Guide to Historic Plymouth: Localities and Objects of Interest

Pilgrim Hall

PILGRIM HALL, BUILT IN 1824.

Illustrated capital

Returning to Court street (the main street) from the Monument grounds, and passing the head of Old Colony park, we soon see on our left a building with a Doric portico, standing a little way from the street. This is Pilgrim Hall, erected in 1824 by the Pilgrim Society as a monumental hall to the memory of the Pilgrims. In 1880, without taking down the walls, it was re-roofed and refloored with steel beams and terra cotta blocks at a cost of over $15,000 by Joseph Henry Stickney, Esq., a wealthy Baltimore merchant of Boston nativity, who on a casual visit to Plymouth became so impressed of preserving with the greatest care the interesting relics of the Pilgrims there deposited, that he most liberally made this large expenditure to secure these precious memorials from loss by fire. At the same time he provided for better classification and exhibition of the articles, those immediately connected with the Pilgrims being deposited, mostly in glass cases, in the main hall, while an interesting museum of antique curiosities was arranged in the room below. Exteriorly, marked improvement was made by raising the Doric porch to the height of the main building, and repainting and sanding the whole front in imitation of stone. Quite a change was made at the same time in the front area by the removal back to the Landing-place of the portion of Plymouth Rock, which for forty-six years had here been a prominent object.

The hall is kept open daily (including Sundays in the summer season), at regular hours, for the accommodation of visitors, a fee of twenty-five cents being charged. These fees are the only income of the Pilgrim Society, the fund so accumulated being devoted to the care of the Pilgrim relics, the monuments, grounds, and historic points of the Pilgrim locality in Plymouth.

To the improvements made by Mr. Stickney, very important and extensive ones were carried out by the Society in the periods from February to May 1911, and from December 1911 to March 1912, the hall being closed to the public during the work. Everything of wood, from the basement to the roof was removed from the ante-rooms, and also from the main hall and the one beneath. With steel beams, terra cotta blocks, cement and marble, thorough work was done in fireproofing the whole structure, so that the Doric entrance portico, which is separated from the building by a thick brick wall, now remains as the only combustible part. The cost of these radical improvements, which seem to sufficiently insure the protection of the priceless collection of Pilgrim relics, was about $15,000, paid from the visitors fee fund. It is in contemplation, and plans have been prepared, for changing the Doric portico from wood to granite, with monolithic columns. About $20,000 will be needed for this much desired object, which will make Pilgrim Hall, in its entirety, a complete and harmonious memorial of the Forefathers; but this laudable project will have to await the slow accumulation of an annual income from visitors fees, or the possible generous gift of a descendant or admirer of our Pilgrim ancestors.

The interior, with marble floors and wainscots, and walls freshly colored in neutral tints which set off the pictures to much advantage, now presents a very neat and attractive appearance.

LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.

In the marble vestibule hangs a large picture of the “Landing,” done in distemper, which was presented to the Society by Robert G. Shaw of Boston. At the right is the curator’s room, on the walls of which hang a portrait of King James I., together with a number of maps and local views of Plymouth, illustrative of changes which have taken place. Over the entrance to the main hall is a large gilded copy of the seal of the Colony, reproduced from the “Book of Laws,” printed in 1685. The original seal was adopted probably in 1625. It was taken away during the administration of the infamous Governor Andros, and never recovered, as far as is known. This copy is supposed to have been the gift of Samuel Nicholson, of the Boston Common Council, a native of Plymouth. At the left of the entrance is the stairway to the lower hall, and the sanitary conveniences of the building.

The main hall is forty-six by thirty-nine feet, with walls twenty-two feet high, and is lighted entirely from the roof. At the east end is the large picture of the “Landing,” thirteen by sixteen feet, painted by Henry Sargent, of Boston, an amateur artist, and presented by him to the Society in 1834. Its estimated value was $3,000, and the massive frame cost about $400. At the left is a portrait of the venerable Dr. James Thacher, the first secretary of the Pilgrim Society. He was the author of Thacher’s Military Journal and a History of Plymouth, which has been considered one of the best ever published. The picture upon the right is a fine painting and most excellent likeness of the gentleman who in 1880 so disinterestedly and generously remodeled and beautified Pilgrim Hall,—Joseph Henry Stickney, Esq., of Baltimore. The portrait was painted by D. G. Pope, a Baltimore artist, and in subject and execution is worthy of its place in this Pilgrim temple. Beneath the picture the Society has placed a bronze memorial tablet in grateful remembrance of Mr. Stickney’s benefactions.

In the middle of the south wall is hung the large copy of Weir’s Embarkation from Delft Haven, from the large painting in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, done for the Society by Edgar Parker. It is flanked by several large portraits designated in the catalogue, including one of Hon. Daniel Webster.

In the centre of the west side hangs the noble gift of ex-Gov. Alexander H. Rice, of Massachusetts, Charles Lucy’s large painting of the Departure from Delft Haven. It is of great value, and at a prize exhibition in England won the first premium of a thousand guineas. It is altogether different in color and tone from either of the others, and will bear close sturdy. On its right and left are portraits of Washington and Edward Everett, with pictures of the house at Austerfield, England, where Governor Bradford was born, and the only copy extant of the earliest map of New England territory, made by William Hack about 1663.

On the north wall at the left of the entrance to the library the fine historical painting of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by W. F. Halsall occupies a prominent position, and grouped around it are the portraits of the Winslow family. These consist of Edward Winslow, of the Mayflower company who was Governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633-1636 and 1644. This portrait, and that of Josiah Winslow, who was born in Plymouth in 1628, son of Governor Edward, and who became the first native governor of the Colony 1673 to 1680, were probably painted in London by Robert Walker in 1651, the first is therefore regarded as undoubtedly a life-like portrait of a Mayflower Pilgrim. Others of the group are Penelope, (wife of Gov. Josiah Winslow) and Gen. John Winslow, great grandson of Gov. Edward Winslow. The general is depicted in the scarlet uniform of the British Army. He was second in command in the expedition which removed the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755. The house in which he lived, built in 1730, is still standing in Plymouth, on the corner of Main and North streets. It was also the home of James Warren, president of the Provincial Congress.

At the right of the library entrance hangs the original of Robert W. Weir’s Embarkation of the Pilgrims from Delft Haven, purchased by the Society in 1914. From this study, Weir produced the larger painting for the Capitol rotunda at Washington. Above it is an engraving of the Sailing of the Mayflower, from Cope’s original painting, which hangs in the House of Lords in London. There are also engravings of the Signing of the Compact, and the Landing by different artists, and a colored lithograph by Allebe of a picture representing the First Religious service held by the Pilgrims, painted in 1859 by Schwarz of Amsterdam. The vessel bringing the painting to the United States was burned at sea by a Confederate privateer during the Civil War. Over the library door is The Royal Arms, which before the Revolution hung over the judges bench in the Plymouth Colonial Court House, now our old Town House, and was carried to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, by Captain Gideon White, a royal refugee of those times.

Across the head of the hall, under the Sargent picture, are important historical articles, as the Patent of Plymouth Colony, the chairs of Elder Brewster and Gov. Carver, which were brought by them in the Mayflower, the Peregrine White cradle and the Fuller cradle, a chest which belonged to Myles Standish, a carved pew back from the ancient parish church at Scrooby, a chair once owned by Gov. Winslow, and the keystone from an arch in Scrooby Manor. Just inside the door from the curator’s office is a small steel safe containing Gov. William Bradford’s bible, printed at Geneva in 1592. During visiting hours the sacred volume may be seen.

Arranged about the hall on handsome steel tables are exhibition cases of the finest plate glass in America, and in these are displayed and numbered conveniently for recognition by catalogue, very many authentic relics and personal belongings of the Pilgrims and their households. The first at the right on entering contains articles of the White family, among them a cabinet brought in the Mayflower by William White, father of Peregrine, a cane and a candlestick, which he once owned, also a bond written and signed by Peregrine White, who was born on the Mayflower in Cape Cod harbor in 1620, and died in Marshfield, 1704. Next is the Alden case and in it is seen John Alden’s bible dated 1661, a halberd found in a house he once occupied in Duxbury, a deed signed by this fond lover of Priscilla, a christening bowl which belonged to Elder William Brewster, etc. The Standish case is next, and most interesting, for the reason that there is deposited the famous Damascus sword of the military Chieftain of the Pilgrims, together with a large pewter platter and iron pot which he brought in the Mayflower. There are fragments of a quilt which belonged to Rose, his wife, and a specimen of embroidery or “sampler” worked by Lorea, his daughter in 1653, with this verse:

SWORD, POT AND PLATTER OF MYLES STANDISH.

Lorea Standish is my name,

Lord, guide my hart that I may doe Thy will:

Also fill my hands with such convenient skill

As will conduce to virtu void of shame,

And I will give the glory to thy name.

The baby cap and bib worked for her little daughter Lorea by Barbara Standish has lately been added to the collection. The sword of Myles Standish is one of the most valuable articles in Pilgrim Hall. General Grant on his visit to Plymouth, October 14, 1880, was much interested in this ancient weapon, and handled it with evident satisfaction. The Arabic inscriptions on the blade have always been a puzzle, and, notwithstanding many attempts, remained undeciphered until the visit to the town, June 7, 1881, of Prof. James Rosedale, of Jerusalem, with a troupe of Arabs from Palestine. Mr. Rosedale being an excellent linguist, was shown the sword, and pronounced the inscriptions to be of different dates; one of them in Cufic, very old, and the other in mediÆval Arabic of a later period, but still very ancient. To the last he readily gave the following translation:—

“With peace God ruled His slaves (creatures) and with the judgment of His arm He troubled the mighty of the wicked.”

He had no doubt that the weapon dated back two or three centuries before the Christian era, and might be much older. It was captured from the Persians at Jerusalem in 637 by the Saracens, and it is probable that this famous blade came down to Capt. Standish from the Crusaders, and possessed an interesting history in his day.

The next case contains numerous valuable books and literary works of ancient date, the most precious being a copy of John Eliot’s Indian bible 1685, of which but four copies are now known to be extant. A Dutch bible and a “Breeches” bible 1599, an Indian vocabulary by Josiah Cotton, New England’s Memorial by Nathaniel Morton, and the original records of the Old Colony Club from 1769 to 1773, are also interesting.

The Winslow Case at the right of the Library entrance displays many belongings of that illustrious family, notably, a part of a chest, a mortar and pewter plate, brought by Edward Winslow in the Mayflower, a gold ring and ancient trencher which belonged to Governor Edward Winslow, General John Winslow’s sword, a dressing case once owned by Penelope, wife of Governor Josiah Winslow, and bead purse wrought by that gentle lady, a pair of stiff little shoes worn by Governor Josiah Winslow when an infant, a slipper and cape once owned by Mrs. Susannah White, widow of William White, and second wife of Governor Edward Winslow, and other articles which the catalogues will identify.

WINSLOW RELICS, PILGRIM HALL.

The case at the left of the Library contains many papers and documents of much interest, but of especial note are swords of Gov. John Carver, Elder William Brewster and Capt. Myles Standish, loaned by the Massachusetts Historical Society. A novel reminder of the days of slavery in Massachusetts is a bill of sale of a negro boy in Plymouth in 1753.

The next case has valuable autographs, note books, and a service of ancient silver tankards and goblets not now in use, but belonging to the First Church of Christ in Plymouth. There are also the first volume of the ancient records of the First Church in Plymouth, and the works of Pastor John Robinson, of Leyden.

The north ante-room is worthy attention of visitors, and contains, with other things, an old sofa formerly owned by Gov. Hancock, upon which he probably sat and plotted treason with Samuel Adams against the English crown. There are pictures of Plymouth, England, and other places in that country, of Pilgrim interest, together with various commissions, etchings, views, etc; and a case containing seven swords of notable personages, which are described in the catalogues.

A fire-proof annex for the valuable library of the Pilgrim Society was built on the northerly side of the hall in 1904, and on the steel shelves behind substantial metal lattices, found necessary to protect the books from persons of predatory inclinations, some 3000 volumes are arranged in handsome cabinets. Some of these books are very rare indeed, and if lost or destroyed could not be replaced. The oldest volume bears the imprint 1559.

Above the bookcases are portraits; among them those of Hon. Joshua Thomas, the first president of the Pilgrim Society; Hon. John Davis, editor of Morton’s New England Memorial, and former president of the Massachusetts Historical Society; and Ephraim Spooner, who was for thirty-four years deacon of the First Church, in Plymouth, and a very prominent citizen of the town. He was chairman of the Selectmen through the Revolutionary War, in which capacity he rendered the country efficient service, and was likewise for fifty-one years town clerk of Plymouth. A very quaint painting is the portrait of Elizabeth Wensley, hanging over the fireplace. She was daughter of William Paddy, and was born in Plymouth 1641. Her daughter, Sarah, was the wife of Dr. Isaac Winslow, whose portrait appears in the Winslow group in the main hall. The great centre table in the library was owned by Gov. Edward Winslow, and stood in the Council Chamber when he governed the Colony. On top of one of the book cases is a model of a ship of the “Mayflower” period, illustrative of the naval architecture and rig of her time.

One of the cases at the foot of the Hall between the ante-rooms holds the gun barrel with which King Philip was killed, also the original manuscript of Mrs. Felicia Hemans’ celebrated ode, “The breaking waves dashed high,” and William Cullen Bryant’s poem, “Wild was the day, the wintry sea,” both presented by the late James T. Fields of Boston. A piece of a mulberry tree, planted in the garden of the Manor house at Scrooby by Cardinal Wolsey, and the trowel used in laying the corner stone of the National Monument to the Pilgrims, August 2, 1859, are seen in this case among other articles. In the other there is a book given to Gov. Bradford by Pastor John Robinson, brought over in the “Mayflower” by Bradford and afterwards given by him to the church. A book printed by Elder Brewster and a copy of Seneca’s works owned by Brewster likewise find place in this case, together with a copy of the first edition of “Mourt’s Relation,” written in Plymouth in 1621 and published in London in 1622.

A special case at the head of the Hall contains the oldest state document in New England, and probably in the United States. This is the first patent granted to the Plymouth Colonists by the Northern Virginia Company. A patent was granted by the Virginia Company in the name of John Wincob, but never used. About the time of the departure of the Forefathers from England for this country a new company was created by a royal charter, within the limits of which Plymouth was included, and this patent dated June 1, 1621 was granted to John Pierce by the Northern Virginia Company and sent over in the “Fortune,” arriving here in November of that year. This patent was found in the land office in Boston, among a mass of old papers, by William Smith, Esq., one of the land committee. The Hon. John Davis, then editing a new edition of Morton’s New England Memorials, obtained it for his use in that book, and from him it came into the possession of the late Nathaniel Morton Davis, Esq., in whose family it remained until deposited in the hall by Mrs. William H. Whitman. It bears the seals and signatures of the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of Warwick, Lord Sheffield, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, with the exception that the seal of Hamilton is missing. A sixth signature, probably that of John Peirce, the party of the second part, is broken out of the parchment, leaving but a trace of the letter J. The seal to this signature is also torn away.

From the curator’s office a flight of stairs conducts to the basement, where all desired conveniences for visitors will be found. In the lower hall is an interesting museum of articles which have been separated from the Pilgrim collection, and as pertaining to ancient days in many instances or as curiosities will well repay examination. Among them is the frame of the “Sparrowhawk,” wrecked on Cape Cod, at Orleans, in 1626, her company finding refuge and assistance at Plymouth. Her history is remarkable, as being the first known vessel stranded on the Cape, which since that time has been the grave yard of fully 2,000 sea-going craft, with a loss of hundreds of lives. A large placard attached to the old wreck gives the story. To see these remains of a vessel as old as the Mayflower, though much smaller, is very suggestive of the perils of an ocean passage in the days of the Pilgrims.

The bones of the Indian Chief Iyanough are preserved in a special case in the lower hall, together with a large brass kettle and other implements found with the skeleton which was discovered at Hyannis in Barnstable in May, 1861.

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