Wynona Ryder (spelling?) said she was goingt o pay for her stuff too! Perhaps she is one of the 35 million Mayflower decendants mentioned in the USA Weekend magazine. What is that ... 14 - 15 % ??? Now I feel real special. --- Harlow Chandler <chandler@firstva.com> wrote: > > > ***-----Original Message----- > ***From: Mildred [mailto:mallek@pensys.com] > ***Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2002 9:45 AM > ***To: MAYFLOWER-L@rootsweb.com > ***Subject: [MFLR] RE: Pilgrims and their seed corn > *** > *** > *** I have just seen a newsletter from a church which states that the > ***Pilgrims "stole" the seed corn from the Native Americans and never > ***thanked them for it. > *** > ***I know this is off-topic, but things like that bother me, and I > don't > ***know any sources with which to refute statements like these. Can > ***someone recommend a history of the colony, or would Wm. > ***Bradford's account be the best? > *** > ***Thanks. > *** > ***Mildred Mallek (Bradford descendant) > > > Hi Mildred, > > I don't think this is off topic at all--am I wrong? > > It's interesting that this was the way a church newsletter presented > the > affair. > > I assume the incident they meant was the discovery of several buried > baskets > of corn on Nov. 15th by Miles Standish and a party of men looking for > a > place to settle. The Mayflower had reached the continent days > earlier, > supplies were very low and the prospect of finding food in the > wilderness > was not good. This was not a raid on an Indian village. The men > found the > buried corn and then a bit later went back and got more. Bradford > speaks > of the event this way, and I think we must believe that he is > sincere, > > "And here is to be noted a special providence of God, and a great > mercy to > this poor people, that they have got seed to plant them corn the next > year,or else they might have starved, for they had none nor any > likelihood > to get any till the season had been past, as the sequel did manifest. > Neither is it likely they had had this, if the first voyage had not > been > made, for the ground was now all covered with snow and hard frozen; > but the > Lord is never wanting unto His in their greatest needs; let His holy > name > have all the praise." ( p. 66 of the Modern Library Morison ed., > 1967) > > Bradford says they intended to pay for the corn when the opportunity > came, > and six moths later it did and Bradford says the Indians were paid > "to their > good content." > > We may have our own feelings about how the Pilgrims viewed themselves > in > their relationship to God, but I do think we have to believe that > Bradford > was sincere and not rationalizing. He saw this as God's way of > saving the > Pilgrims from starvation. It wasn't a matter of their going and > taking it > from the Indians, but a matter of it's having been put there for the > Pilgims > through the agency of the Indians, or so, I think, Bradford believed. > I > don't think we can really call this theft if we are speaking of the > motivations and understanding of the Pilgrims. > > > As to a history of the Colony, I would think most people would think > Eugene > Aubrey Stratton's _Plymouth Colony: Its History and People_(Salt Lake > City > UT, Ancestry Publishing, 1986) is a very good choice, especially for > people > on this list as it is concerned with genealogy and history equally. > It is > very readable, is sound scholarship, and lots of fun. It was on sale > through Ancestry.com recently, might still be, but is inexpensive > anyway. It > has been available through NEHGS and I assume through the big online > booksellers, and of course many libraries have it. > > Another book which is older and I think only available now through > libraries, and which I think is excellent, is George D. Langdon's > _Pilgrim > Colony:A History of New Plymouth 1620-1691_(New Haven, Yale > University > Press, 1966) This is also very readable and I think it's too bad it > is out > of print ( and if anyone knows that I'm wrong and it is in print I'd > love > to know that). > > I would personally think it would be best to read someone like > Stratton > before reading Bradford to better understand him when we do read his > history, but by all means we all ought to read Bradford. > > > > > > > ==== MAYFLOWER Mailing List ==== > Check out the web page of the General Society of Mayflower > Descendants at http://www.mayflower.org/ > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus � Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com