We've been whining these past few months about being stuck at home. And yet we have our entire house, running water, probably too much food, TV, books and Internet. We might compare our current "journey" to the 66-day voyage of the Mayflower and count ourselves much luckier.
Some 102 passengers spent most of their time in an area 60-feet by 12-feet. Think of this; how big is your living room? Your house? And with your ENTIRE family it still wouldn't be 102 folks. The ship was 100-feet by 25-feet but there was cargo, ship stores, crew quarters, etc. The pilgrims were squeezed into a small area, "a wooden bathtub with masts," one source said.
Of course they drank beer; each passenger was allotted one gallon per day. The water was buggy, filthy and undrinkable. Think how much space was needed for all those people for all those days.
Jerri McCoy, historian for the Washington State chapter of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, shared a super presentation with EWGS for our September program (via ZOOM). She reminded us that "today, some 35,000,000 people can trace their lineage back to a Mayflower passenger."
Those were some H-A-R-D-Y people. After the first winter, when 45 of them died, the surviving 57 souls created a legacy beyond belief. At least to me. (I'm a x8 Mayflower descendant.)
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