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Colonial Life

Click here or on the toolbar above to see The Colonial Gazette for funny, sad, romantic, humorous & insightful glimpes of our Colonial ancestors.

Most of us non-scholars tend to think rather romantically of our early Colonial heritage.  In fact, the very earliest settlers in New England suffered extreme deprivation, by and large, during the early years.  While religious freedom was certainly a core value of the early migrations, the all-too-human proclivity for land acquisition should not be overlooked.  It is, however, extraordinary that against these challenged beginnings, we have become, at least in our eyes, the mightiest nation in the world as we know it. 

Many of these documents were included simply because they exposed a more human (not necessarily humane) early life, for better or for worse. In some instances they display heroics--in others far less than we might have hoped. They are not conclusive, nor chronological, nor do they attempt to provide insight other than what is suggested by the content itself.

Some of this material came from early writings including George Ernest Bowman's:  The Mayflower Descendant;  various town and church records; William Bradford History; Eugene Aubrey Stratton's Plymouth Colony: Its History and People; New England Memorial, Mayflower volumes, various, Samuel Drake, early vital records, town histories, etc.