.
Whitridge, Oration (1836), p. 15; 1835, A. Bradford, History of Massachusetts,
pp. 15, 16; 1836, Rev. J. Hawes, Tribute to the Memory of the Pilgrims (second
edition), p. 57;, 1842, Rev. G. B. Cheever, Elements of National Greatness, in
New England Society Orations, i. 292, 293; 1844, G. P. Marsh, Address, in New
England Society Orations, i. 387 and note; 1845, Rev. J. Dyer, Discourse (1846),
p. 3; 1845, Rev. O. W. B. Peabody, Discourse (1846), p. 8; 1845, J. R. Chandler,
The PUgrims of the Rock (1846), p. 11; 1846, Rev. M. Hopkms, Sermon (1847),
'pp. 5, 31; 1846, Rev. M. A. H. Nfles, Distinctive Characteristics of the Pil
grims, p. 3; 1846, C. W. Upham, The Spirit of the Day and its Lessons, in New
England Society Orations, i. 433; 1847, W. H. Dillmgham, Oration (1847), pp.
13, 22, 28; 1850, Rev. W. DeL. Love, Obedience in Rulers (1851), pp. 11, 12,
16; 1851, G. S. Hfllard, The Past and the Future, in New England Society
Orations, u. 141, 145-146, 149; 1851, A. C. Spooner, Speech, pp. 3, 6; 1852,
Rev. R. Ashton, 4 Massachusetts Historical Collections, i. 112; 1852, Rev. T.
D. Hunt, Address (1853), p. 9; 1853, Rev. H. Brown, The Pilgrim Fathers, pp.
14, 46; 1853, Rev. T. Raffles, Lecture on the Pflgrim Fathers, p. 8; 1853, R.
Yeadon, Speech, p. 2; 1854, W. M. Evarts, Heritage of the PUgrims, in New
England Society Orations, u. 241, 245, 250; 1854, J. W. Thornton, The Landing
at Cape Anne, p. 24; 1855, O. W. Holmes, Oration, in New England Society
Orations, fl. 280; 1855, W. H. Seward, Oration (1856), pp. 7, 8; 1856, Rev. J.
A. Copp, The Old Ways (1857), p. 11; 1856, Rev. J. Cordner, Vision of the
Pflgrim Fathers (1857), p. 14; 1857, Rev. A. D. Smith, The Puritan Character
(1858), pp. 7, 23; 1857, Rev. R. S. Storrs, The Puritan Scheme of National
Growth, in New England Society Orations, n. 334; 1859, Rev. J. Hawes, One
Soweth and another Reapeth, pp. 3, 6, 7, 9, 18, 19; 1867, Rev. S. G. BucMng-
ham. Memorial of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 5; 1883, J. T. Morse, Jr., Thomas
Jefferson, p. 3; 1896, Rev. C. H. Pope, in New England Historical and Genea
logical Register, 1. 234; 1907, Rev. F. A. Noble, The PUgrims, p. 3.

376 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
still held by many eminent scholars. But in 1866 Benjamin Scott
of London advanced an opposite view. Before quoting Mr. Scott,
it is pertinent to point out that previous writers, though regard
ing the early Plymouth settlers as Puritans, were yet alive to the
fact that those early settlers were Separatists, while the early set
tlers at Salem and Boston still regarded themselves as members of the
Church of England.^ Thus in 1847 William H. Dillingham, speak
ing of the Mayflower passengers, said, "A step in advance of their
brother Puritans, had entitled them to the designation of Separa
tists." 2 In 1851 the Rev. Alvan Lamson wrote: "The Pilgrims, or
Plymouth Colony, were Separatists; the Massachusetts Colony was
mostly composed of Puritans, who had not before left the national
church." ' "The Pilgrims of Plymouth," declared Charles Sumner
in 1853, "were among the earliest of the Separatists." *
But while pointing out that the early Plymouth settlers were
Separatists, the writers just quoted regarded them as also Puritans.
In 1857 the Rev. Edmund H. Sears wrote:
We will not take our final leave of the good men whose labors and
sacrifices we have been reviewing, without a filial tribute to their vir
tues. This we do, because, with all the eulogy bestowed upon them by
popular historians and orators, we doubt if their principles are yet fully
understood. They are constantly confounded with the Massachusetts
Puritans, whereas they were entirely different in character, temper,
principles, and policy.^
' Of course, this difference had been remarked on much earUer. Thus about
1680 Hubbard spoke of "some reUgious and well affected persons, that were
lately [about 1626] removed out of New Plsonouth out of dislike of their princi
ples of rigid separation" (History of New England, p. 106). In 1813 Judge
Davis wrote: "The first planters of Massachusetts, though puritans, had not,
like Mr. Robinson's society, separated from the Church of England before their
arrival in this country. As soon as they were at liberty to pursue, unimpeded,
their own ideas of ecclesiastical order, they adopted, with httle variation, the
practice of the Plymouth settlers" (Discourse, 1814, p. 9). In 1908 Mr. Andrew
McF. Davis caUed attention to the open letter which on April 7, 1630, Win
throp and others addressed " to the rest of their brethren in and of the Church
of England," and to what Winthrop said about the laying of hands on the
Rev. John Wflson (Publications, xii. 11, 12).
= Oration (1847), p. 22.
3 Discourse (1852), p. 16.
* A Finger-Point from Plymouth Rock, p. 7.
^ Pictures of the Olden Time, as shown in the fortunes of a Family of the
Pflgrims, p. 324. "It would be difficult to say," the author wefl remarks, "to

^914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 377
Mr. Sears then proceeded to draw a contrast which presents the
INIassachusetts Puritans in a very unenviable light. In 1860 the
Rev. John Waddington remarked that "Few, comparatively, clearly
understand the distinction between the Puritans, and the Separatists
who gave rise to the Pilgrim fathers." 1 We are thus brought to the
statement made by Benjamin Scott in 1866:
I propose first to show that the Pilgrim Fathers of Plymouth Colony
— the only persons to whom that term has been historically apphed, the
first successful Anglo-Saxon colonists of America, and the real founders
of New England — were not Puritans, as is often carelessly and erro
neously reported, but Separatists.
The difference between the eariy Puritans and tbe Separatists was not
one of name merely, ... but wide, fundamental and irreconcilable.
... It has been asked, "Did the Pilgrim Fathers repudiate the term
Puritan as apphed to themselves?" I reply they were not and could not,
at that day, have been afforded the opportunity of repudiation; no such
confusion of terms could then have arisen.^ Their enemies were too vigi
lant and unrelenting, and they and their predecessors were too truthful
to permit of their shielding themselves under the term of Puritan.^
what class of literature the foUowing work properly belongs. It is neither ro
mance nor pure history" (p. v). Some wfll be disposed to see more romance
than history in the work.
1 Track of the Hidden Church; or, the Springs of the Pflgrim Movement
(1863), p. 38.
2 Obviously, confusion could not have arisen between two terms one of
which did not come into existence until 1798. J. A. Goodwin asserted that
"The Pilgrim Fathers, the founders of our Plsonouth, the pioneer Colony of
New England, were not Puritans. They never were caUed by that name, either
by themselves or their contemporaries " (Pflgrim RepubUc, 1888, p. 1). Even
if the Pilgrims did not caU themselves by the name of Puritans, that fact
would have no significance, since the word Puritan — hke Quaker, Whig, Tory,
and a host of other terms — was originally one of reproach, and so might have
been objected to on that ground. Indeed, Bradford twice expresses his dishke
to the word for that reason. "And to cast contempte the more upon the
sincere servants of God," he says in one place, " they opprobriously and most
injuriously, gave unto, and imposed upon them, that name of Puritans ; which
[it] is said the Novatians (out of prid) did assume and take unto themselves "
(History of Plsmiouth, ed. Ford, i. 12-13). And in another place he says:
" The name of Brownists is but a nickname, as Puritan and Huguenot, &c.,
and therefore they do not amiss to decline the odium of it in what they
may " (Dialogue, in Young's Chronicles of the PUgrim Fathers, 1841, pp. 416-
417). ' The Pflgrim Fathers neither Puritans nor Persecutors (1869), pp. 5-6.

378 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
INIr. Scott's lecture was widely read in this country and its main
contention, that the early Plymouth settlers were not Puritans, though
denied by some,^ was accepted by others. "Before tracing the his
tory of this separation," said the Rev. Henry M. Goodwin in 1870,
" let me speak of the difference between the Puritans and the Pil
grims, who are often confounded by many persons. This difference
was not one of name merely, but wide and fundamental. . . . The
Pilgrim Fathers who founded the Plymouth Colony, and who planted
and gave type to our institutions, were not Puritans, but Separa
tists, men of larger and freer and more catholic spirit, than the Puri
tans who came after, and settled in Salem and Boston." ^ In the
same year the Rev. Henry M. Dexter is reported to have said:
The speaker did not know if the difference between the Puritans of
Boston and the Plymouth Pilgrims was understood by many, but it
was important in celebrating the present occasion not to forget this
difference. Such men as the Pilgrims of Plymouth were almost impos
sible to understand. They started in the north of England, — men with
one idea, — and that idea was, that they must do right whatever it
cost them. They felt that the Anglican church was not right according
to the Bible, and that nothing like it could be right. The Puritans
started with the same idea, but they did not carry it out. They saw the
Anglican church was unscriptural, and said that they must avoid being
under the yoke, but they stayed there a long time, and when they came
here they believed they were going to still live in vital union with the
Church of England. The Pilgrims, feeling they could not do right in
England, determined to leave, and went to HoUand, but finding there
that they were unfortunate in opportunities for the education of their
children, they added the idea that was the key note to their action —
the missionary idea. This idea was new as they wrought it out; it did
not appear in the history of Christianity, and the form in which the
American Board of Foreign Missions were now working it out. The
Pilgrims' idea was to come over and worship God in this new country,
in their own way, among savages whom they might convert.^
1 J. W. Dean, in New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1871),
xxv. 301-303.
2 The PUgrim Fathers (Rockford, lUinois), pp. 7, 8. In a note on p. 8 Scott's
lecture is referred to.
' "PUgrim Jubflee. Celebration m Providence, R. I., of the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of CongregationaUsm in this country, October llth,
1870," pp. 34-35.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 379
It was in 1870 also that Robert C. Winthrop spoke of the Rev.
Joseph Hunter as having "turned his attention to the Pilgrims of
Plymouth, and to the Puritans of Massachusetts, for the latest and
best themes of his unwearied investigations;" ^ and went on to say:
An Episcopahan myself, by election as well as education, and warmly
attached to the forms and the faith in which I was brought up; ... I
yet rejoice, as heartily as any Congregationalist who hstens to me, that
our Pilgrim Fathers were Separatists. I rejoice, too, that the Puritan
Fathers of iSIassachusetts, who followed them to these shores ten years
afterwards, . . . were, if not technically and professedly, yet to all
intents and purposes, Separatists, also; — Semi-Separatists at least,
as Robinson himself was caUed when he wrote and published that book
which so offended the Brownists. ... I would not seem too harsh
towards those old prelates of the English Church, by whom Pilgrims or
Puritans were persecuted.^
In 1874 the Rev. Leonard Bacon wrote:
Those who read the story will understand, I trust — what many are
ignorant of, and what some historians have not sufficiently explained —
the difference between "our Pilgrim Fathers" and "our Puritan Fathers."
In the old world on the other side of the ocean the Puritan was a Nation-
ahst, believing that a Christian nation is a Christian church, and de
manding that the Church of England should be thoroughly reformed;
while the Pilgrim was a Separatist, not only from the Anglican Prayer-
book and Queen Elizabeth's episcopacy, but from all national churches.
Between them there was sharp contention — a controversy quite as
earnest and almost as bitter as that which they both had with the
ecclesiastico-political power that oppressed them both, fining and im
prisoning the Puritan, and visiting upon the Separatist the added penal
ties of exile and the gaUows. The Pilgrim wanted liberty for himself
and his wife and httle ones, and for his brethren, to walk with God in
a Christian life as the rules and motives of such a life were revealed to
him from God's Word. For that he went into exile; for that he crossed

1 It is to be noted that Hunter himself made no such distinction between the
PUgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts. "Those who foUowed
Governor Winthrop," he wrote m 1847, "from his own country may not unprop-
eriy be designated the Second Puritan Emigration, — the First being formed of
those who had been of Mr. Robmson's church, and founded Plymouth, and the
emigrants from Dorchester" (3 Massachusetts Historical Collections, x. 171).
2 Oration (1871), pp. 10, 42-43, 45.

380 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
the ocean; for that he made his home in a wilderness. The Puritan's
idea was not liberty, but right government in church and state — such
government as should not only permit him, but also compel other men
to walk in the right way.''
In 1876 John A. Goodwin remarked:
The most common error is to speak of the Pilgrims as Puritans.
Yet they never called themselves Puritans and were never known as
such by their contemporaries. Puritan divines preached against them
while they were in England; Puritan tractarians assailed them while
they halted in Holland, and Puritan hostility nearly destroyed their
settlement at Plymouth. In that day the term Puritan had a definite
meaning, and it can with no propriety be applied to the Pilgrim Fathers.
. . . Whatever reforms the Puritan desired, he sought to make within
the church. Separation he denounced as schism — a deadly sin. Thus
the Puritans were Episcopahans — the low-church wing of their
day.2 In 1878 the Rev. Increase N. Tarbox wrote:
Let us make another distinction. The people of Plymouth were
called Pilgrims, and when we speak of the Pilgrim Fathers, we have
special reference to them. The people that settled Salem and Boston
and the surrounding towns were known as Puritans, and when we speak
of the Puritan Fathers, in our early history, if we use and understand
historical language correctly, we shall have primary reference to these
dwellers in Massachusetts Bay. The little companies that soon after
went out to begin the settlements at Hartford and New Haven, came
from the same general class in English society. Indeed, they passed
through the gateway of the Bay, to go and found those Connecticut
colonies. They were also Puritans. Many persons use these terms
indiscriminately, and speak of Pilgrims or Puritans as meaning the
same thing. But this is only a confused use of language. Let us ever
bear in mind that by the name of Pilgrim Fathers, we designate particu
larly the men of Plymouth, while the Puritan Fathers are the men of
the Massachusetts Bay and the colonies that grew directly out of
that.^

1 Genesis of the New England Churches, pp. ix-x.
" The Pilgrim Fathers (1877), pp. 15, 16. See p. 377 note 2 above.
2 "The Pflgrims and Puritans: or, Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay,"
in CoUections of the Old Colony Historical Society (1879), No. 1, p. 28. Tarbox
quotes Scott's lecture at length.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 381
In 1886 William Everett said:
Brethren, how far are we to carry the parallel? We are proud of our
descent from the Pilgrims and our inheritance of that birthright they
won so hard. We had rather claim kindred with them than with the
heroes of the war for the Union and the struggle for Independence,
with the signers of the Constitution and the Declaration. We will
not own the name of Puritan for our fathers, though that name would
fink them with Conant and Endicott, with Winthrop and Cotton, with
the apostle Eliot and the martyr Vane.'
And in 1895 Senator George F. Hoar wrote :
The commonwealths which were united in 1692 and became the
Pro^'ince of Massachusetts Bay are still blended in the popular con
ception. Their founders are supposed to have the same general char
acteristics, and are known to the rest of the world by the common title
of New England Puritans. I suppose this belief prevails even in New
England, except to a small circle of scholars and descendants of the
Pilgrims who still dwell in the Old Colony, and who have studied per
sonally the history of their ancestors. Many of our historians have
treated the two vrith httle distinction, except that the suffering of the
Pilgrim, the dangerous and romantic voyage of the Mayflower, the story
of the landing in December and the hardship of the first winter have
made, of course, a series of pictures of their own. Even Mr. Webster,
after narrating as could have been done by no other chronicler who
ever lived, these picturesque incidents, proceeds in his oration of 1820
to discuss the principles which lay at the foundation of the Puritan State,
and which were, in the main, common to both communities.
Yet the dwellers of Plymouth know well the difference between the
Pilgrim that landed here and the Puritan that settled in Salem and
Boston. . . .
Massachusetts has educated the foreigner. She is making an Ameri
can of him. She is surely, and not very slowly, when we consider the
great periods that constitute the life of a State, impressing upon him
what is best of the Pilgrim and the Puritan quality and the Pilgrim and
the Puritan conception of a State.^
The distinction now so sharply drawn between the Pilgrims of
Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts thus appears to be due
1 Discourse (1887), p. 8.
2 In Proceedmgs, etc. (1896), pp. 14-15, 42.

382 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
to two causes: first, to the belief that the word Pilgrims belongs
exclusively or peculiarly to the Plymouth settlers; and secondly, to
the notion, which first made its appearance only about half a century
ago, that the early Plymouth settlers were not Puritans, while those
of Massachusetts were. The purpose of this section has been to show
the genesis of this distinction, not to submit that distinction to a
critical examination. Yet a few comments may be permissible.
Nowadays the fact is too often overlooked that the Plymouth Colony
was, except during the first decade of its existence, of slight import
ance. In 1813 Judge Davis, himself a native of Plymouth, wrote:
In ten years from the commencement of Plymouth Colony the num
ber of inhabitants did not exceed three hundred. In an equal space of
time from the settlement of Massachusetts, more than twenty thousand
persons had arrived, and three hundred ships had been employed in
their transportation. In money and commodities, in artizans of every
necessary description, in the means of defence, and all the furniture of
a state, there was a correspondent superiority.'
After 1643 Plymouth Colony, as our associate Mr. Worthington C.
Ford has recently said, "as an historical factor . . . practically
ceased to exist; " ^ and during the last fifty years of its existence as
a separate colony, few persons found their way within its precincts.
If, as Scott declared in 1866, the difference between Plymouth and
Massachusetts was "wide, fundamental, and irreconcilable," how
comes it that, almost within a few days after reaching here, the
Boston settlers themselves became Separatists and adopted the Con
gregationalism of Plymouth? It is tr^e that no one in Plymouth
Colony was put to death for witchcraft, but that fact was not due to a
disbelief in witchcraft, for among the capital laws adopted by
Plymouth in 1636 was "Solemn Compaction or conversing w**"
the devill by way of witchcraft conjuracon or the like" — a law that
remained on the statute book for many years.^ And though no
1 Discourse (1814), p. 8.
2 Bradford's History (1912), vol. i. p. xv.
" Plymouth Colony Records, xi. 12, 95, 172. In the Book of the General
Laws, etc., 1672, p. 4 ; and in the Book of the General Laws, etc., 1685, p. 10,
the law read as foUows :
Witchcraft. 8. If any Christian (so-caUed) be a Witch, that is, hath,
or consulteth with a Famfliar Spirit ; he or they shaU be put
to Death.

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 383
Quaker was put to death in Plymouth Colony, yet Quakers were
apprehended and banished in 1657 and disfranchized in 1658, and
their books were seized and presented in court in 1659.' In short, it
may well be doubted whether the religious, intellectual, and moral
differences between the Plymouth and the Massachusetts settlers
were so fundamental as some recent writers would have us believe;
and certain it is thai these writers have occasionally gone astray in
their judgments.^ Finally, much confusion will be avoided by always
bearing in mind that the terms Pilgrims and Pilgrim Fathers, as
1 Plymouth Colony Records, in. Ill, 123, 167, xi. 101, 121. Mr. Scott can
acquit the PUgrim Fathers of persecuting the Quakers only by strictly limiting
that term to the Mayflower passengers (see p. 377, above) and then by killing;
them off before some of them actuaUy died. "In 1656," he says, "every leaderjof
that party, whose name history has recorded, was in his grave" (p. 34), includ
ing Governor Bradford. As a matter of fact Bradford did not die until May 9,
1657. The first legislation against the Quakers was at a Court of Assistants on
February 3, 1657, at which Bradford was himself present as Governor. At
that time John Alden was Treasurer and also an Assistant, and John Cooke and
John Howland were Deputies: hence four of the Mayflower passengers were
concerned in the earUest legislation against the Quakers. It is not of course my
intention to dispute the generaUy accepted view that the sway of Plymouth was
mflder and more tolerant than was that of Massachusetts, but clearly some of
Mr. Scott's statements are open to criticism. The popular notion as to the
treatment of the Quakers by the Plymouth Colony is singularly at fault. Thus
in 1870 Emerson said: "It is the honorable distinction of that first colony of
Plymouth, of the Pflgrims, not of the Puritans, that they did not persecute;
that those same persons who were driven out of Massachusetts then were re
ceived in Plymouth. They did not banish the Quakers" (in New England So
ciety Orations, U. 388). As a matter of fact, Quakers in the Plymouth Colony
were not only, as stated in the text, apprehended, banished, and disfranchized,
but were imprisoned, sent to the house of correction, put in stocks or cage,
whipped, fined for attending their meetings, and others were fined for harboring
or encouragmg them, etc. (See Plymouth Colony Records, vols, iu, xi.)
2 An instance may be given. "I think the first Puritans," wrote the Rev.
Thomas Robbins on February 5, 1807, "discovered something of a separatical
spirit" (Diary, i. 316). To this remark, the Rev. I. N. Tarbox, who edited the
Diary, appends this note:
The Pflgrims who came to Plymouth in 1620 were open and avowed Separa
tists. Mr. Robbins seems to imply that some of the Puritans who came to the
Massachusetts Bay m 1629 and 1630 had something of the same idea, though they
disowned the name of Separatists. He grounds his remark probably on what
took place at Salem in 1629, in the organization of the first church in the Massa- i
chusetts Bay.
Robbins's remark stands by itself, without context. So obsessed was Dr. Tarbox
with the notion that the word Pflgrims could be appUed only to the early Plym-^

384 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec
used m American history, were unknown until the closing years of
the eighteenth century.'
BiBUOGRAPHY OF THE PLYMOUTH DISCOURSES
List A, a chronological list, gives the year, the day of the month,
the day of the week, the name of the body by whom the celebration
was held, and the name of the speaker (if there was one) down to
1820; but after 1820 it includes only the celebrations at which were
dehvered discourses afterwards printed. List B is an alphabetical
list of speakers with titles of the discourses printed, or, if a discourse
was not printed, the year in which it was delivered.^ Also, down to

outh settlers, whUe the word Puritans could mean only the early Massachusetts
settlers, that, finding Robbins using the word Puritans, he inferred that Robbins
must refer to the early Massachusetts settlers. Had he consulted Robbins's
Historical View of the First Planters of New-England, pubUshed in 1815, he
would have seen that Robbins frequently speaks of the early Plymouth settlers
as Puritans; and that the distinction between the Pflgrims and the Puritans,
upon which he himself insisted so strongly (see p. 380, above), was quite un
known to Robbins. It is possible that when he made his remark, Robbins had
in mind the early Massachusetts settlers; but it is far more probable that by
"the first Puritans" he meant those who preceded both the Plymouth and the
Massachusetts settlers.
An amusing episode, thoroughly characteristic of Boston, occurred in 1907,
when certain persons petitioned for the incorporation of the Pflgrim Trust
Company of Boston. Objection to the name was raised by the counsel for the
Puritan Trust Company, a distinguished citizen of Massachusetts, who said:
"The name 'Puritan Trust Company' is valuable. There is a confusion in the
pubhc mind as to the Puritans and PUgrims, and there would be sure to be
confusion if there were two trust companies bearing such similar designations.
The Pflgrims were a tolerant people who were not addicted to the burning of
witches." To this the opposing counsel rephed, "But the Puritans have been
out of the witch burning business for some time." The persistency with which
the erroneous notion that persons were burned in Massachusetts for witchcraft
is adhered to and repeated by those who ought to know better, is extraordinary.
(See the Boston Evening Transcript of July 31, 1907, p. 1/6).
' The expressions " Pflgrim martyr," referring to John Penry, who was
executed in 1593; "Pilgrim church," meaning Robinson's church at Scrooby,
England, afterwards removed to Amsterdam and then to Leyden ; " Pflgrim
press," in aUusion to the press managed by Brewster and Brewer at Leyden ;
and other similar expressions are convenient and are now in frequent use, but
are hable to misinterpretation unless the fact stated in the text is kept
constantly in mind.
" For the sake of completeness, list B includes the titles not only of aU printed
discourses, but also of the volumes containing the proceedings at various cele-

1914]

THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS

385

1820, the place of residence of the speaker is given. An asterisk (*)
denotes that a discourse was printed separately at the time. A
dagger (f) denotes that a discourse was printed (in whole or in part)
at a later time.' A
Chbonological List of Celebbations

1769

Dec.

22

Fr

Old Colony Club

1770t

24

Mo

It U it

E. Winslow, Jr.

1771

23

Mo

It It tt

1772
22
Tu
tt 11 il
Rev. C. Robbins
1773*
22
We
it 11 it
Rev. C. Turner
1774*
22
Th
Town of Plymouth
Rev. G. Hitchcock
1775*
22
Fr
it tt it
Rev. S. Baldwin
1776*
23
Mo
il it it
Rev. S. Conant
1777*
22
Mo
It ii il
Rev. S. West
1778
22
Tu
it It a
Rev. T. Hflfiard
1779
22
We
it tt it
Rev. W. Shaw
1780
22
Fr
it il 11
Rev. J. Moore
1781-1792
No celebration
1793*
Dec.
22
Su
Town of Plymouth
Rev. C. Robbins
1794
il
22
Mo
Private celebration
1795-1796
No celebration or private
1797
Dec.
22
Fr
Private celebration
1798
((
22
Sa
a a
Dr. Z. Bartlett
1799
No celebration
1800 1
Dec.
22
Mo
Town of Plymouth
J. Davis
1801*
22
Tu
it it it
Rev. J. AUyn
1802*
22
We
it it It
J. Q. Adams
1802*
22
We
Third Church
Rev. A. Judson
1803 1
22
Th
Town of Plymouth
Rev. J. T. Kirkland
1803*
22
Th
Rev. J. Strong
brations — those held on August 1 in commemoration of the embarkation from
Delft Haven as well as those on Forefathers' Day; and Ukewise of the Report,
pubUshed in 1850, relating to the correct date of Forefathers' Day.
' Lists have been printed in Harris's Discourse (1808), p. 32; in Webster's
Discourse (1821), pp. 103-104; m Thacher's History of the Town of Plymouth,
pp. 369-371 of the 1832 edition, pp. 339-340 of the 1835 edition; in W. S. Rus
seU's Guide to Plymouth (1846), pp. 280-283; and in W. T. Davis's Plymouth
Town Records (1903), Ui. 457-458; and cf. SuUivan's Discourse (1830), p. 42.
None of these Usts, however, is either complete or whoUy accurate. The present
hsts owe what completeness and accuracy they may have largely to our asso
ciate Mr. Arthur Lord, who owns a complete set of the printed discourses and
has furnished several titles that otherwise would have escaped me. I am also
indebted to Mr. Lord for information derived from the records of the Pilgrim
Society (p. 320 note 2, above).
It is curious that the word Pflgrims first occurs in these titles in 1826 (R. S.
Storrs), and the term Pflgrim Fathers in 1828 (S. Green).
386

THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Dec

1804*

Dec.

21

Fr

Town of Plymouth

A. Bradford

1805

22

Su

Rev. J. KendaU i

1806*

22

Mo

Town of Plymouth

Rev. A. Holmes

1806*

22
Mo
Second Church
Rev. S. Stetson
1807
22
Tu
Town of Plymouth
Rev. J. Freeman
1808*
22
Th
it it a
Rev. T. M. Harris
1809*
22
Fr
tt It tt
Rev. A. Abbot
1810
No celebration
1811
Dec.
22
Su
Town of Plymouth
Rev. J. EUot
1812-1814
No celebration
1815*
Dec.
22
Fr
Town of Plymouth
Rev. J. Flint
1816t
C(
22
Su
First Church
Rev. E. S. Goodwin
1817
ii
22
Mo
Town of Plymouth
Rev. H. HoUey
1818
"
22
Tu
il 11 It
W. Davis
1819
Ii
22
We
Pflgrim Society
F. C. Gray
1820*
ii
22
Fr
(( a
D. Webster
1821*
il
23
Su
Third Church
Rev. W. T. Torrey
1824*
it
22
We
PUgrim Society
E. Everett
1826*
ii
22
Fr
Third Church
Rev. R. S. Storrs
1827*
"
22
Sa
It it
Rev. L. Beeoher
1828*
a
22 2
Mo
Rev. S. Green
1829*
a
22
Tu
PUgrim Society
W. SuUivan
1830*
fl
22
We
Pflgrim Association '
Rev. B. B. Wisner
1831*
a
22
Th
it it
Rev. J. Codman
1831*
it
22
Th
Robinson Congregation
Rev. A. Cobb *
' It was stated in the last note that the lists hitherto printed have not been
whoUy accurate. All such Usts (except that of W. T. Davis, 1903) state that
Alden Bradford's Sermon was deUvered in 1805. This is an error for 1804, in
v-hich year December 22d feU on Saturday and the celebration took place on
the 21st: see p. 301 note 1, above. All such lists also contain this entry: "1804.
(Lord's day) Rev. Mr. Kendall preached from Heb. xi. 13*," the asterisk de-
r.oting that the sermon was not printed. But it was in 1805 that December
22 fell on Sunday. Clearly, therefore, the previous lists have transposed the dis
courses deUvered in 1804 and 1805.
2 See p. 388 note 2, below.
2 Mr. Lord informs me that the discourses of the Rev. B. B. Wisner in 1830 and
the Rev. J. Codman in 1831 were delivered before the Third Church as well as the
Pilgrim Association, and that the Pilgrim Association was apparently composed
of members of the Third Church, though the Pilgrim Association only is men
tioned in the discourses themselves. This notion is borne out by an entry made
by the Rev. Thomas Robbins on December 22, 1831 :
Anniversary. . . . Attended the exercises in Mr. Kendall's meeting-house.
Mr. Brazier, of Salem, had a very good sermon, excepting its Unitarianism. . . .
Went to Mr. Freeman's and sat av/hile v/ith the PUgrim Association. Mr. Codman
preached today in his meeting-house (Diary, 1887, ii. 247).
The Rev. Frederick Freeman was pastor of the Third Church. The sermon
preached by the Rev. John Brazer in the First Church 7;as not printed.
* See p. 383 note 1, below.
1914]

THE TERM PILGRIJI FATHERS

1832*

Dec.

22

Sa

First Parish

Rev. C. Francis

1S34*

iC

o>->

Mo

PUgrim Society

Rev. G. W. Blagdcn

1S35*

il

OO

Tu

tt il

P. Sprague

IS 16*

ii

o.->

Tu

Rev. M. Hopkins

1S48*

"

22

Fr

Rev. S. M. Worcester

1S31*

*'

0-7

Mo

Pflgrim Society

A. C. Spooner

IS.'iS

Aug.

1

(* It

Various speakers '

1S55*

Dec.

21

Fr

11 it

W. H. Seward

1870*

it

21

We

a ti

R. C. Winthrop

ISSG*

"

19

Su

Fu-st Church

W. Everett

1889

Aug.

1

Pflgrim Society
Various speakers ^
1895*
Dec.
21
Sa
11 it
G. F. Hoar
B
Alphabettcai, List of Speakers and Discourses
Abbot, Rev. Abiel, Beverly. A Discourse delivered at Plymouth December
22, 1809, at the Celebration of the 188th Anniversary of the Landing of our Fore
fathers in that Place. . . . Boston: . . . 1810.
An Account of the Pflgrim Celebration at Plymouth, August 1, 1853, con
taining a Ust of the Decorations in the Town, and correct copies of the Speeches
made at the dinner-table. Revised by the Pflgrim Society. Boston: . . . 1853.'
Adams, John QmNcr, Boston. An Oration, Dehvered at Plymouth, Decem
ber 22, 1802. At the Anniversary Commemoration of the First Landing of our
Ancestors, at that Place. . . . Boston, . . . 1802.
Allyn, Rev. John, Duxbury. A Sermon, dehvered at PUmouth, December
22, 1801, Commemorative of the Pious Ancestry, who first imigrated to that
place, 1620. . . . Boston: . . . 1802.
Baldwin, Rev. Samuel, Hanover. A Sermon, preached at Plymouth, Decem
ber 22, 1775. Being the Anniversary Thanksgiving, in commemoration of the
first landing of the Fathers of New-England, there; anno domini, 1620. . . .
Boston, . . . Mdcclxxvi.
Bartlett, Dr. Zaccheus, Plymouth. 1798.
Beeches, Rev. Ltman. The Memory of our Fathers. A Sermon delivered at
Plymouth, on the Twenty-second of December, 1827. . . . Boston: . . . 1828.
Blagden, Rev. George WAsmNGxoN. Great Principles as.sociated with Plym
outh Rock. An Address dehvered before the Pflgrim Society of Plymouth,
December 22, 1834. . . . Boston: . . . 1835.
Bradford, Alden, Boston. A Sermon dehvered At Plymouth, December 21st,
1804; the Anniversary of the Landing of Our Fathers In December, 1620. . . .
Boston: . . . Jan. 1805.
^ The celebration on August 1, 1853, was to commemorate the embarkation
from DeUt Haven. At least three of the speeches then deUvered were printed
separately: see E. Everett, C. Sumner, R. Yeadon.
^ The celebration of August 1, 1889, was to commemorate the completion of
the National Monument to the Pflgruns at Plymouth.
' Of the speeches deUvered on this occasion, at least three were printed sepa
rately: see E. Everett, C. Sumner, R. Yeadon.
388 THE COLONIAL SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS [Dec.
Cobb, Rev. Alvan. God's Culture of his Vineyard. A Sermon, deUvered at
Plymouth before the Robinson Congregation, on the 22d of December, 1831. . . .
Taunton: . . . 1832.i
Codman, Rev. John. The Faith of the Pflgrims. A Sermon delivered at
Plymouth, on the Twenty-second of December, 1831. . . . Boston: . . . 1832.
Conant, Rev. Sylvester, Middleborough. An Anniversary Sermon preached
at Plymouth, December 23, 1776. In grateful Memory of the first Landing of
our worthy Ancestors in that Place, An. Dom. 1620. . . . Boston, . . . 1777.
Davis, John, Boston. 1800. Extracts are printed in J. Morse and E. Parish,
Compendious History of New England, 1804, pp. 373-378; and in 1 Proceed
ings Massachusetts Historical Society, i. 217, 217 note, 507-510.
Davis, Wendell, Sandwich. 1818.
Ehot, Rev. John, Boston. 1811.
Everett, Edward. An Oration delivered at Plymouth December 22, 1824.
. . . Boston. . . . 1825.
Everett, Edward. Remarks at the Plsmiouth Festival, on the First of
August, 1853, in commemoration of the Embarkation of the Pilgrims. . . .
Boston: . . . 1853. See also An Account, etc., 1853.
Everett, William. Discourse delivered in the First Church of Pl}Tnouth,
Mass. 19 December, 1886 in commemoration of the Pflgrim Fathers. . . .
Boston . . 1887
Flint, Rev. Jambs, Bridgewater. A Discourse deUvered at Plymouth, De-
comber 22, 1815, at the anniversary commemoration of the First Landing of our
Ancestors at that Place. . . . Boston: . . . 1816.
Francis, Rev. Convers. A Discourse delivered at Plymouth, Mass. Dec. 22,
1832, in commemoration of the Landing of the Fathers. . . . Plymouth: . . .
1832. Freeman, Rev. James, Boston. 1807.
Goodwin, Rev. Ezra Shaw, Sandwich. The Providence of God in the Settle
ment of New England. Isaiah Ix. 22. Printed in Sermons, by the late Rev. Ezra
Shaw Goodwin, Pastor of the First Church and Society in Sandwich, Mass. With
aMemou-. Boston: . . . 1834. (Pp. 33-50.)
Gray, Francis Calley, Boston. 1819.
Green, Rev. SjUmuel. A Discourse, delivered at Plymouth, Dec. 20,^ 1828, on
th3 two hundred and eighth anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.
. Boston: . . . 1829.

1 On Dec. 22, 1831, the Rev. Thomas Robbing noted that "A new society has
lately been formed here by the division of Mr. Freeman's" (Diary, ii. 247), and
W. T. Davis states that the Third Church was "the parent of three chfldren,"
one being the "Robinson Church organized in 1830" (Ancient Landmarks of
Plymouth, 1883, pp. 102-103). The half-title of Mr. Cobb's sermon reads: "Rev.
Mr. Cobb's Pflgrim Sermon."
^ The date in the titlerpage is December 20. At the close of his Discourse Mr.
Green says that "The little island on which they kept their first Sabbath, 208
years ago yesterday, still stands as a modest remembrancer of our fathers' piety,"
and adds this note:
A small Island in Plymouth harbor, cafled Clark's Island, seen from the
shore, on which an exploring party landed on Saturday evening, supposing it to

'191^1 THE TERM PILGRm FATHERS 389
H.uiRis, Rev. Thaddeus Mason, Dorchester. A Discourse delivered at
Plymouth, Dec. 22d. 1808, at the Anniversary Commemoration of the Landing
of oiu- Ancestors at that Place. . . . Boston, . . . 1808.
HiLLiARD, Rev. Timothy, Barnstable. 1778.
Hitchcock, Rev. Gad, Pembroke. A Sermon preached at Plymouth Decem
ber 22d, 1774. Being the Anniversary Thanksgiving, in Commemoration of the
first Landing of our New-England Ancestors in that Place, Anno Dom. 1620. . . .
Boston: . . . 1775.
Hoar, George Frisbie. Oration deUvered at Plymouth, December 21, 1895,
at the celebration of the two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the Land-
mg of the PUgrims, . . . A\'ashington, D. C, 1895. See also Proceedings, etc.,
1896. Holley, Rev. Horace, Boston. 1817.
Holmes, Rev. Abiel, Cambridge. A Discourse, dehvered at Plymouth, 22
December, 1806, at the Anniversary Commemoration of the first landing of the
Fathers, A.D. 1620. . . . Cambridge, . . . 1806.
Hopkins, Rev. Mark. A Sermon, dehvered at Plymouth, on the Twenty-
second of December, 1846. . . . Boston: . . . 1847.
Judson, Rev. Adoniram, Plymouth. A Sermon, preached in the New Meet
ing House, Plymouth, December 22, 1802, in Memory of the Landing of our
Ancestors, December 22, 1620. . . . Boston: . . . 1803.
Kendall, Rev. James, Plymouth. 1805.'
KJCRKLAND, Rev. JoHN THORNTON, Boston. 1803. An extract is printed in
J. Morse and E. Parish, Compendious History of New England, 1804, pp. 381-384.^
Moore, Rev. Jonathan, Rochester. 1780.
The Proceedings at the Celebration by the PUgrim Society at Plymouth,
December 21, 1870, of the Two Hundred and Ffltieth Anniversary of the Landing
of the PUgrims. Cambridge: . . . 1871.'
The Proceedings at the Celebration by the Pflgrim Society at Plymouth,
August 1st, 1889 of the completion of the National Monument to the Pflgrims.
Plymouth: . . . 1889.

be the main land. Here they rested on the holy Sabbath, devoting the day to the
worship of God, and on Monday moming came on shore at Pljmiouth. This
discourse was dehvered on Monday, the same day of the week, as wefl as of the
month, on which our fathers landed on the Plymouth rock (p. 36 and note).
It thus appears that Mr. Green's Discourse was dehvered Monday, but in 1828
Monday was December 22; hence the date December 20 in the title-page is a
typographical error for December 22. Mr. Green was mistaken in supposing
that his Discourse was delivered on the same day of the month, though it was the
same day of the week, as that on which the Pflgruns landed, for that day was
Monday, December 21, 1620: see p. 297 note 2, above.
1 Cf. p. 386 note 1, above.
2 In his Discourse (pp. 18-19) of 1848, the Rev. Samuel M. Worcester quoted
"the late amiable and accomplished Dr. Kirkland, in his discourse delivered at
Plymouth, forty-five years since." The passage quoted occurs at p. 383 of the
work cited in the text.
3 The oration delivered in 1870 was separately printed: see R. C. Wmthrop.

390 THE COLOXL'lL society of MASSACHUSETTS [DbC.
The Proceedings at the Celebration by the Pilgrim Society, at Plymouth,
December 21, 1895, of the 27Sth anniversary of the Landing of the Pflgrims.
Plymouth: . . . 1896.'
Report on the Expediency of celebrating in futm'e the Landing of the Pfl
grims, on the Twentyfirst Day of December, instead of the Twentysecond Day
of that Month. By a Committee of the Pflgrim Society. Boston: . . . 1850.^
Robbins, Rev. Chandler, Plymouth. 1772.'
Robbins, Rev. Chandler, Plymouth. A Sermon preached at Plymouth, De
cember 22, 1793; being the anniversary of the landing of our Ancestors in that
place, in 1620. Published at the request of those who heard it, and others; with
some enlargements, and particular anecdotes relating to their sufferings before
they left England; never before published. . . . Boston: . . . 1794.
Seward, William Henry. Oration by WiUiam H. Seward, at Plymouth,
December 21, 1855. Albany: . . . 1856.^
Shaw, Rev. William, Marshfield. 1779.
Spooner, Allen Crocker. Speech of Allen C. Spooner, Esq. before the Pfl
grim Society, at Plymouth, Dec. 22, MDCCCLI, in reply to the toast, "The
Faith of the PUgrims — May it be our Pfllar of Fire, to guide us alfl^e in the
day of prosperity and the night of trial." Boston: . . . [No date]
Sprague, Peleg. An Address deUvered before the Pilgrim Society of
Plymouth, December 22, 1835. Boston: . . . 1836.
Stetson, Rev. Seth, Plymouth. The Substance of a Discourse preached in
the Second Parish, Plymouth, December 22, 1806, in memory of the Landing of
our Forefathers, 22 December, 1620. . . . Boston: . . . 1807.
Storrs, Rev. Richard Salter, Braintree. The Spirit of the PUgrims. A
Sermon Dehvered at Plymouth, December the twenty-second, 1826. . . .
Plymouth: . . . 1827.

1 The oration delivered in 1895 was separately printed: see G. F. Hoar.
2 This title is added for the sake of completeness.
' In his sermon on December 23, 1776, the Rev. S. Conant said: "The most
noted historical facts, relative to the coming over of our fore-fathers, have been
named in the first pubhc Sermon on this occasion, from Psahn bcxviu. 5, 6, 7"
(Anniversary Sermon, 1777, p. 6). In 1815 a writer, referring to Robbins's sermon
of 1772, stated (2 Massachusetts Historical CoUections, in. 176-177) that "This
discourse was prmted at their request" — that is, at the request of the Old
Colony Club. What the Old Colony Club did was to appoint a committee on
January 6, 1773, to "write a letter of thanks to the rev*^ M'' Robbins for his
sermon on the 22d ult., and request a copy thereof." Mr. Robbms took the
matter under consideration, and, having decided to accede to the request, on
February 23, 1773, wrote a letter in which he said, "I now present you a copy of
said sermon, with Uberty to make what use of it you shaU think proper;" and
this letter, "together with the Anniversary sermon in manuscript," was received
by the Club on February 24 (2 Proceedings Massachusetts Historical Society,
ui. 435, 436-437, 439). But the sermon was never printed.
* Seward's Oration was also among the "Documents published by the Repub-
Ucan Association of Washington City," 1856, it being issued in a sLxteen-page
pamphlet without title-page, the heading on p. 1 reading, "Oration by Wflliam
H. Seward, at Plymouth, December 21, 1855"

1914] THE TERM PILGRIM FATHERS 391
Strong, Rev. Jonathan, Randolph. A Sermon, delivered at Plymouth, De
cember 22, 1803, at the Anniversary Commemoration of the First Landing of our
Ancestors at that Place. . . . Boston: . . 1804.
Sullivan, William. A Discourse delivered before the Pilgrim Society, at
Plymouth, on the Twenty Second Day of December, 1829. . . . Boston. . . .
U DCCC XXX.
Sumner, Charles. A Fmger-Pomt from Plymouth Rock. Remarks at the
Pl>Tnouth Festival, on the First of August, 1853. In commemoration of the
Embarkation of the PUgrims. . . . Boston: . . . 1853. See also An Account,
etc., 1853.
Torrey, Rev. William Turner. A Sermon, dehvered in Plymouth, Dec. 23,
1821, on the Lord's Day after the anniversary of the Landing of the Fathers.
. . . Boston: . . . 1822.
Turner, Rev. Charles, Duxbury. A Sermon, preached at Plymouth, De
cember 22d, 1773. Being the Anniversary Thanksgiving, in Commemoration of
the Landmg of the Fathers there, A. D. 1620. . . . Boston: . . . M,DCC,LXXIV.
Webster, Daniel, Boston. A Discourse, deUvered at Plymouth, December
22, 1820. In Commemoration of the first Settlement of New-England. . . .
Boston: . . . 1821.
West, Rev. Samuel, Dartmouth. An Anniversary Sermon, Preached at
PljTnouth, December 22d, 1777. In grateful Memory of the first Landing of
our pious New-England Ancestors In that Place, A.D. 1620. . . . Boston: . . .
[No date, but 1778]
Winslow, Edward, Jr., Pljrmouth. 1771. Printed in 2 Proceedings Massa
chusetts Historical Society, iu. 416-417.
Winthrop, Robert Charles. Oration on the Two Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Landing of the PUgrim Fathers at Plymouth. 21 December,
1870. . . . Boston: . . . 1871. See also Proceedings, etc., 1871.
Wisner, Rev. Benjamin Blydenburg. Influence of Rehgion on Liberty.
A Discourse in commemoration of the Landing of the Pflgrims, deUvered at
Plymouth, December 22, 1830. . . . Boston: . . . 1831.
Worcester, Rev. Samuel Mblancthon. New England's Glory and Crown.
A Discourse, dehvered at Plymouth, Mass., December 22, 1848. . . . Salem: . .
1849.' Yeadon, Richard. Speech of Richard Yeadon, Esq., of Charleston, S. C. at
the Pilgrim Celebration, at Plymouth, Mass., August 1, 1853. Extract from the
Boston Courier, August 5th, 1853. "On the first page we have placed the patri
otic speech of Mr. Yeadon, at the Pflgrim Dinner, at Plynaouth, on the 1st instant,
which speech was complimented by hisses from certain crazy and rabid aboh-
tionists." New-York: . . . 1853. See also Proceedings, etc., 1853.^

' Another edition has this title: "New England's Glory and Crown. A Dis
course, dehvered at Plymouth, Mass., December 22, 1848. . . . Second Edi
tion. Boston: . . . 1849."
2 The comer-stone of the monument erected at Provincetown was laid August
20 1907 (see p. 293, above), and the monument was dedicated August 20, 1910.
The proceedings on both occasions were prmted in a book bearing the foflowing
title: "ThePflgrimsandtheirMonumentByEdmund J. Carpenter, Litt.D. . . .
Elustrated ... New York MCMXI"

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