Plymouth, Massachusetts

We drove to Plymouth today and decided to learn a little about it on the way.

Brent read about a chair that was in the museum that belonged to a prominant citizen of Plymouth named William Brewster. We then looked on our Family History files to see which ancestors lived in Plymouth. Guess what? William Brewster was in Brent's family line.

I said I wanted to be related to him so the chair meant something to me too, so Brent looked that up. You guessed it...he is in my line as well. We saw quite a few artifacts including the chair, a big wooden trunk, a bed warmer, a book and a reed light holder, in the Plymouth Hall Museum. After travelling on the Mayflower and landing in Plymouth, William Brewster became the senior Elder of the colony, acting as their religious leader and advisor to Govenor William Bradford.

The Mayflower II, a replica of the original was smaller than I thought. There were about 100 people on that ship for about 69 days.

Close by is what's left of Plymouth Rock. The area around it is under construction right now as they are building a grand monument over it.

Next, it was off to find "Brewster Gardens". It is a beautiful little park with a small river running through it where the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to fish for herring.

There is a nice plaque honoring Elder William Brewster with a wonderful message written about him by Governor William Bradford.

"Their Reve'd Elder, Mr. William Brewstser; a man that had done and suffered much for ye Lord Jesus and ye gospells sake...he was qualified above many; he was wise and descreete and well spoken...of a very cherfull spirite...under vallewing himself and his owne abilities."

The Brewsters were buried in the Old Burial Grounds, but the markers are long gone.

There is also a street named after him, and a plaque and memorial outside the Old Post Office where his home once stood. The street where his home stood is now known as the oldest street in N. America.

You can now stand proud with his other "notable" relatives including Cokie Roberts, Katherine Hepburn, Bing Crosby, Julia Child, Richard Gere, Nelson Rockefeller, Norman Rockwell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Chevy Chase, Ted Danson, Brent Bowman, and Ronda Lee Bowman.