Moses Fletcher
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Moses Fletcher
Moses Fletcher was a Separatist who may
have been in Canterbury, England. At his
marriage in 1589, it was recorded he had been
born about 1564/5, making him one of the
oldest Mayflower passengers, along with
James Chilton, who was also from
Canterbury/Sandwich in Kent.[1][2][3][4]
He was a signer of the Mayflower Compact on
November 11, 1620 (OS).[1]
Life in England
There are no images of the actual Mayflower. This is a painting entitled
Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882)
By 1599 Moses Fletcher resided in Sandwich,
county Kent and possibly trained there as a blacksmith.[1][5]
From 1604 to 1609 he was the sexton of St. Peters Church in Sandwich, which entailed maintaining the church
buildings and the surrounding churchyard. But while in that position he was excommunicated by the church three
times. Two of those three punishments were caused by his participation in illegal burials (the Separatists did not
respect others rituals), one of those being for his daughter Judith. Judith’s death caused Moses to be excluded from
church sacraments and services for burying her without the ritual of the Church of England.[1][6]
Moses Fletcher, along with James Chilton’s wife, was accused of having attended the burial of a child performed
outside of the Church of England, and so excommunication proceedings were commenced. Shortly thereafter, he and
other from the Sandwich (Separatist) congregation moved to Leiden and joined the Puritan community.[7][8]
Life in Holland
By December 1613 Moses Fletcher and his family moved to Leiden, Holland, the center of the English Separatist
community.[9] He appears to have continued his trade as blacksmith there, as he identified his occupation as “smith”
in his betrothal to his second wife.[1][2] It is believed that here Moses met James Chilton, who was also a Mayflower
passenger, as well as other Separatists who later went to Holland, and so became part of the English Leiden religious
company.[10]
On the Mayflower and death in Plymouth
Moses Fletcher
Moses Fletcher departed Plymouth, England on the Mayflower on
September 6/16, 1620 with 102 passengers and about 30 crew
members in a small 100 foot ship. The first month in the Atlantic, the
seas were not severe, but by the second month the ship was being hit
by strong north-Atlantic winter gales causing the ship to be badly
shaken with water leaks from structural damage. There were two
deaths, but this was just a precursor of what happened after their Cape
Cod arrival, when almost half the company would die in the first
winter.[11][12]
2
The Mayflower Compact, a painting by Jean Leon
Gerome Ferris which was widely reproduced
through much of the 20th century
On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a
month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was Cape Cod.
And after several days of trying to get south to their planned
destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook,
where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.[13][14][15]
Moses Fletcher traveled to Plymouth Colony by himself, leaving his family in Leiden. It is unknown if his second
wife was alive then or not. He died there in the winter of 1620/1.[1][16]
In William Bradford’s appended list of The names of those which came over first, in ye year 1620 he groups together
ten males, of whom he includes no further information, with “Moyses” Fletcher heading the list. Later in Bradford’s
account of the decreasing & increasing of these persons” “Moyses” Fletcher heads the paragraph of those who dyed
sone (soon) after their arrival, in the generall sickness that befell. But the rest left no posteritie (descendants) here.
No further mention is made of Moyses (Moses) by Bradford nor is he mentioned in the journal of the first years
known as Mourt’s Relation, that was published in 1622. He is however, included in Nathaniel Morton’s 1669 New
England’s Memorial list of those who signed the Mayflower Compact.[17]
Moses Fletcher’s children remained in Holland and married there. Since 1972 a few modern descendants of Moses
Fletcher have been identified. None of his children are known to have come to America. His descendants today are
Dutch.[1][18]
Burial
Moses Fletcher was buried in 1621 in Coles Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth in an unmarked grave as were all who
died that winter. He is named on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Plymouth, Massachusetts. The burial place of his wife
Mary is unknown as is that of his second wife Sarah.[1][2][19]
There are no known portraits, estate inventories, wills or personal belongings extant for Moses Fletcher.[20]
Fletcher family
Moses Fletcher married:
(1) Mary Evans on October 30, 1589 at St. Peters, Sandwich, Kent. They had ten children. She died possibly in 1613
with her husband remarrying shortly thereafter.
(2) Sarah (_____) Denby, widow of William Denby, also from England, on December 21, 1613. Moses Fletcher
would have been about 49 years old at this time. There are no recorded children of this marriage.[1][21][2][22]
Of his children, only John, Priscilla and Elizabeth are known to have married. None of the children are known to
have come to the New World.[23]
Children of Moses and Mary Fletcher, all baptized at St. Peters Church in Sandwich, Kent:[1][24][25]
• Mary, baptized January 4, 1589/90. No further record.
Moses Fletcher
• John, born about 1592. Married Josina Sarchariasdaughter in Leiden December 5, 1618. Had at least four
children. He died after February 13, 1656.
• Catherine, baptized September 1, 1594. No further record.
• Richard, baptized January 2, 1596/7. No further record.
• Priscilla, baptized March 24, 1599/1600. She married in Leiden (1) Thomas Coit, an English soldier, April 4,
1626, as his second wife and had four children. She married (secondly) Help or Solomon Terry June 1, 1637 and
had one daughter. She married (3) Jan Janzoon Vermont July 29, 1652.
• Moses, baptized October 10, 1602. Died as an infant - buried April 21, 1603.
• Elizabeth, baptized April 4, 1604. In Leiden she married first Casper Barnaat and secondly Michiel Voorchoren
May 21, 1636 and had four children. She died after September 21, 1677.
• Jane, baptized February 8, 1606/7. No further record.
• Moses, baptized April 2, 1609. No further record.
• Judith, died as an infant - buried on November 6, 1609.
The General Society of Mayflower Descendants lists fourteen members claiming descent from Moses Fletcher and
his wife Mary. All of the lines are through his daughter Priscilla.[26]
References
[1] Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. plimoth. org/ media/ pdf/ fletcher_moses. pdf) at plimoth.org
[2] Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. findagrave. com/ cgi-bin/ fg. cgi?page=gr& GRid=28971741) at Find a Grave
[3] William Bradford. History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth (Boston. 1856 Not in copyright) p.
449, 452
[4] Charles Edward Banks. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (Grafton Press N.Y. 1929) p. 54
[5] Charles Edward Banks. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (Grafton Press N.Y. 1929) p. 54
[6] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[7] History of Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. mayflowerhistory. com/ Passengers/ MosesFletcher. php)/
[8] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[9] Charles Edward Banks. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (Grafton Press N.Y. 1929) p. 54
[10] Robert Moody Shennan, CG, FASG and Verle Delano Vincent Revised by Robert S. Wakefield, FASG. Mayflower Families Through Five
Generations Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, Dec. 1620 Vol. 15 Family of James Chilton (Pub. by
General Society of Mayflower Descendants 1997) p. 1
[11] mayflowerhistory.com Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. mayflowerhistory. com/ History/ voyage_secondary. php)/
[12] Allison Lassieur Peter McDonnall The voyage of the Mayflower (Pub. Capstone Press, ©2006 Mankato, Minnesota)
[13] Eugene Aubrey Stratton. Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691, (Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT, 1986) p. 413
[14] Allison Lassieur Peter McDonnall The voyage of the Mayflower (Pub. Capstone Press, ©2006 Mankato, Minnesota)
[15] George Ernest Bowman. The Mayflower Compact and its signers (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1920).
Photocopies of the 1622, 1646 and 1669 versions of the document.
[16] Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. mayflowerhistory. com/ Passengers/ MosesFletcher. php)/
[17] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[18] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[19] Mary Evans Fletcher at Find a Grave (http:/ / www. findagrave. com/ cgi-bin/ fg. cgi?page=gr& GRid=34793296)
[20] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[21] Family of Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. americanancestors. org/ pilgrim-families-moses-fletcher/ )
[22] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[23] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
[24] Family of Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. americanancestors. org/ pilgrim-families-moses-fletcher/ )/
[25] History of Moses Fletcher (http:/ / www. mayflowerhistory. com/ Passengers/ MosesFletcher. php)/
[26] Junior PA Mayflower (http:/ / www. sail1620. org/ jr-pa-mayflower/ 2011-winter. pdf)/
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Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Moses Fletcher Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=521226899 Contributors: Bearcat, FeanorStar7, Mugginsx, Orangemike, RHaworth, TiMike
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image:MayflowerHarbor.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MayflowerHarbor.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: A.Savin, Bkwillwm, Docu, Geni,
GrawpSock, Historical Perspective, Makthorpe, Mattes, Shakko, Soerfm, Sterntreter, Superzerocool, UpstateNYer, Vinograd19, Vonvon, 14 anonymous edits
Image:The Mayflower Compact 1620 cph.3g07155.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Mayflower_Compact_1620_cph.3g07155.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Howcheng
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