Introduction

Memorial of the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 1620-1920; a record of the Pilgrim descendants who early in its history settled in Cape May County, and some of their children throughout the several states of the union at the present time (1921)

Copyright, 1921; ALBERT R. HAND, Publisher Cape May, N. J. May 7, 1921 Printed and Published by: ALBERT R. HAND, Cape May, N. J.

Extracted by: Laverne Tornow

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Introduction

"The Lost Colony of Mayflower Descendants in Cape May County" would be a fitting title for this reverent attempt to show the genealogical connection between the Old Colony of Plymouth, where the author was reared, and the County of Cape May, where the author is now a resident pastor. And in truth for many years the Pilgrim ancestry of our County of Cape May was unknown to the outside world, and long forgotten by the descendants within the County itself. Doubtless, in the early days, letters passed from Hannah Gorham Whilldin of Cape May to her brothers and sisters, of whom there were ten, in the Old Colony, and it is even possible that such letters could be found, as Goodwin says in his Pilgrim Republic of like letters in Plymouth County, in old garrets and out of the way places where they are not looked for. How long the memory of the early home remained, we cannot say, but we can be certain Barnstable, the home of the Gorhams, and Yarmouth, the home of the Whilldins and Eldredges, were not immediately forgotten. As far as the older documents relate, no mention is made of the Plymouth ancestry of the settlement, and by the third generation it is probable no memory of it was left — the settlers were too busy, and perhaps too practical, to think of ancestry.

The several writers upon the subject of the history of Cape May have all overlooked and seemed to have no knowledge of the most interesting fact in our history - a fact of the greatest interest to the student of peoples and their migrations, namely, that the early settlers of the County brought with them the stock of the Pilgrim Fathers of Plymouth and that the majority of the older families are, by intermarriage, of Pilgrim descent. Here in Cape May a grand daughter of

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the Pilgrim John Howland was buried — the grave unknown, probably washed away by the encroaching sea — here she lived and reared her family, and her descendants are many, both here, as well as among the many hundreds who have gone out into other parts of our country — some in distant States, who do not suspect their Pilgrim ancestry.

The most complete published genealogical record of the county is the work of the Rev. Daniel Lawrence Hughes, D. D., entitled "The Divine Covenant Fulfilled in Pious Households, from 1711-1891." It contains an account of the author's ancestors on both sides, the several collateral lines of descent, and his family and descendants to the year 1891, yet Dr. Hughes does not show the slightest knowledge of his own Pilgrim ancestry, or that of his wife, who family history he writes out in detail. Descended from the Pilgrim John Howland in two lines, and his wife in still another, he was utterly unconscious that he was providing for the student and investigator one of the most important contributions to the subject of Pilgrim ancestry ever written. In attempting this work, I acknowledge my great indebtedness to Dr. Hughes' valuable record. Necessarily all the genealogical material of "The Divine Covenant Fulfilled in Pious Households" is included in this book, the connection with the Pilgrim ancestor being indicated and traced out and, as far as possible, the several lines being brought down to date, making double the material of the original work. In the additional notes at the end of the volume, other names and dates are given, including the notice of the Lawrence Family, as given by Dr. Hughes, although not, as far as known, of Mayflower ancestry. Thus all the genealogical material of Dr. Hughes' work, now out of print, is included in the records following.

Miss Eleanor Harris, of Philadelphia, has given me valuable assistance in the history of the Whilldin — Edmunds line, and Mrs. Joseph C. Eldredge, of Cold Spring, and Mr. Joseph Linerd Eldredge, of Philadelphia, have given valuable aid. The unpublished work of the late Charles Welsh Edmunds

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has been at my disposal, through my membership in the Pennsylvania Historical Society, where Mr. Edmunds' priceless work is deposited.

Stillwell's "Leamings of Cape May" shows the same lack of information as to the intermarriages of the family the author is describing, and there is no hint that the first Thomas Learning married into the Pilgrim stock, Hannah, his wife being fourth in descent from John Howland. On this three hundredth anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, when all things pertaining to the Pilgrims and their descendants are in the thought of the whole nation, I express this belief, that there are more descendants of the Mayflower in Cape May County, New Jersey, than in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the landing place.

The connecting link between the settlement in the Old Colony of Plymouth and the settlement at Cape May is the manuscript known as the "Wast Book" of Colonel John Gorham, written during the Louisburg expedition, 1745, a part of (Which document first appeared in the January, 1898, number of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, that publication having printed notes of it with other interesting records relating to the Gorham family in the April and October numbers of 1897. In April 1898, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register printed a facsimile of the complete document, which is given in this volume in so far as it pertains to the subject of Mayflower ancestry in Cape May County.

By the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, Cape Breton Island was given to the French, who at great expense had erected a powerful fortress, enclosing and commanding the ample harbor, furnishing a rendezvous for French fleets and privateers — an increasing danger to the Nqw England fishermen on the Banks. The overthrow of the stronghold was proposed in 1745, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts having induced the legislative body of that Colony to undertake the reduction of the threatening fortress.

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A force of some three thousand six hundred men, mostly from Massachusetts under Colonel William Pepperell, accompanied by a fleet of one hundred New England vessels and a British squadron under Commodore Warren, carried the undertaking through to a triumphant conclusion. The investment began April 30, 1745, and the garrison of sixteen hundred men surrendered forty-nine days later. The part of Colonel John Gorham, the author of the **Wast Book," in the capture of Louisburg is related by himself in a letter to Sir William Pepperell, Parson's Life of Pepperell, page 240 (quoted in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April, 1898) .

Letter of Colonel John Gorham to Sir William Pepperell, and the " Wast Book "

Halifax, July 5, 1751.

"I did your message to our Governor, who since tells me he has wrote your honor. I take the freedom to remind your honor hoiw I came to be in that glorious expedition against Louisburg. I was sent up to recruit from Annapolis Royal, by Governor Mascarene, as that fort was then in great danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, and this expedition being then in embryo, I was importuned by Governor Shirley, and desired by your honor and many more of the council, to raise a number of men, and purchase whale boats and proceed in the expedition, as I did, upon condition of my having the liberty of going home (to England) with your honor's packet in my sloop, as soon as the English flag should be hoisted at Louisburg. But I was disappointed in this, and received no commission in his royal regiment. My father died, and most of his regiment at Louisburg. But I thank you for giving me the Commission of Colonel of my father's regiment and now I solicit a letter of recommendation abroad, and assistance to carry through my memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts."

In 1752 Colonel Gorham 's widow wrote a letter to Governor Comwallis, dated Boston, June 8, in which she says: **My dearly beloved husband in his loyal service to the King has expended his entire fortune." (Bourne Papers, Harvard College Library.)

While still at Louisburg, in the leisure moments following the victory.

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