Mayflower Pilgrim John Carver
First Governor of Plymouth Colony Helped Finance the Venture
Nov 9, 2008
John Carver’s name cannot be found in records of the Leiden separatist community until 1615. We can only guess at his English background and how Plymouth Colony’s first governor assembled the wealth to help finance the venture.
In 1617, Carver became an agent representing the pilgrims in securing a charter and funding to establish a New World colony. He chartered the Mayflower and joined colonists that set sail from Plymouth, England in September, 1620.
On Nov. 11, 1620, aboard the anchored Mayflower within sight of New England's coast, Carver signed the Mayflower Compact and was elected governor.
John Carver and wife Catherine left no surviving children. John died in the spring of 1621 and Catherine shortly thereafter. So it was that a man who played such a vital role in establishment of the Plymouth Colony never lived to see the fruits of his labor and left no kin to enjoy the religious freedom so meaningful to the Carvers.
Records Describe Carver’s Role
Betrothal records of the Leiden (Leyden) separatist community, in which Carver was a deacon, show him and Catherine (surname unknown) participating in wedding ceremonies between 1615 and 1618.
Beginning in 1617, Carver’s name—along with those of Robert Cushman, William Brewster and John Robinson, pastor—appears in correspondence with English officials as they seek permission to establish a colony in America. Carter and Cushman were authorized by the congregation to act as their agents. At least once Carver went from Holland to England to represent them.
Carver Faces Difficult Negotiations
Necessities of having financial assistance without outside control complicated negotiations with English merchants hoping to profit from a venture they backed.
Writing of this years later, William Bradford cites a letter Cushman sent to Carver, saying “…to speak the truth, there is fallen already amongst us a flat schism, and we are readier to go to dispute than to set forward a voyage.”
Carver and Cushman were at odds on some measures. Carver became disillusioned. On the eve of the Mayflower’s departure, Pastor Robinson wrote to Carver with support and spiritual counsel, reminding Carver how he had always been a comfort to many and that, in return, those congregation members and God would sustain and comfort him.
The Bradford and Edward Winslow journals name Carver as present on the early December expedition to explore the land thereabouts, looking for a settlement location.
Bradford Eulogizes Carver
Carver escaped the sickness that killed many that first winter at Plymouth. He was sowing seed in spring when he suddenly became ill. Carver’s symptoms, described by Bradford, indicate he died of heat stroke.
Bradford eulogizes Carver as being a pious, humble man who cared for the sick, labored to feed the hungry and “being one alsoe of a Considerable estate spent the Maine prte of it in this enterprise.”
When the Fortune arrived in November, 1621, it delivered a letter for Carver, complaining about how long the Mayflower was detained at Plymouth and that it had not returned with cargo to be sold. Bradford’s biting return message spoke of the loss of Carver and other brave pilgrims, reminding Weston that he could recover from financial loss, but that the dead Pilgrims had been valuable and could not be recovered by any monetary expenditure.
This series on Mayflower pilgrims also includes articles about John Howland, John Billington and Mary (Chilton) Winslow.
SOURCES: Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647, by William Bradford, edited by Samuel Eliot Morison (New York: 1991); Mourt’s Relation (Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth), from journals of pilgrims William Bradford and Edward Winslow, edited by Jordan D. Fiore (1985: Plymouth); History of the Plymouth Church, 1620-1680, by William Bradford and Nathaniel Morton; Pilgrim Hall Museum website.
 |
 |
 |
