Burial Hill
Called Fort Hill until 1698
THE FORT
On the top of the hill, beyond the row of the first houses, and overlooking the town, the Pilgrims in 1622–23 built with great labor, a fort and stockade; Governor Bradford describes it:
“A fort of good timbers, both strong and comely, which was a good defense, made with a flat roof, and battlements, and on which their ordinance was mounted, and where they kept constant watch, especially in time of danger.”
In 1633, he further says—“Our ancient work of fortification, by continuance of time is decayed, and Christian wisdom teaches us to depend upon God in the use of all good means for our safety.” It was therefore ordered by the Governor that the fort should be repaired, and the stockade enlarged. In 1635 and in 1642, it was again repaired, and in 1643 a watch tower was built nearby. This was of brick, two stories high, and contained a fireplace with a chimney.
Though hostile Indians never attacked the town, both they and the neighboring friendly tribes held the white men in increased respect for this protection.
During the first winter, the Pilgrims elected Capt. Myles Standish their military leader. He organized and trained his little army of twelve men, led their marches, protected the town, and rendered valiant service for thirty-five years.
“The only trained soldier
In the Pilgrim Community
Always their military Commander
But also a valuable civil servant
And a wise promoter
Of the business interests
Of the Pilgrim Stock Company.
In fight fearless impetuous and resolute
In civil affairs cautious and firm
In business shrewd just and far-seeing
A conscientious and high-minded leader
Of devout men and women
Who founded in a wilderness
A tolerant church and a free state.”
From
Standish Monument
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Dr. Charles W. Eliot
THE GUNS
On the side hill near the site of the fort now stand two ancient cannon; they were presented to Plymouth Oct. 4, 1921, by the British Government, through the good offices of the Honorable Artillery Company of London (chartered in 1537) and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (chartered in 1638).
Col. Sidney Hedges, speaking at the presentation of the guns, said:
“While we are not sure that they are the original pieces, which stood on the spot in 1621, they certainly are of the same type and age: one is called a Minion, manufactured in 1557, and the other a Sackeret, manufactured in 1550.”
Bradford and Winslow mention such guns.
“The master came on shore with many of his sailors, and brought with him one of the great pieces, called a minion, and helped us to draw it up the hill, with another piece that lay on shore, and mounted them, and a saller (saker, or sackeret) and two bases (very small pieces).”
At the presentation ceremony, Oct. 4, 1921, Mr. Joseph Smith read an original poem which contained these lines:
The Pilgrim Progress
More far reaching than the voice of the guns, was the message to the future from the small lower room of the fort, where the Pilgrims held their services of worship. Here their Elder, William Brewster, extolled freedom of thought and conscience; here were read letters received from their beloved pastor in Leyden, John Robinson; here they sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving; but still surrounded by danger, “they must constantly be on their guard, night and day.”
“With arms they gathered in the congregation to worship Almighty God. But they were armed, that in peace they might seek divine guidance in righteousness: not that they might prevail by force, but that they might do right though they perished.”
—Calvin Coolidge
Plymouth, Dec. 21, 1920
The congregation assembled “at beat of drum,” and marched together from their homes on Leyden Street, protected by the muskets of the men. “They march three abreast, and are led by a sergeant.—Behind comes the Governor in a long robe, beside him on the right hand comes the preacher with his cloak on, and on the left hand the captain with his side arms.”
The women with babes in their arms and their children clinging to them, the boys and young men and the maidens follow,—“and so they march in good order, and each sets his arms down near him.”
It is minutely described in a letter written in 1627, by Isaac de Rasieres, a visitor of state from the Dutch colony at Manhattan.
This “Pilgrim Progress” is yearly reproduced by a memorial service to the Pilgrims on the site of the first fort-meeting house.
On successive Fridays in August, at five o’clock, a group of men, women and children, many of them still bearing the names of their Pilgrim forefathers, wearing the white caps and kerchiefs, the steeple-crowned hats and cloaks of the congregation of 1621, assemble again on the first street, and mount the hill, where a short service of commemoration is held. Old hymns are sung, among them those which the Pilgrims brought with them from Leyden.
Psalm 68 from the Psalm book, published in Amsterdam by Henry Ainsworth, and used by the Pilgrim congregation in Leyden and at Plymouth.
The Graves
Oct. 4, 1921
As the Pilgrims established themselves more firmly in the wilderness, there was no further need of secret burials on Cole’s Hill, and the hill about the fort was early used for the graves of the colony.
Though there are many ancient graves on Burial Hill, most of the resting-places of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower are not to be found in Plymouth, but in the later settlements of Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, Eastham, Middleboro, and Dartmouth, whither they had followed their sons, or established themselves again as pioneers from the first settlement.
A small granite shaft on the brow of the hill bears the name of Governor Bradford, and it is believed that he is buried here, near the grave of his son, Major William Bradford. The inscription on the north side of the monument reads:
“Beneath this stone rests the ashes
of William Bradford
A zealous puritan and sincere Christian
Gov. of Ply. Col. from April 1621 to 1657
aged 69, except 5 years which he declined.
Qua patris difficilime
Adapti sunt nolite turpiter relinquere.”
(What your fathers with so much difficulty
attained, do not basely relinquish.)
and on the south side:
“William Bradford of Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, was the son of William and Alice Bradford. He was Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1633, 1635, 1637, 1639 to 1643, 1645 to 1657.”
The inscription on the tomb-stone of his son Major William Bradford reads:
“Here lies the body of
Honorable Major William Bradford
who expired Febr. ye 20th 1703/4 aged 71 years.
He lived long, but still was doing good
& in his country’s service lost much blood.
After a life well spent, he’s now at rest.
His very name and memory is blest.”
Major Bradford lived in Kingston. At the time of his funeral, the roads were obstructed by deep snow. He was carried by bearers along the sea shore from Jones River to Plymouth, to be buried at his wish beside his father on Burial Hill.
Near the site of the Old Fort, is the grave stone of Elder Thomas Cushman, with the inscription:
“Here lyeth buried ye body of that precious servant of God, Mr. THOMAS CUSHMAN, who after he had served his generation according to the will of God, and particularly the church of Plymouth for many years in the office of a ruling elder fell asleep in Jesus, Decmr. ye 10, 1691 & ye 84. year of his age.”
Here is also a monument erected Aug. 15, 1855, to Robert Cushman, Elder Thomas Cushman, his son, and Elder Cushman’s wife, Mary Allerton, of the Mayflower.
On the east is inscribed:
“Erected by
The descendants of
Robert Cushman
In memory of their Pilgrim Ancestors,
XVI—September, MDCCCLVIII.”
North side:
“Fellow-exile with the Pilgrims in Holland,
Afterwards their chief agent in England,
Arrived here—IX—November,—MDCXII,
With Thomas Cushman his son:
Preached—IX—December,
His memorable sermon on ‘The Danger of self-love
And the sweetness of true friendship:’
Returned to England—XIII—December,
To vindicate the enterprise of Christian emigration;
And there remained in the service of the Colony Till—
MDCXXV,
When, having prepared to make Plymouth His permanent
home,
Continued west side:
He died, lamented by the forefathers as ‘their ancient friend,—who was as their right hand with their friends the adventurers, and for divers years had done and agitated all their business with them to their great advantage.’”
South side:
“THOMAS CUSHMAN.
Son of Robert, died—X—December, MDCXCI,
Aged nearly—LXXXIV—years.
For more than XLII—years he was
Ruling Elder of the First Church in Plymouth,
By whom a tablet was placed to mark his grave on
this spot,
Now consecrated anew by a more enduring
memorial.
MARY,
widow of Elder Cushman, and daughter of Isaac
Allerton,
Died—XXVIII—November, MDCXCIX, aged about—XC—
years,
The last survivor of the first comers in the Mayflower.”
Another important Pilgrim landmark is the grave of JOHN HOWLAND which is situated on the westerly slope of the hill, near the rear entrance to the cemetery. Near it are three other old graves; that of Edward Gray, 1681, whose stone is the oldest on Burial Hill; that of William Crowe, 1683–84; and that of Thomas Clark, 1697, who came over in the ship “Ann”.
John Howland’s grave is marked by a modern stone, ornamented with a bas relief of the “Mayflower”. On it is inscribed this excerpt from the Town Records:
“Hee was a godly man & an ancient professor in the wayes of Christ. Hee was one of the first comers into this land & was the last man that was left of those that came over in the Shipp called the Mayflower that lived in Plymouth.”
There is no more peaceful and beautiful burying place than this green hill, crowned with elm trees, overlooking the lovely view of town and sea. Hundreds of quaint and interesting stones appeal to the antiquarian and the scholar, and the site of the Pilgrim’s fort, and the graves of the Pilgrims, connect it for all time with the nation’s “first beginnings.”
December 21, 1920
From the ode read at the celebration
of the 300th anniversary
of the Landing of the Pilgrims.