William Bradford of Plymouth

Copyright by A. S. Burbank, Plymouth, Mass.
BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM BRADFORD. AUSTERFIELD, ENGLAND.

WILLIAM BRADFORD
OF PLYMOUTH


BY

ALBERT H. PLUMB

BOSTON
RICHARD G. BADGERTHE GORHAM PRESS

Copyright, 1920, by Richard G. Badger

All Rights Reserved

Made in the United States of America

The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.

TO ALL DESCENDANTS OF

WILLIAM BRADFORD

AND TO ALL WHO ADMIRE THIS LEADER OF NEW ENGLAND'S FOUNDERS THIS CONCISEAND UNPRETENTIOUS RECORD OF HIS LIFE AND ACTS IS

DEDICATED

IN THE HOPE THAT BY HIS EXAMPLE WE MAY BE INSPIRED AND STRENGTHENED, THEBETTER TO DO OUR OWN PART IN NOBLE LIVING AND IN PRIVATE AND PUBLICACHIEVEMENTS

PREFACE

It is a pleasing task to record afresh the life course of one of thosewhom the poet Whittier characterized as "the noblest ancestry that evera people looked back to with love and reverence."

The leading authorities, particularly the Pilgrim narrators themselvesand those more nearly contemporary with them, have contributed to thisbiography. Though early Plymouth events and the career of Bradford areinseparably connected, the colonial history is here limited and madesubservient to the personal consideration, with regret that there do notappear more obtainable data of this nature. Undoubtedly the Governor'smodest reticence largely accounts for this. We can only be thankful thatwe have what we have.

Albert H. Plumb.

CONTENTS

[11]WILLIAM BRADFORD OF PLYMOUTH

I

THE BOY