Standish of Standish: a story of the pilgrims by Jane G. Austen

I wanted to read a historically accurate account of the pilgrims during November. I knew there were stories of Squanto, but I couldn't find any the were free so I kept digging for something to read. I came across this book. It didn't have very good ratings and the one review said that they didn't care for this story. When I first started reading it, it was hard to get into. It was kind of like reading Shakespeare, you have to read it for a while to get used to the language. Then I started teaching Kendi from the I Love America history book about pilgrims. Comparing the writings made me realize how accurate this book must be and all of a sudden it became fascinating to me. This book was written by a direct descendant of the pilgrims who had still lived in the area and had heard the stories of the pilgrims at the feet of her ancestors.

Then as I was reading about so many different people and their characters, I remembered that my sister had found some ancestors who had come to America on the Mayflower. All of a sudden I wanted to know to whom I was related. So far some of the people had been described as dirty and unrefined, strong and trustworthy, and even some genteel nobles. So I pulled out the pedigree charts and found out that I was a descendant of John Alden and Pricilla Molines (Mullins). They were about 22 and 16 years old, respectively, when the arrived and are famous for their love story whom Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (also a descendant of theirs) has written a poem about, called The Courtship of Miles Standish. I can imagine that because John and Pricilla had a large posterity that many people can tie themselves back to them.

I don't know if it's because it is Thanksgiving time or if it is because I'm related to these people, but I found this book excellent. I've never understood the pilgrims until now. The actual feast lasted three days and didn't happen until about a year after they arrived. The women under the direction of Pricilla, who was noted as a great cook, served up the feast. The pilgrims provided all the vegetables that they had learned to grow from the Natives back in the springtime and the Indians provided venison, quail, and clams for meat. The Pilgrims were surprised that Squanto spoke English, he preferred to live with the Europeans and moved in with them as soon as he could, along with Hobomok who remained loyal to the Pilgrims even when the rest of the Indians grew intolerant.

There were indescribable tragedies that set the people of the Mayflower apart from future coming pilgrims. They started with 106 people and only about half of them made it through the first winter. Some blamed the poor conditions of the boat they sailed on. They were not on good terms with the Captain of the Mayflower who basically begged for some pilgrims to help him sail back to England. Even after all they had been through to establish a new life in a strange land, none would go back with him. I'm really glad I took the time to read this book. It was worth it to me.