Chapter II: Part 2

“New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill stretching east toward the sea coast, with a broad street about a cannon shot of eight hundred (yards) long, leading down the hill, with a (street) crossing in the middle northwards to the rivulet and southwards to the land.[1] The houses are constructed of hewn planks, with gardens also enclosed behind and at the sides with hewn planks, so that their houses and court-yards are arranged in very good order, with a stockade against a sudden attack; and at the ends of the street are three wooden gates. In the centre, on the cross street, stands the Governor’s house, before which is a square enclosure, upon which four patereros (steen-stucken) are mounted, so as to flank along the streets. Upon the hill they have a large square house, with a flat roof, made of thick sawn planks, stayed with oak beams, upon the top of which they have six cannons, which shoot iron balls of four and five pounds, and command the surrounding country.”

[1]An error in statement of the points of the compass is here evident.
It should be “southwards to the rivulet and northwards to the land.”

Town Square

Above Main and Market streets we enter Town Square, shaded by its noble elms, planted in 1784. On the corner of Main Street, a large building was built in 1875 by Mayflower Lodge I. O. O. F., covering the spot on which stood the house of William Bradford, so many years, the Pilgrim governor. It was burned January 10, 1904, and the “Governor Bradford Building,” a handsome brick structure with stores and offices took its place. A bronze tablet calls attention to the locality.

Above this is the Congregational Church, known as the “Church of the Pilgrimage.”

The present building was erected in 1840, and stands very near the site of the First Meeting-house in Plymouth, built in 1638. A tablet on the front of the church bears the following inscription:—

This tablet is inscribed in grateful memory of the Pilgrims and of
their successors who, at the time of the Unitarian controversy in
1801, adhered to the belief of the Fathers, and on the basis of the
original creed and covenant perpetuated, at great sacrifice, in the
Church of the Pilgrimage, the evangelical faith and fellowship of the
Church of Scrooby, Leyden, and the “Mayflower,” organized in England
in 1606.

Opposite is an old building, now the Town House, on which is a historical bronze tablet. It was built in 1749 as a court house, the town contributing a part of the cost for the privilege of using it. When the new court house was built, in 1820, this old colonial building was purchased by the town and in it most of the town officers are located, also public sanitary conveniences. At the head of the square is the First Parish Church, the original church of the Pilgrims.

The first “Meeting-house,” as the Pilgrims called church edifices, to distinguish them from houses of worship of the established church, has been proved, by the investigations of Mr. W. T. Davis, to have stood on the north side of the square, near the spot occupied by the present Governor Bradford building. Of this we know but little, except that it was erected in 1638, (the Forefathers before that time worshipping in the fort on the hill), and had a bell. In 1683 a new building was erected, not on the same lot, but farther out at the head of the square. This was forty-five by forty feet, sixteen feet in the walls, had a Gothic roof, diamond window glass and a bell.

In 1744, still another church was built on or near the same site. This remained until 1830, when a Gothic edifice was erected. This stood farther up the hill than the previous one, and was destroyed by fire Nov. 22, 1892. The present stone building was completed and dedicated on December 21, 1899, and has on its front, tablets designating it as the first church. Its entrance portal is a fine reproduction of the arched doorway of the old church at Austerfield, England, in which Gov. Bradford was christened.

Burial Hill

“The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest;
When Summer’s throned on high,
And the world’s warm breast is in verdure dressed,
Go, stand on the hill where they lie.”

Beyond and above Town Square stretches the verdant slope consecrated from the earliest years of the colony as a place of sepulture. Here repose the ashes of those who survived the first winter. “In one field a great hill, on which we point to make a platform and plant our ordnance, which will command all round about. From thence we may see into the bay and far into the sea.” Marble tablets mark the location of the Old Fort and Watch Tower, while numerous stones and monuments, which can easily be deciphered, point out resting places of Pilgrims and descendants.

The marble obelisk in memory of Gov. William Bradford, the second governor, with its Hebrew text, now difficult to decipher, but translated by good authority to read: “Let the right hand of the Lord awake,” together with a Latin inscription, freely rendered: “Do not basely relinquish what the Fathers with difficulty attained,” erected in 1825, is near to us, and around it are numerous stones, marking the graves of his descendants. On the south side of the Governor’s obelisk is inscribed:

H I William Bradford of Austerfield Yorkshire England. Was the son of
William and Alice Bradford, He was Governor of Plymouth Colony from
1621 to 1633 1635 1637 1639 to 1643 1645 to 1657

On the north side:

Under this stone rest the ashes of William Bradford a zealous Puritan
& sincere Christian Gov. of Ply. Col. from 1621 to 1657, (the year he
died) aged 69, except 5 yrs, which he declined.

A little back, on a path to the rear entrance to the hill is the oldest stone in the cemetery. It must be remembered that for many years the colonists had far other cares, and many other uses for their little savings, than to provide stones to mark their graves. These had to be imported from England at much cost, and consequently it was some years before any were able to afford the expense. The oldest stone is that to the memory of Edward Gray, 1681. Mr. Gray was a merchant, and one of the wealthiest men in the colony. Near the head of this path is a stone to William Crowe, 1683-84. Near by is one to Thomas Clark, 1697, erroneously reputed to have been the mate of the “Mayflower,” but who came in the “Ann,” in 1623. Clark’s Island received its name from John Clark, now known to have been the mate of the “Mayflower.” Beside the grave of Thomas Clark is that of his son, Nathaniel, who was one of the councillors of Sir Edward Andros, Governor of New England. Other old stones are those of Mrs. Hannah Clark, 1697; and John Cotton, 1699. These are all the original stones bearing dates in the seventeenth century. There are some with dates of that century which have been erected since, by descendants, including the monument to Governor Bradford, before alluded to: the fine granite shaft to Robert Cushman; and the stone over the remains of John Howland. The inscription on the latter stone reads as follows:—

Here ended the Pilgrimage of JOHN HOWLAND who died February 23, 167
2-3, aged above 80 years. He married Elizabeth daughter of JOHN TILLEY
who came with him in the Mayflower Dec. 1620. From them are descended
a numerous posterity.

“Hee was a godly man and an ancient professor in the wayes of Christ.
Hee was one of the first comers into this land and was the last man
that was left of those that came over in the Shipp called the
Mayflower that lived in Plymouth.”—(Plymouth Records.)

Near the Bradford monument are the graves of his family. The face of the stone at the grave of his son, Major William Bradford, shelled off in 1876-77, but the inscription has since been retraced. The cut following is reproduced from a view taken of the original, and is an exact _facsimile_—

Here lyes ye body of ye honourable Major William Bradford, who expired
Feb’ ye 20th, 1703-4, aged 79 years.

He lived long, but still was doing good,
And in his country’s service lost much blood,
And a life well spent, he’s now at rest,
His very name and memory is blest.

At the grave of another son the headstone reads as follows:

Here lyes interred ye body of Mr. Joseph Bradford, son of the late
Honorable William Bradford, Esq., Governor of Plymouth, Colony, who
departed this life July the 10th, 1715 in the eighty-fifth year of his
age.

The following are some of the inscriptions of the older stones:

Here lyes ye body of Mrs. Hannah Sturtevant, aged about sixty-four
years. Dec. in March, 1708-9.

Here lyes buried the body of Mr. Thomas Faunce, ruling elder of the
First Church of Christ in Plymouth. Deceased Feb’y, 27, 1745, in the
ninety-ninth year of his age.

The fathers—where are they?
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.

(Elder Faunce was the last who held the office of ruling elder in the church. He was contemporary with many of the first comers, and from him comes much of the information we possess about the localities now venerated.)

The epitaphs in old graveyards possess much interest to the lovers of the quaint and curious, and this first cemetery of New England is not without its attraction of that kind. The following are some of the most interesting:—

This stone is erected to the memory of that unbiased judge, faithful
officer, sincere friend, and honest man, Col. Isaac Lothrop who
resigned his life on the 26th day of April, 1750, in the forty-third
year of his age.

Had Virtue’s charms the power to save
Its faithful votaries from the grave,
This stone had ne’er possessed the fame
Of being marked with Lothrop’s name.

A row of stones on the top of the hill, near the marble tablet marking the locality of the Watch Tower, is raised to the memory of the ministers of the First Parish. Back of these is the Judson lot, where the sculptor’s chisel has perpetuated the remembrance of Rev. Adoniram Judson, the celebrated missionary to Burmah, whose body was committed to the keeping of Old Ocean. On the westerly side of the hill is a monument erected by Stephen Gale of Portland, Me:—

To the memory of seventy-two seamen, who perished in Plymouth Harbor,
on the 26th and 27th days of December, 1778, on board the private
armed brig, General Arnold, of twenty guns, James Magee, of Boston,
Commander; sixty of whom were buried in this spot.

About midway on the easterly slope a little to the north of the main path up the hill, on the stone to a child aged one month:—

He glanced into our world to see
A sample of our miserie.

On a stone a little farther north, to the memory of four children, aged respectively thirty-six, twenty-one, seventeen and two years:—

Stop traveller and shed a tear
Upon the fate of children dear.

On the path towards the schoolhouse on a stone to a woman with an infant child by her side:—

Come view the seen, ’twill fill you with surprise,
Behold the loveliest form in nature dies;
At noon she flourished, blooming, fair and gay;
At evening an extended corpse she lay.

Near the entrance to this path is the grave of a Revolutionary soldier, Capt. Jacob Taylor, died 1788:—

Through life he braved her foe, if great or small,
And marched out foremust at his country’s call.

On this path is the grave of Joseph Bartlett, who died in 1703:—

Thousands of years after blest Abel’s fall,
’Twas said of him, being dead he speaketh yet;
From silent grave methinks I hear a call:—
Pray, fellow mortals, don’t your death forget.
You that your eyes cast on this grave,
Know you a dying time must have.

Near the same place is a curious stone, to the memory of John Cotton:—

Here lyes interred three children, viz., three sons of Rev. Mr. John
Cotton, who died in the work of the gospel ministry at
Charlestown, South Carolina, Sept.
ye 18th, 1869, where he had great success, and seven sons of
Josiah Cotton, Esq., who died in their infancy.

On the southerly slope of the hill, near a pine grove, is a stone to a child:—

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set
on edge.

On the stone to the memory of Thomas Jackson, died in 1794:—

The spider’s most attenuated thread
Is cord, is cable, to man’s tender tie.

MARTHA COTTON, 1796.
Many years I lived
Many painful scenes I passed,
Till God at last
Called me home.

In a long lot enclosed with an iron fence:—

F. W. Jackson. obit M. C. H. 23, 1797, 1 yr. 7 dys,

Heav’n knows what man
He might have made. But we
He died a most rare boy.

As young as beautiful; and soft as young,
And gay as soft; and innocent as gay.

A little farther on in this path is the stone to Tabitha Plasket, 1807, the epitaphs, on which, written supposedly by herself, breaths such a spirit of defiance that it attracts much attention:—

Adieu, vain world, I’ve seen enough of thee;
And I am careless what thou say’st of me;
Thy smiles I wish not,
Nor thy frowns I fear,
I am now at rest, my head lies quiet here,

Mrs. Plasket, in her widowhood, taught a private school for small children, at the same time, as was the custom of her day, doing her spinning. Her mode of punishment was to pass skeins of yarn under the arms of the little culprits, and hang them upon pegs. A suspended row was a ludicrous sight.

Mr. Joseph Plasket (husband of Tabitha) died in 1794, at the age of forty-eight years. The widow wrote his epitaph as follows:—

All you that doth behold my stone,
Consider how soon I was gone.
Death does not always warning give,
Therefore be careful how you live.
Repent in time, no time delay,
I in my prime was called away.

Nearly opposite this is one on a very young child:—

The babe that’s caught from womb and breast,
Claim right to sing above the rest,
Because they found the happy shore
They never saw or sought below.

As this path comes out on the brow of the hill, near a white fence, is a stone to Elizabeth Savery, 1831:—

Remember me as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I;
As I am now, so you will be,
Therefore prepare to follow me.

On the path by the fence in the rear of the hill:—

The father and the children dead,
We hope to Heaven their souls have fled.
The widow now alone is left,
Of all her family bereft.
May she now put her trust in God,
To heal the wound made by His rod.

On a stone raised to the memory of a child:—

He listened for a while to hear
Our mortal griefs; then turned his ear
To angel harps and songs, and cried
To join their notes celestial, sigh’d and died.

A little from the path up Burial Hill to the left, just below the tall Cushman monument, a marble tablet designates the spot where the fort of the little colony was situated, quite a portion of its outline still being distinct, particularly at the easterly corner. We can see at once with what sagacity the site was chosen, undoubtedly by Standish. It commanded Leyden Street, and the approaches from the brook over which the Indians came.

Standing here, we have a view of the southern part of the town. The blue heights of Manomet Hills shut in the horizon. Beyond them lies the little hamlet of South Plymouth, a rural village with summer hotels, the Ardmore Inn and Idlewild hotels of considerable celebrity, especially among sportsmen, to which the very spacious and beautiful Mayflower Inn has been added in 1917. On this side is the village of Chiltonville, with its churches and factories. Far down to the shore, near the head of the Beach, is the Hotel Pilgrim. Just south of the hotel are the beautiful level lawns and attractive cozy club-house of the Plymouth Country Club, the golf links being situated on the opposite side of Warren avenue, running over high, clear, breezy fields and commanding a splendid view of ocean and of land. Near lies the southerly portion of the main part of the town, divided by the brook. Across the stream, or pond, just beyond Main Street extension with its bridge built in 1907-8, is the public common, laid out very early as a “Training Green,” the name it bears today. It is an attractive square surrounded with large elm trees, and in its centre stands the monument erected in 1869 to the memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of Plymouth, who gave their lives for the country in the Civil War. Before the Pilgrims came the Green was an Indian cornfield.

Watson’s Hill

Above the Green is Watson’s Hill, now covered with houses. This was the “_Cantauganteest_” of the Indians, one of their favorite resorts where they had their summer camps, and on the level below planted their corn. It is famous as the opening scene of the treaty with Massasoit, made April 1, 1621. Gov. Bradford had a tract of land assigned him here on which to raise corn, and to this day portions of the hill remain in the Bradford name and others of direct descent from him.

The Watch Tower

A little to the north of the site of the old fort another tablet marks the place of the brick watch tower erected in 1643. The locality of this tower is indicated by four stone posts set in the ground to mark its corners. The brick foundations are still there, about a foot below the surface, and the old hearthstone on which the Pilgrims built their watch fires still lies where they placed it, on the southerly side of the enclosure. The location of the tower was discovered many years ago in digging a grave, when the sexton came upon the foundation. The town records of Sept. 23, 1643, have the following entry in regard to it: “It is agreed upon the whole that there shall be a watch house forthwith, built of brick, and that Mr. Grimes will sell us the brick at eleven shillings a thousand.”

This is the first mention of brick in the records of the colony, and it is to be presumed that this marks about the time of the first brickyards. The cause of the tower being built was probably the threatenings of the Indians, which resulted in the Narragansett war.

Still later, in 1676, another fortification was erected on the hill, presumably covering the same area, enclosing a hundred feet square, “with palisadoes ten and one half feet high, and three pieces of ordnance planted on it.” The town agreed with Nathaniel Southworth to build a watch house, “which is to be sixteen feet in length, twelve feet in breadth, and eight feet stud, to be walled with boards, and to have two floors, the upper floor to be six feet above the tower, to batten the walls and make a small pair of stairs in it, the roof to be covered with shingles, and a chimney to be built in it. For the said work he is to have eight pounds, either in money or other pay equivalent.” This being only thirty-two years after the building of the brick tower, it would seem as if the latter could hardly have fallen or been taken down, and it is possible if not probable, that the wooden watch tower was built upon the old brick one; but of this we can only conjecture. This was in the period of King Philip’s war in 1675. From here might have been seen the blaze of the houses of Eel River (now Chiltonville), and the terrible warwhoop almost heard as the savages burst upon the little hamlet near Bramhall’s corner on that peaceful Sabbath in March, 1676, when they left eleven dead bodies of women and children and smoking ruins to mark their savage onslaught.

The Harbor

We have, from the easterly brow of Burial Hill, a beautiful picture of the harbor and its surroundings. Below us the ground slopes to the water, cut into terrace below terrace, with the buildings upon them. At its foot are the wharves and harbor, and below it the Beach near which the “Mayflower” swung at her anchors. Manomet is the range of misty blue hills stretching into the bay on the right. Kingston and Duxbury, with Captain’s Hill are on the left, and far out Clark’s Island, Saquish, and the Gurnet, with the thin, sandy strip of beach joining the latter headlands. On the Gurnet is Fort Andrew, and at Saquish is Fort Standish, both earthworks, built by the Government during the Civil war of 1861-65, but now dismantled and unused. These sites are the property of the United States. The Gurnet, it is said, takes its name from a somewhat similar promontory in the English channel, near Plymouth, England. On it are located a United States life-saving station, twin lighthouses and a Dabol trumpet fog signal. A whistling buoy at the entrance of the harbor, opposite the Gurnet, gives warning in thick weather, of the dangerous Brown’s Island shoal. Saquish is an Indian word signifying an abundance of clams. Clark’s Island was named from the mate of the “Mayflower,” who commanded the shallop on the expedition when the island was discovered.

The following statistics were furnished by Capt. A. M. Harrison from the United States Survey of 1853-57: From the shore end of Long Wharf, in a straight line, to Gurnet Light, the distance is four and seven-sixteenths statute miles, or, three and seven-eighths nautical miles. The length of Plymouth Beach, from the foot of Manomet Hills to the beacon on extreme point, is three and five-sixteenths statute miles, or two and seven-eights nautical miles. The length of the Beach from its junction with the mainland to the beacon, is two and five-eighths statute miles, or two and one-fourth nautical miles.

Voyage of the Mayflower Shallop

From Burial Hill we can overlook the whole course of that boat expedition which started on its voyage of discovery from the “Mayflower” in Provincetown Harbor, directly opposite us across the bay. Coasting along the inside of Cape Cod at the right, its sandy shore hidden by distance from our sight, some of the exploring party on foot, forcing their way through the tangled wilderness, sometimes wading in half frozen water through the surf or across brooks, they slowly make their way. Constantly on the alert, and two or three times attacked and beating off their assailants, the shallop now with all the party aboard nears Manomet point. It begins to snow and rain and the wind to blow and the seas to rise. Now the hinge of the rudder breaks, and oars are got out to steer with. Master Coppin, the pilot, bids them to be of good cheer, for he sees the harbor which he had promised them.

Across the bay they drive, keeping on a press of sail to make the desired harbor before nightfall when crash goes the mast, broken into three pieces, and the shallop is near being wrecked. Now the flood-tide takes them and bears them in past the Gurnet nose, and Master Coppin, finding himself in a strange place that he had never seen before, throws up his hands and exclaims: “The Lord be merciful to us, I never saw this place before,” and in his terror would have run the boat on shore, “in a cove full of breakers,” between the Gurnet and Saquish; “but a lusty seaman which steered bade those that rowed, if they were men, about with her, or else they were all cast away.” The short twilight of the winter day had faded into darkness, as the storm-tossed and dispirited company found themselves “under the lee of a small island.” There it is before us, the third highland to the left—the first being the Gurnet and the second Saquish. They landed, and kept their watch that night in a rain. Gov. Bradford, in his history, gives us a few more particulars: “In the morning they find the place to be a small island secure from Indians. And this being the last day of the week, they here dry their stuff, fix their pieces, rest themselves, return God thanks for their many deliverances and here the next day keep their Christian Sabbath.” Tradition says that from a large rock with a flat top that is there now, bearing the inscription, “On the Sabbath day we rested,” the first prayer ascended on this shore; and there, for the first time in New England, praise and thanks were given to that watchful Providence that had guided and guarded them. The next day, Monday, they sailed up to the shore below us, and, stepping on Plymouth Rock, made the exploration which ultimately determined them to fix upon this place for their plantation.

Morton Park

One of the most attractive spots in old Plymouth and one that the casual visitor does not always see, is Morton Park. Lying a little more than a mile from the town centre it makes a convenient pleasure-ground for Plymouth people, and the beauty of the place is such as to attract all lovers of woodland scenery. Nature has done her most to make the park charming, and man has very wisely made little attempt to improve it. Nearly 200 acres there are, consisting of deep woods and open country, hills and valleys, brooks and ponds.

The park nearly surrounds Little Pond, consisting of forty acres, and borders for a mile on the historic Billington Sea, which has 308 acres. Roads and paths have been laid out in romantic situations, and some trees planted, but otherwise the wild woodland cleared of underbrush remains in its natural state. In 1889 the land was given to the town by several public-spirited citizens, and the park was named for Nathaniel Morton, Esq., one of its principal donors, who during his life made it his special pride, and gave his money generously for its improvement.

Town Brook

“And there is a very sweet brooke runnes under the hillside, and many
delicate springs of as good water as can be drunke.”
GOV. BRADFORD.

At the foot of Burial Hill, on the south side, the Town Brook flows through the centre of the town, “vexed in all its seaward course by bridges, dams and mills.” Along the banks the Pilgrims erected their first dwelling-houses and brought water from “the very sweet brooke” below, into which the “many delicate springs” still continue to run.

It is a favorite resort for artists who delight in sketching the picturesque scenery and ancient architecture. One of these springs of deliciously clear cold water, is forced up from near the brook by electric power, and runs out in a fountain at the corner of Leyden and Main Streets, on land once owned by Elder Brewster as previously noted. During the summer many thousands are here refreshed, and while citizens much enjoy the cooling draughts, visitors highly commend the public provision which enables them to partake of the waters of a spring, from which the Pilgrims themselves daily obtained their supply “of as good water as can be drunke.”

The stream proceeds from Billington Sea about two miles distant from the town. It furnishes a valuable water power at the present, and in the days of the Pilgrims, and for nearly two centuries after, it abounded with alewives almost at their doors, affording an important resource for the supply of their wants. The tide flowed for some distance up this stream and formed a convenient basin for the reception and safe shelter of the shallops and other vessels employed in their earlier enterprises of fishing and traffic. Under authority of a Legislative act the Town of Plymouth purchased this estuary in 1909 that the area and surrounding may be subject to public improvements. From Watson’s Hill, over this brook, where Market Street crosses it, came the great sachem Massasoit, with twenty of his braves, on a visit to the Pilgrims, when was concluded that treaty April 1, 1621, which during nearly fifty-five years conduced so effectually to the safety and permanence of the colony.

Old Houses

Plymouth contains many old buildings antedating the Revolution, but they have been repaired and modernized so that they do not have that appearance at present, and visitors are often disappointed in not finding the antique structures which they expected. Old people, now living, can remember when several of these buildings had “Dutch ovens” and chimneys built on the outside.

Old houses still remaining are the Kendall Holmes house on Winter street, built in 1666; the Leach house, on Summer Street, built in 1679; the Howland house, 1666; the Shurtleff house, 1698; the Crowe house, 1664; and the William Harlow house, built in 1677, partly of the material of the old fort on Burial Hill. The Howland descendants recently purchased the old homestead on Sandwich street, and in the spring of 1913, put it in complete repair, designing it as a place of annual meeting, and for public visitation in the summer season. The Cole blacksmith shop, 1684, which composed part of a building at the corner of Leyden and Main streets, and was regarded with much interest by visitors, was badly damaged by fire April 16, 1913, and has been replaced by a very handsome store building. It is a coincidence that this old smithy which the Pilgrims knew on the first Pilgrim street, should have burned on the anniversary of the day the “Mayflower” sailed on her return voyage, after passing the winter here in Plymouth harbor.

The Winslow house on North Street is a good example of the colonial style of architecture. It was built about 1754 by Edward Winslow, who was a great-grandson of Gov. Winslow, of the colony. He purchased the land from Consider, a grandson of John Howland, who was one of the “Mayflower” passengers. Additions have recently been made to the house which is now owned and occupied by Mrs. C. L. Willoughby. In this house then owned by her father, Charles Jackson, Miss Lydia Jackson was married to the famed scholar and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Sergeant William Harlow House was built in 1677 of timbers from the fort on Burial Hill, which was taken down at the close of the King Phillip War. It has recently been purchased by the Plymouth Antiquarian Society and is now open to the public.

On the corner of Main and North Streets, built in 1730, still stands the house of General John Winslow, who removed the Acadians from Nova Scotia. This was also the home of James Warren, President of the Provincial Congress.

The Town

By the State census of 1920 the population of Plymouth was 13,032. The total valuation in 1920 was $20,854,025, of which $15,573,175 was real estate, and $5,280,850 personal. The number of polls assessed was 3,523 and the acres of land assessed 50,269. Tax rate, $22.80 on $1,000. The funded debt January 1, 1920, was $188,533 of which amount $42,933 was water debt, leaving but $145,600 funded for other purposes. This is extremely moderate in comparison with the value of the town’s municipal property and assets, which are net aggregated.

Few towns are better provided with city conveniences. A system of public works, introduced in 1855, supplies the inhabitants with pure water from the great ponds that lie in the woods a few miles south of the town. Excellent drainage is secured by an extensive system of sewers, the main outlets discharging in deep water of the harbor 1500 feet from the shore. The main thoroughfares are lighted by electricity, and both electricity and gas are in use for illuminants in public buildings, stores, factories and dwellings. Court Street and Main Street, from the N. Y., N. H. & H. railroad station to the head of Water Street, comprise the “Great Whiteway” system of arc lighting from underground wires, with very satisfactory results. These lights were turned on in the evening of March 1st, 1916, the occasion having been made an impromptu celebration, in which several thousands of citizens of Plymouth and neighboring towns took part. Electric street railways furnish connection with the adjacent towns, and are a source of much pleasure in summer for trolley trips to the beaches, hotels, and suburbs.

The town has a public library incorporated in 1880, containing nearly 16,000 volumes and a valuable collection of 4,000 large photographs from the finest art subjects in European galleries. Its schools rank among the best in the State, and its high-school building, erected in 1891 at a cost of forty thousand dollars, and enlarged in 1914 at a cost of more than thirty thousand dollars, has accommodation for over three hundred pupils. In its religious denominations holding regular services are represented the Unitarian, Congregational, Baptist, Universalist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal, Advent, German Lutheran, Christian Scientist, Spiritualist, Latter Day Saints and Jewish faiths.

Plymouth has good streets, her principal thoroughfares being macadamized. The sidewalks throughout the centre of the town are concreted. Her stores are kept abreast of the times, and a weekly newspaper, the Old Colony Memorial established May, 1822, chronicles the happenings of local and neighborhood interest.

The town contains five banking institutions,—Old Colony and the Plymouth National banks; the Plymouth, the Plymouth Five Cents and the Plymouth Co-operative savings banks, occupying two fine brick buildings on Main Street. There are six excellent hotels within the town limits, four of them well known as summer resorts. To the credit of the town be it said, that its citizens are so law abiding that only a small but very effective uniformed police force is required, and there is seldom occasion of arrest for any serious offense.

The fire department has a first-class alarm and motor system, and is run in regular city style. The town voted in March, 1916, to reorganize the department under a single Commissioner, and appropriated about $17,000 for new motor apparatus. Of the four “auto” pieces, going into commission in 1917, two are combined chemical and hose; one a powerful three stream pump, hose and ladder combination; and one a first-class ladder truck. This modern outfit, in charge of a chief and permanent force at the Central station, is so quickly effective as to meet emergencies; but two steamers, one ladder truck and a hose wagon of the old department, are kept available in case of need.

The military establishment consists of a fine State armory which cost $30,000 in which the “Standish Guards,” chartered in 1818, have their quarters. The “Guards” were one of the best companies in the dandy Fifth Regiment, and their past history in the Civil and Spanish wars is highly creditable. They were “Minute Men of 1861,” responding under Capt. Charles C. Doten on the first call for troops the morning of April 16, 1861, and with their regiment, then the Third Massachusetts, were the very first of any troops of the war, either National or Volunteer, to go within the rebel lines as they did when on the gunboat “Pawnee” they ran the rebel batteries and destroyed the Norfolk navy yard, and rescued the frigate “Cumberland” on the night of April 20, 1861. In the Spanish war, commanded by Capt. W. C. Butler, they were in camp in the South, but the regiment, the Fifth, was not sent to Cuba, while all the while in instant readiness for active service. Again, June 21, 1916, as company D of the Fifth, they at once responded to the call for state troops to defend the Mexican border, and splendidly maintained their patriotic record, under the command of Capt. Charles H. Robbins,—the Lieut. Col. of the regiment being their former commander, Capt. W. C. Butler. The company returned Oct. 21, 1916 and received a hearty welcome from the townspeople. As part of the National Guard, the company was mustered into the United States service for the European war, Aug. 8, 1917, under command of Capt. A. J. Carr, and with 141 men went into camp at Framingham, Aug. 17, where the 5th and 9th regiments were consolidated and became the 101st U. S. N. G. Infantry, in the 26th Division, embarking for service in Europe, Sept. 7, 1917.

Its Industries

The character of Plymouth’s industrial life has entirely changed within a half century. Within the memory of men now living, the time was when the town boasted a fleet of seventy-five fishermen, and enjoyed prestige as a fishing port. In common with other seaport towns of New England, this industry has departed, but thriving manufactories have risen in its place and coal barges and steamships are doing business at the port, superseding the old fishing schooners which once crowded the wharves or whitened the harbor with their sails.

Plymouth’s manufacturing industries show great diversity of character, and are exceedingly prosperous. The yearly value of their total product is not far from fifteen million dollars. The great cordage works at North Plymouth are the very largest concern of the kind in the world, employing above 2,000 hands, and have built up a flourishing corporation hamlet in that quarter of the town. Their manufacturing product is over $10,000,000 a year, and their big steamships bringing from Yucatan directly to Plymouth great cargoes of fibre as raw material, give the port, as one of foreign import, rank in Massachusetts over all other ports of the state directly next to Boston. There are three large mills engaged in the production of woolen and worsted cloths, one busy concern making rugs and mats, while three extensive factories keep many of Plymouth’s inhabitants employed in the manufacture of tacks, nails, and rivets. An iron foundry does a large business in stovemaking, and at Chiltonville there is a big branch plant of the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company, under Plymouth management which supports quite a village of its own. Besides these are the manufactories of insulated wire for electrical purposes, zinc and copper, saw gummers and swages, barrels, boxes, kegs and kits, and numerous smaller enterprises. The Plymouth Electric Light and Power Company furnishes current to several of these establishments, besides sending current to Kingston, Duxbury and Marshfield, Middleboro and Carver for domestic and street lighting. It also lights Plymouth, having in its circuits of the several towns, nearly 40 miles of wire. The Cape Cod Canal, on both sides for its entire length, is illuminated by the P. E. L. Co., through a special system of heavy aerial conductors comprising a circuit of about 30 miles.

Plymouth’s manufactured products bear an excellent name in the markets of the world, her cordage and woolen goods being particularly well known as of the very best character.

In 1912 the town granted to Andrew Kerr a large area of the sand flats in the harbor for propagation of clams, proving a good enterprise for the town. The herring fishery, employing many small boats each autumn at the mouth of the harbor, is also a productive industry of many thousands of dollars a season.

Of late years many Plymouth residents have engaged in cranberry culture on an extensive scale, and their ventures have been exceedingly profitable, amounting to about $400,000 yearly. Together with the adjoining town of Carver, which is still more extensively engaged in cranberry raising, the two towns produce more than one-fourth of the cranberries grown in the entire United States. An industry, which is of large proportions, is the raising of brook trout and spawn for the markets.

The recent harbor improvements, and the railroad facilities which will necessarily be increased in 1920, together with the attention being centered on Plymouth in its connection with the approaching Tercentenary Celebration will be likely to attract other manufacturing and business interests to the town, while its residential advantages are so apparent, that its eligible locations are now rapidly being appropriated.

As a Summer Resort

Viewed simply as the landing-place of the Pilgrims, Plymouth has an interest which attaches to no other spot in America. The number of visitors from all parts of the country increases with each year, as historic sentiment becomes more widespread and facilities for travel are multiplied. It is estimated that over 125,000 strangers visit the town in a year. It is not alone on account of its history that Plymouth is attractive to the visitor. The beauty of its scenery, the unusual healthfulness of its air, the purity of its water, the variety of its drives, the number of ponds within its limits, and its unbounded resources for the sportsman and pleasure-seeker, have been more widely recognized with each recurring season. It combines the most interesting features of town and country, and has direct connection with Boston by the Old Colony Railroad built in 1845, and now leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford R. R. Co., also directly with Providence and New York, by the Fall River Line, and the Plymouth & Middleboro Railroad, built by the towns in 1892 and sold to the N. Y., N. H. & H. corporation in 1911. The distance from Boston is thirty-seven miles by rail, with frequent trains; and during the summer months a daily steamer capable of carrying 2,000 passengers is on the route between the two places, the sail being a delightful one.

As a summer resort for health and pleasure, Plymouth has great attractions. Plymouth and the adjoining towns of Kingston and Duxbury nearly encircle a harbor of almost unrivalled beauty, a source of endless pleasure to the summer visitor. There are good sand beaches for surf and smooth-water sea bathing, bath houses being provided by the town. In the bay are opportunities for fine sport in the mackerel season, and a haul of sea-perch, tautog, cod or haddock is always to be had. Plymouth extends over a territory about eighteen miles long, and from five to nine miles wide, and beyond the settled parts of the town is a succession of wooded hills. This large tract is interspersed with hundreds of large and small ponds (or lakes) stocked with fish, furnishing limitless fields for the lover of nature or seeker of pleasure, in walking, riding, fishing, or hunting. Wealthy residents of other places have fine summer seats at the town overlooking the harbor and bay.

The Compact

Signed in the Cabin of the “Mayflower,” Nov. 11th, Old Style, Nov.
21st, New Style, 1620.

“In the name of God, amen, we whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, Franc and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherence of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute and frame such just and equall laws, ordenances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the general good of the colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cap-Codd the 11 of November, in the year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord, King James of England, Franc and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, ANO DOM 1620.”

Members of the Mayflower Company

8 John Carver.
Katherine Carver, his wife.
Desire Minter.
John Howland.
Roger Wilder.
William Latham.
Maid Servant.
Jasper More.
6 William Brewster.
Mary Brewster, his wife.
Love Brewster.
Wrestling Brewster.
Richard More.
His Brother.
5 Edward Winslow.
Elizabeth Winslow, his wife.
George Soule.
Elias Story.
Ellen More.
2 William Bradford.
Dorothy Bradford, his wife.
6 Isaac Allerton.
Mary Allerton, his wife.
Bartholomew Allerton.
Remember Allerton.
Mary Allerton.
John Hooke.
1 Richard Warren.
4 John Billington.
Eleanor Billington, his wife.
John Billington.
Francis Billington.
4 Edward Tilley.
Ann Tilley, his wife.
Henry Sampson.
Humility Cooper.
3 John Tilley.
His wife.
Elizabeth Tilley.
2 Francis Cooke.
John Cooke.
2 Thomas Rogers.
Joseph Rogers.
3 Thomas Tinker.
His wife.
His son.
2 John Rigdale.
Alice Rigdale, his wife.
3 James Chilton.
His wife.
Mary Chilton.
1 Samuel Fuller.
2 John Crackston.
John Crackston, Jr.
2 Miles Standish.
Rose Standish, his Wife.
4 Christopher Martin.
His wife.
Solomon Power.
John Langemore.
5 William Mullins.
Alice Mullins, his wife.
Joseph Mullins.
Robert Carter.
Priscilla Mullins.
6 William White.
Susanna White, his wife.
Resolved White.
Peregrine White.
William Holbeck.
Edward Thompson.
8 Stephen Hopkins.
Elizabeth Hopkins, his wife.
Giles Hopkins.
Constance Hopkins.
Damarius Hopkins.
Oceanus Hopkins.
Edward Doty.
Edward Leister.
3 Edward Fuller.
His wife.
Samuel Fuller.
3 John Turner
His son.
Another son.
3 Francis Eaton.
Sarah Eaton, his wife.
Samuel Eaton.
1 Moses Fletcher.
1 Thomas Williams.
1 Digory Priest.
1 John Goodman.
1 Edmund Margeson.
1 Richard Britteridge.
1 Richard Clarke.
1 Richard Gardner.
1 Gilbert Winslow.
1 Peter Browne.
1 John Alden.
1 Thomas English.
1 John Allerton.
1 William Trevore.
1 —— Ely.
1 William Butten, who died at
sea.

A. S. Burbank _Pilgrim Book and Art Shop_ Plymouth POST CARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, SLIDES

Photographs, 6×8, 35c each, $3.50 dozen.
Post Cards, 2 for 5c, 30c dozen.
Lantern Slides, 50c, $6.00 dozen.

Plymouth Rock.
The Canopy over the Rock.
The Canopy and Harbor from Cole’s Hill.
The Canopy and Cole’s Hill, first burial-place of the Pilgrims.
Plymouth Harbor as seen from Cole’s Hill.
Leyden Street, first street in New England.
Site of the Common House, Leyden Street, first house erected by the
Pilgrims.
Leyden Street in 1622, showing first or Common House, Gov. Bradford’s
House, and the buildings assigned to Brown, Goodman, Brewster,
Billington, Allerton, Cooke, and Winslow.
Town Square, showing Church of the First Parish; Town House, formerly
the Old Colonial Court House, built in 1749; site of Gov.
Bradford’s House.
Old Burial Hill, Entrance.
Site of the Watch Tower, Burial Hill, erected in 1643. View also shows
the lot of Rev. Adoniram Judson the celebrated missionary to
Burmah.
Site of the Old Fort, Burial Hill, built in 1621 as a defense against
the Indians, and also used as a place of worship.
The Old Fort and First Meeting-house, 1621.
Gov. Bradford’s Monument, Burial Hill, showing also the graves of his
family.
Grave of Edward Gray, 1681.
Grave of John Howland, 1672.
Grave of Thomas Clarke. 1697.
Cushman Monument.
Grave of Elder Thomas Cushman.
Grave of Dr. Francis LeBaron, “The Nameless Nobleman.”
Pilgrim Hall.
Interior of Pilgrim Hall, showing Charles Lucy’s famous painting of
the Departure from Delft Haven, also smaller pictures and
relics.

Gov. Carver’s chair; Ancient Spinning Wheel.
Interior of Pilgrim Hall, showing Sargent’s painting of the Landing,
and Weir’s Embarkation, and relics and portraits.
Landing of the Pilgrims, painting by Sargent.
The Departure from Delft Haven, painting by Charles Lucy.
Embarkation of the Pilgrims, painting by Weir.
Landing of the Pilgrims, painting by Charles Lucy.
Landing of the Pilgrims, painting by Gisbert.
Elder Brewster’s Chair; Cradle of Peregrine White, the first Pilgrim
baby.
Sword of Myles Standish; Iron Pot and Pewter Platter, brought by
Standish in the “Mayflower.”
The “Mayflower” in Plymouth Harbor, from painting by W. F. Hallsall,
Pilgrim Hall.
Group of Winslow Relics, Pilgrim Hall.
Group of White Relics, Pilgrim Hall.
National Monument to the Forefathers.
Statue of Freedom, National Monument.
Statue of Law, National Monument.
Statue of Education, National Monument.
Statue of Morality, National Monument.
Treaty with Massasoit, alto-relief on National Monument.
Landing of the Pilgrims, alto-relief on National Monument.
Clark’s Island, where the Pilgrims spent their first Sabbath in
Plymouth.
Pulpit Rock, Clark’s Island, from which the first sermon was preached.
The Gurnet, headland at entrance of harbor.
Along Shore from Atwood’s Wharf.
Duxbury Pier Light.
Gurnet Lights and Keeper’s residence.
Diagram of streets and Historic Points.
North Street.
County Court House and Registry Building.
New County Prison.
Town Brook.
Pilgrim Meersteads along Town Brook.
A Bit of the Upper Town Brook.
View along the Wharves from Stephen’s Point.
Outlet, Billington Sea.
Pilgrim Wharf and Along Shore.
Boot Pond.
Morton Park, Entrance.
Manomet Bluffs.
Rocky Shore, Manomet.
Bathing Beach, Manomet.
Mayflower Inn.
Hotel Pilgrim.
Samoset House.
Plymouth Rock House.
Main Street.
Plymouth Country Club.
Main Street Bridge over Town Brook.
Daniel Webster House, Marshfield.
Plymouth in 1622,—a combination picture, showing Leyden Street, the
Old Fort, Landing from the Shallop, Plymouth Rock and the ship
“Mayflower.”
Gov. Bradford’s House, Plymouth.
Font in Austerfield Church where Gov. Wm. Bradford was baptized.
Austerfield Church.
Birthplace of Gov. William Bradford, Austerfield.
Page of the Register, Austerfield Church, showing record of the
baptism of Gov. William Bradford.
Scrooby Church.
Interior of Scrooby Church.
Scrooby Manor House. Elder William Brewster’s Residence.
Bawtry Church.
High Street, Bawtry.
Site of John Robinson’s House at Leyden.
Church at Leyden where John Robinson was buried.
Memorial Tablet to John Robinson on Church at Leyden.
Old Church at Delft Haven, where the Pilgrims held their last service
before the embarkation.
The Pilgrim Fathers holding their first meeting for public worship in
North America.
“The March of Myles Standish.”

Grave of Myles Standish, Duxbury.
Peregrine White House, Marshfield.
Old Oaken Bucket House, Scituate.
Crow House, built by William Crow, 1664.
Howland House, built by Jacob Mitchell, 1666.
William Harlow House, built of timber from the Old Burial Hill Fort,
by William Harlow, 1677.
Homestead of Gen. John Winslow, 1726.
The Town House, formerly the Old Colonial Court House, built in 1749.
The Winslow House, built in 1754, by Edward Winslow. Colonial
architecture.
Cole’s Blacksmith Shop, 1684.
Statue of Myles Standish.
Myles Standish Monument.
Standish House, Duxbury, built by son of Myles Standish, 1666.
Captain’s Hill, Duxbury, the Home of Myles Standish, showing Standish
House and Monument.
Winslow House, Marshfield, built about 1700.
John Alden House, Duxbury, 1653.
Bradford House, Kingston, 1675.
John Hancock Sofa, Pilgrim Hall.
Memorial Tablet, Gov. William Bradford Estate, Kingston.
Departure from Delft Haven.
Priscilla and John Alden. From painting by George H. Boughton.
“Why don’t you Speak for Yourself, John?”
The Courtship. John Alden and Priscilla. From painting by George H.
Boughton.
Departure of the “Mayflower,” from painting by A. W. Bayes.
Priscilla, from painting by G. H. Boughton.
Pilgrim Exiles, from painting by Boughton.
Pilgrims going to Church, from painting by Boughton.
Two Farewells, from painting by Boughton.
Return of the “Mayflower,” painting by Boughton.
Portrait of Edward Winslow, Governor of Plymouth Colony, one of the
“Mayflower” company. The only authentic portrait of a
“Mayflower” Pilgrim.

PILGRIM LITERATURE

THE PILGRIM REPUBLIC,

By John A. Goodwin. This is a new edition of a book first published in
1888 and long recognized as the standard history of the Pilgrims. By
mail, $7.65.

THE PILGRIMS AND THEIR HISTORY,

By Roland G. Usher, Ph. D. The three hundred ten pages of this book
contain all of the really pertinent information about the Pilgrims and
their history. Illustrated, by mail, $2.65.

THE PILGRIMS IN THEIR THREE HOMES,

England, Holland and America, by W. E. Griffis, illustrated. By mail,
$1.85.

THE PILGRIM FATHERS,

Containing reprints of Morton’s New England Memorial, Cushman’s
Discourse, Winslow’s Relation, and other contemporary narrations, 364
pages, flexible leather, postpaid, $2.60; cloth, $1.10.

IN THE DAYS OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS,

By Mary C. Crawford. The Story of the Plymouth Colony—its settlement
and early days, its events and personalities. By mail, $3.15.

THE WOMEN WHO CAME IN THE MAYFLOWER

And their comrades who came later in The Ann and The Fortune, by Annie
Russell Marble. By mail, $1.60.

WHEN MAYFLOWERS BLOSSOM,

By Albert H. Plumb. A romance of Plymouth’s first years. By mail,
$2.15.

THE FIRST CHURCH IN PLYMOUTH,

A brief history from 1606 to 1901, by John Cuckson, Minister. By mail,
$1.60.

THE ARGONAUTS OF FAITH,

By Basil Mathews. The Pilgrim Story, told in a dramatic way that holds
the interest alike for young people and their elders. Illustrated in
colors. By mail, $1.60.

CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH,

By Tudor Jenks. By mail, $1.90.

THE MAYFLOWER PILGRIMS,

By E. J. Carpenter. By mail, $2.15.

CAPE COD, NEW AND OLD,

By Agnes Edwards, profusely illustrated by Ruyl. Written with genuine
appreciation of the charm of “Old Cape Cod.” By mail, $3.15.

THE OLD COAST ROAD

From Boston to Plymouth. By Agnes Edwards. Illustrated by Ruyl. One of
the most historic roads in the country, passing many quaint old houses
and places connected with New England history. By mail, $3.15.

CAPE COD,

By Henry D. Thoreau. 16 full page illustrations. Traveling on foot
through the Cape, Thoreau missed nothing that was entertaining or
characteristic. By mail, $1.85.

CAPE-CODDITIES,

By Dennis and Marion Chatham. Illustrated. A pleasurable bit of summer
life on Cape Cod outside the usual routine. By mail, $1.45.

CAPE COD BALLADS,

By Joseph C. Lincoln. By mail, $2.15.

CAPE COD AND THE OLD COLONY,

By Albert Perry Brigham with 35 full page illustrations from
photographs and maps. By mail, $3.65.

OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS,