Pilgrims Events

1620 Sep 16 The Mayflower Departs from Southampton, England
Initially, the plan was for the voyage to be made in two vessels, the other being the smaller Speedwell, which had transported some of the Pilgrims embarking on the voyage from Delfshaven...
1620 Nov 9 Pilgrims Aboard the Mayflower Sight Land
After reorganization, the final sixty-six day voyage was made by the Mayflower alone, leaving from a site near to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England on September 6/16. With 102 pass...
1620 Nov 20 Birth of Peregrine White, First English Child Born to Pilgrims in New World (North America)
Peregrine White (November 20, 1620 – July 20, 1704) was the first English child born to the Pilgrims in the New World. He was born in Provincetown Harbor to William and Susanna White, bef...
1620 Nov 21 Signing of the Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboar...
1620 Nov 21 The Mayflower Drops Anchor at the Tip of Cape Cod
The intended destination was an area near the Hudson River, in "North Virginia". However the ship was forced far off-course by inclement weather and drifted well north of the intended Vir...
1620 Dec 6 Departure of Expedition Along Cape Cod Resulting in "First Encounter" Between English and Native Americans
Originally settled by the Nauset tribe, Eastham was the site where in 1621 a hunting expedition comprised from the crew of the sailing vessel Mayflower, which had stopped in Provincetown ...
1620 Dec 17 The Mayflower Drops Anchor in Plymouth Harbor, Location of Plymouth Rock, where Colonists are Said to Have First Set Foot on Land
The Mayflower dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor on December 17 and spent three days surveying for a settlement site. They rejected several sites, including one on Clark's Island and anoth...
1620 Dec 21 Landing Party Arrives at Site where Plymouth Settlement is Built, Beginning Difficult First Winter in New World
On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would become the settlement of Plymouth. Plans to immediately begin building houses, however, were delayed by inc...
1621 Mar 16 First Formal Contact Between English Colonists and Native Americans
Samoset (ca. 1590 – 1653) was the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims. On March 16, 1621, the settlers were more than surprised when Samoset strolled straight through ...
1621 Mar 22 Pilgrims Negotiate Peace Treaty with Nauset
Massasoit and Squanto were apprehensive about the Pilgrims. In Massasoit's first contact with the English, several men of his tribe had been killed in an unprovoked attack by English sail...
1621 Jul English Settlers Organize Rescue Party to Retreive John Billington from Nauset, Improving Relations with Native Americans
In late July, a boy by the name of John Billington became lost for some time in the woods around the colony. It was reported he was found by the Nauset, the same group of Native Americans...
1621 Jul 2 English Pilgrims Negotiate Exclusive Trading Pact with Massasoit
As promised by Massasoit, numerous Native Americans arrived at Plymouth throughout the middle of 1621 with pledges of peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims, led by Edward Winslow (who lat...
1621 Oct The "First" Thanksgiving
The autumn celebration in late 1621 that has become known as "The First Thanksgiving" was not known as such to the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims did recognize a celebration known as a "Thanksgiv...
1621 Nov A Second Ship, the Fortune, Arrives at the Plymouth Colony
In November 1621, one year after the Pilgrims first set foot in New England, a second ship sent by the Merchant Adventurers arrived. Named the Fortune, it arrived with 37 new settlers for...
1622 May New Colonists Arrive at Plymouth Shortly before Establishing New Colony of Wessagusset
In May 1622, a vessel named the Sparrow arrived carrying seven men from the Merchant Adventurers whose purpose was to seek out a site for a new settlement in the area. Two ships followed ...
1623 Apr 6 Myles Standish Leads Small Band to Assassinate Native American Warriors at Wessagusset
The next day on April 6th there appeared at the gates of the stockade the leaders of the conspiracy. Pecksuot, a giant warrior and Wituwamat along with two other natives came into the st...
1623 Jul Two More Ships Arrive to Populate Plymouth Colony
In July 1623, two more ships arrived, carrying 90 new settlers, among them Leideners, including William Bradford's future wife, Alice. Some of the settlers were unprepared for frontier li...
1623 Nov 29 Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony Proclaims a "Day of Thanksgiving" Often Cited as the First Official Thanksgiving Celebration
The Pilgrims did not hold a true Thanksgiving until 1623, after a switch from communal farming to privatized farming finally resulted in a larger harvest. Irregular Thanksgivings continue...
1629 Mar Puritan Leaders Obtain Charter to Establish Colony at Massachusetts Bay
The Puritan population in England had been growing for many years leading up to this time. They disagreed with the practices of the Church of England, whose rituals they viewed as superst...
1630 John Winthrop Delivers "City Upon a Hill" Sermon Aboard the Arbella, Heading En Route to Colonial America
Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we m...
1630 Apr 8 The Winthrop Fleet Departs from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, for Colonial America
The group departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8. Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet. The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the d...
1630 Jun 12 The Wintrhop Fleet Arrives in Salem, Massachussets
The group departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8. Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet. The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the d...
1634 John Stone is Killed by Western Niantic, in Retaliation for Atrocities he Committed Against Native Americans
In 1634, John Stone, a smuggler, privateer, and slaver, and seven of his crewmen were killed by the Western Niantic, tributary clients of the Pequot, in retaliation for atrocities committ...
1634 Oct 23 Pequots Send Messenger Promising Tribute to Massachusetts Bay Colony Deputy Governor, Roger Ludlow
In 1634 the the Pequots initiated peace negotiations with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They wanted the English to re-establish trade and arbitrate a peace settlement with the Narraganset...
1634 Nov 7 Massachusetts Bay/Pequot Treaty is Negotiated, but Never Ratified by Pequot Council
Before the war's inception, efforts to control fur trade access resulted in a series of escalating incidents and attacks that increased tensions on both sides. Political divisions between...
1636 Pequots Attack Fort Saybrook
Through the fall and winter, Fort Saybrook was effectively besieged. Any who ventured outside were killed. As spring arrived in 1637, the Pequot stepped up their raids on Connecticut Colo...
1636 Jul 20 John Oldham and Several of His Crew are Killed by Narragansett-Allied Indians
On July 20, 1636, a respected trader named John Oldham was attacked on a trading voyage to Block Island. He and several of his crew were killed and his ship looted by Narragansett-allied ...
1636 Aug 25 Captain John Endecott Leads Party to Block Island to Exact Revenge for John Oldham's Killing
News of Oldham's death became the subject of sermons in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In August, Governor Vane sent John Endecott to exact revenge on the Indians of Block Island. Endecott...
1636 Oct 4 The General Court Of The Plymouth Colony Instituted A Legal Code
The General Court of the Plymouth Colony instituted a legal code, the first composed in North America, on October 4, 1636. It guaranteed citizens a trial by jury and stipulated that all l...
1637 Apr 23 Wongunk Chief Sequin Attacks Wethersfield with Assistance from Pequot
Through the fall and winter, Fort Saybrook was effectively besieged. Any who ventured outside were killed. As spring arrived in 1637, the Pequot stepped up their raids on Connecticut Colo...
1637 May 26 The Mystic Massacre
Believing that the English had returned to Boston, Massachusetts, the Pequot sachem Sassacus took several hundred of his warriors to make another raid on Hartford. But John Mason had only...
1637 Jun Narragansetts Allied with Pilgrims Trick Pequots into Capture by Massachusetts Troops
The slaughter at Mystic broke the Pequot, and deprived them of their allies. Forced to abandon their villages, the Pequot fled -- mostly in small bands-- to seek refuge with other souther...
1637 Jul 13 Pilgrims Catch and Defeat Remaining Pequot, Although Some, Including Chief Sassacus, Escape
In mid-June, John Mason set out from Saybrook with 160 men and 40 Mohegan scouts under Uncas. They caught up with the refugees at Sasqua, a Mattabesic village near present-day Fairfield, ...
1637 Aug Chief Sassacus and His Brother are Killed by Mohawks, Their Scalps Presented to Pilgrims as Peace Offerings
Sassacus and his followers had hoped to gain refuge among the Mohawk in present-day New York. However, the Mohawk had seen the display of English power and chose instead to kill Sassacus ...
1638 Sep 21 Pequot War Ends with the Treaty of Hartford
The term Treaty of Hartford applies to three historic agreements negotiated at Hartford, Connecticut. The 1638 treaty divided the spoils of the Pequot War. The 1650 treaty defined a borde...
1674 Dec John Sassamon Tells Plymouth Colony Officials of King Philip's Arranging Attacks on Colonial Settlements
The spark that ignited King Phillip's War was a report from a Native American Christian convert ("Praying Indian")—an early Harvard graduate, translator, and adviser to Metacom named John...
1675 Feb 10 Mary Rowlandson is Captured by Wampanoag Indians During Raid on Lancaster Village
At sunrise, on February 10, 1675, during King Philip's War, Lancaster came under attack by Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway/Nipmuc Indians. Rowlandson and her three children, Joseph,...
1675 May 2 Mary Rowlandson is Freed from Wampanoag Indians
At sunrise, on February 10, 1675, during King Philip's War, Lancaster came under attack by Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway/Nipmuc Indians. Rowlandson and her three children, Joseph,...
1675 Jun 8 Three Wampanoag Indians are Hanged for the Murder of John Sassamon
On the testimony of a Native American witness, Plymouth Colony arrested three Wampanoags, including one of Metacom's councilors. A jury among whom were some Indian members convicted them ...
1675 Jun 20 A Band of Pokanoket Indians Attacks Homesteads in Plymouth Colony Settlement of Swansea
Beginning in June 1675, the Wampanoag, outfitted with rifles and armor, attacked a series of settlements and took the lives of dozens of colonial men, women and children. English forces r...
1675 Jun 28 Settlers Send Military Expedition to Destroy Wampanoag Town at Mount Hope in Retaliation for Swansea Attacks
On the testimony of a Native American witness, Plymouth Colony arrested three Wampanoags, including one of Metacom's councilors. A jury among whom were some Indian members convicted them ...
1675 Jul 8 Native Americans Attack Settlements of Middleborough and Dartmouth
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Jul 14 Native Americans Attack Mendon Settlement in Plymouth Colony
On July 14, 1675, early violence in King Philip's War took place in Mendon, with the deaths of multiple residents and the destruction of Albee's mill. These were the first settlers killed...
1675 Aug 2 Native Americans Attack Brookfield Settlement in Plymouth Colony
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Aug 19 Native Americans Attack Lancaster in Plymouth Colony
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Sep 1 Wampanoag Attack the Town of Hadley, Giving Rise to Angel of Hadley Legend
In 1676, at the height of King Philip's War, the war leader of the Wampanoag used a ruse to lure away the bulk of the colonial troops to the north. Without the protection of professional ...
1675 Sep 9 New England Confederation Declares War on Native Americans Following Multiple Attacks on Settlements
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Sep 18 The Battle of Bloody Brook
At the time of the Europeans' arrival, Deerfield was inhabited by the Pocumtuck nation, with a village by the same name. First settled by European colonists in 1673, Deerfield was incorpo...
1675 Oct 5 More than Half of the Town of Springfield is Destroyed by the Pocomtuc Tribe
Springfield remained a small working town when its security was threatened in 1675, during King Philip's War. The leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe, Wamsutta, died shortly after being ...
1675 Oct 16 Native American Attack Severely Damages Town of Hatfield
Hatfield was founded in 1660 on land granted to General Daniel Dennison and Governor William Bradford. It was formally incorporated as a town in 1670 and has a Board of Selectmen and annu...