| Notes |
- Stephen was literally a shipwrecked survivor stranded on Bermuda when their ship bound for early Jamestown wrecked after 5 days of heavy storms. By 1610, these men had built 2 boats that got them to Jamestown in 11 days time. The accounts that came from this experience back to England supposedly inspired Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest, about the shipwrecked "Stephnos".
Stephen spent 4 years in the Jamestown colony contributing his skills as a tanner and elsewise where he learned much about the native tribes including some of their language.
He was recalled to England when his wife died unexpectedly leaving their 3 small children orphaned in 2013. He received word of this in 2014.
Apparently the new world had gotten under his skin. When he heard about the Mayflower signing up persons to go to the Virginia Colony in 1820, he signed up himself and his family with another wife, Elizabeth. They were the only family on the ship that was not of Puritan background. He is the only person on it with previous experience in the new world.
The Mayflower could not get into Virginia due to weather and landed on what became known as Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Stephen had expressed the idea back in Bermuda, that the survivors were no longer under contract with the company that shipped them to Jamestown since they did not arrive safely there as promised. He talked about self-governing and brought new ideas to the world having to do with his understanding of Democracy. He was sentenced to death by the Governor of Jamestown whom was also on this stranded ship. His life was spared at the last moment because of those other men who spoke up on his behalf.
Naturally though, when the Mayflower did not make it to Virginia, he influenced the writing of the Mayflower Compact which basically professed the same thing. These ideas starting showing up in other major documents including our Declaration of Independence and Constitution written a century and a half later.
He proved invaluable to the fledgling government. He was an aide to the Governor of Plymouth and key figures like Myles Standish and Edward Winslow. He was the "ambassador" to the Native tribes and meetings with them would take place at his home.
We descend from his daughter Constance. She came with her father at about age 14. She had a long life, marriage and 12 children.
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1581 - 1644 (63 years)
