 1566 - 1644 (78 years)
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| Name |
William Brewster |
| Suffix |
Elder |
| Born |
1566 |
Scrooby or Doncaster, Yorkshire England  |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
6B5F4518451541B79C21E552C1623A29F3E1 |
| Died |
10 Apr 1644 |
Plymouth, MA [1] |
| Person ID |
I34 |
Bradley - Post |
| Last Modified |
30 Jul 2013 |
| Family |
Mary Wyrall or Wentworth or Unknown, b. Abt 1569, England , d. 17 Apr 1627, Plymouth, MA (Age ~ 58 years) |
| Married |
Bef 1593 |
England |
| Children |
| | 1. Jonathan Brewster, d. 7 Aug 1659, New London, New London Co, Connecticut |
| | 2. Patience Brewster, b. Abt 1600, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England , d. Bef 12 Dec 1634, Plymouth, MA (Age ~ 34 years) |
| | 3. Fear Brewster, b. Abt 1606, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England , d. Bef 12 Dec 1634, Plymouth, MA (Age ~ 28 years) |
| | 4. Love Brewster, b. Abt 1611, Leyden, South Holland, Netherlands , d. 31 Jan 1650, Duxbury, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts (Age ~ 39 years) |
| | 5. Wrestling Brewster, b. Abt 1614, probably Holland , d. Bef 1644 (Age ~ 29 years) |
|
| Last Modified |
4 Jan 2021 |
| Family ID |
F34 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- After receiving his degree from Cambridge University, he became the private secretary to Sir William Davison, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth. William accompanied Davison on his mission to the Netherlands. Subsequently, he succeeded his father as the Postmaster at Scrooby, an office of high responsibility and influence. He held the post until 1607.
William has been dubbed the leader of the Puritan exodus to New England. He withdrew from the Church, and helped create a Congregationalist society which met Sundays in the drawing room ofhis manor house at Scrooby. In late 1607 or early 1608, William and the Pilgrims went to Amsterdam. They found the English exiles who had earlier arrived there were fiercely involved in doctrinal controversies, and they decided to search further.
They traveled to Leyden in 1609, and remained there for eleven years. William opened a publishing house, primarily for theological works. But the group, now over 300 strong, did not wish to be simply absorbed by another country; the wanted to preserve their English language and traditions. In short, they wished to build a new Christian state. Recognizing that this was nearlyimpossible on the already staked-out Europe, it was decided to go to the Atlantic coast of America.
After several false starts, the Mayflower, with William aboard, set sail for America on September 6, 1620. They arrived in Plymouth, Cape Cod bay, on November 9th. He was the oldest of the Mayflower passengers who celebrated the first Thanksgiving.
William Bradford describes William Brewster thusly:
"he was wise and discreet and well spoken, having a grave and deliberate utterance, of a very cheerful spirit, very sociable and pleasant amongst his friends, of an humble and modest mind, of a peaceable disposition, undervaluing himself and his own abilities...inoffensive and innocent in his live and conversation...he was tender-hearted, and compassionate of such as were in misery, but especially of such as had been of good estate and rank, and were fallen into want and poverty, either for goodness and religion's sake, or by the injury and oppression of others..."
Elder Brewster's biography is as good a place as any to comment on the first Thanksgiving in October, 1621. It was really a unique event; the Pilgrims did not celebrate the next year, or anytime thereafter. The Thanksgiving holiday was not born until President Lincoln declared as such in 1863.
The Indian king Massasoit with about 90 of his men were the guest for three days. They brought five deer to the feast, and four of the Pilgrim men hunted and brought back enough fowl(turkey, geese, pheasant, and other birds) to feed the group for nearly a week. Beer was the primary beverage for everyone, including children [source: The Thanksgiving Primer by the Plimouth Plantation, 1991]
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| Sources |
- [S1] Register of Pedigrees, , p. 986.
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