The Pilgrim Times Fall 2009

The Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Colorado

Compact Dinner Program featuring

Special Guest Speaker Paul Bumpus, Historian General, GSMD

“Mayflower Lineages: Connecting the Generations”

Born in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 18 October 1951, Paul is the youngest of three children of Everett Aliston and Edna Lorraine (Sampson) Bumpus. Both of his parents, and three of his four grandparents, are descendants of passengers of the Mayflower, with only his father’s mother, who is believed to have been of Scotch-Irish heritage, from New Brunswick, Canada, not being of Mayflower descent. His sister Linda Ruth (Milne) MacCallum, and brother Stephen Dexter Bumpus are ten, and four, years older respectively. Paul has proved descent from a total of 22 of the 29 Mayflower passengers who are currently accepted for Society membership. Reared in Whitman, less than 20 miles from the town of Plymouth, Paul attended all twelve grades of school in Whitman schools, graduating from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in 1969. Entering the U. S. Air Force in the Spring following graduation, he served a four-year commitment to our country, during the Vietnam Era, in West Germany and Texas. It was the years spent in Europe, beginning with the discovery of the library on his Air Force base during the first long, cold, winter months of Northern Germany, which opened his eyes to the life of ideas. This discovery, along with the incredible opportunities for travel throughout Europe, began Paul’s personal odyssey of discovery, and his college years remained highly influenced by those years in Europe.

Upon being honorably discharged at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the end of his four years of service in February 1974, and learning of a college about a hundred miles to the southeast of Wichita Falls, he would that Fall begin college life at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas on the GI Bill. Paul received a Bachelor’s Degree from North Texas State University, with a major in Philosophy, and a minor in Biology, in 1979. He would return to the newly named University of North Texas in the mid-1990’s, receiving a Master’s Degree in American Studies in 1997. It was just prior to Paul’s return to college, sometime in 1993, when he first discovered his Mayflower Ancestry through a fortuitous twist of fate. It began with a meeting of a Bumpus cousin in a local used bookstore, in the town where he was born, Brockton, who when finding out that Paul was also a Bumpus, showed him a copy of George Willison’s book “Saints and Strangers” on the shelves of the bookstore. The passengers list of the early Pilgrim ships, including “The Fortune” (1621) are printed there. Being a Bumpus from Plymouth County, this newly met cousin explained, meant that Paul was surely descended from Edward Bompasse, found on the passenger list of that ship which arrived in Plymouth in 1621, almost exactly a year after the Mayflower. Certainly Edward Bumpas, as he was known by his Anglicized named, was one of the “lusty young men of the Fortune” written about by William Bradford in his book on the early years at Plymouth. In the process of trying to establish descent from Edward, and upon first mentioning to his sister what he had learned about the Bumpus ancestry, as coming from Edward, it was then revealed to him by his sister that: “Well, Ma’s descended from Myles Standish and William Bradford, and William Brewster. . .” The genealogy germ was bred, and Paul’s association with the Mayflower Society began as, during the course of his research his searching brought him to our Library at Plymouth. He would then become, first, a volunteer at the library in 2003, and then in 2005 he was hired by then Historian General, Bette Bradway, as a Verifying Genealogist. In 2006 when the Librarian, Eliana Kimball, retired, Paul was offered the position of Librarian by the new Historian General, Ann Lainhart. Paul was also appointed, about this same time, to the position of Historian for the Mayflower Society in Hawaii, and Historian for the Pilgrim Henry Samson Kindred. Then, something never dreamt of at the start of his personal or genealogical odyssey, Paul was elected to the position of Historian General of the Mayflower Society at the Mayflower Society’s Triennial Congress on September 9, 2008.

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News from Congress

Our own George Garmany, Deputy Governor General and Surgeon General, and Colorado Society of Mayflower Descendants representative to the General Board of Assistants Meeting on September 11-13, 2009 in Annapolis, MD, shared some of the highlights of the meeting which have been further summarized by your PT editor for this edition in view of space requirements. Alice Teal, Editor of the Mayflower Quarterly received the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her seventeen years of service and the innovations she has accomplished during her tenure. The Mayflower Quarterly will be publishing a Diamond Jubilee edition next year in honor of the seventy-five years the magazine has been published. The Executive Committee has approved money to remove a structurally unstable balustrade of the Society House in Plymouth. A grant of $148,000 has been received to bring fifty college faculty members to Plymouth for a conference entitled: “Pilgrims and Wampanoags”.The announcement by the Education Committee states that part of the educational mission of the conference will be the production of a DVD to be used by teachers and college faculties. Included in plans for 2011 Congress, the Historical Committee announced they hope to offer a 7 to 10 day tour of New England sites that were known to the Pilgrims. Current plans are that the tour would follow the Congress. A Website Committee has been established and will work to update the General Society website in an effort to better make available many of our published resources to our members. Paul Bumpus, Historian General, (and much anticipated speaker for our Compact Dinner), discussed the recent change in membership criteria which now allow primary or supplemental membership to be traced to any man, woman or child who was a passenger on the Mayflower. He also reviewed plans of the 2020 committee for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage. It has been found that the term “Society of Mayflower Descendants” and the Society seal have not been trademarked and money was approved to accomplish clearing this technicality as soon as possible.

Welcome Aboard New Members Supplementals

John Alden Duane Brightman Reynolds

12th from S. Fuller Courtland Scott Riffle

Isaac Allerton Delilah Ball Blount 12th from Alden Dennis Harold Smith

13th from Mullins William Bradford

Joyce Sieglinger Rorman Michael Thomas Trotter 11th from Chilton Matthew William Trotter

Veronica Hopkins Wilson Carol Bishop Adams Dennis Harold Smith

13th from Hopkins Leslie Monahan Peterson

James Chilton Transfers to Colorado Brittany Noelle Quinn

Sidney Elizabeth Goodwin 11th from Rogers Francis Cooke

Diana Phipps Braden Transfer from Connecticut

Stephen Hopkins Matthew Stiles Bowdish 12th from Howland William Kenneth Hall, Jr.

Thomas David Gleason Transfer from Connecticut

Thomas Rogers New Junior Members Sarah Courtney Brandenburg

William Bradford George Soule Paige Michelle Trotter

Ruth Cottrell Bowling Charles Michelle Trotter Alison Fischer Pribble Zachary T. Z. Trotter

Grace A. G. Trotter

Jeanney Horn Governor General Judy Swan and Jack Cook

Kathleen Munns

Andrew Rudy

The Colorado Society of Mayflower Descendants Scholarships

By Paul Kilburn Each year we award two $1000 scholarships to graduating seniors from all high schools in the state. The application is pretty extensive and grading of each item is done by several members of the society. A major requirement is an essay, in 2009 on the topic of “Why did the Wampanoag Indians sign a treaty in 1622 with the Pilgrims.” We had over 25 applicants from around the state. The two winners were Andrew Rudy of Palmer High School in Colorado Springs and Kathleen Munns of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins. One Honorable mention award, which included a $100 dollar grant, went to Eva Rose Warner of Palmer High School. The winning essays can be found at the end of this newsletter. This coming year's essay topic is: “By 1650 many children of early settlers had moved from Plymouth to establish new settlements. Discuss some of the reasons why they moved away. Where did they settle?”

Notices:

If you are interested in becoming the new Chair of the Scholarship Committee, please contact Paul Kilburn.

The newly revised Articles and Bylaws are now available online

The Spring Luncheon will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at the Pinehurst Country Club Plymouth Rock Cranberry Pie

from Old New England Recipes, Bear Wallow Books 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell and 10 1/2 inch wide and 1/8-inch thick strips for lattice 3 eggs, lightly beaten ¾ cup sugar ½ cup light corn syrup 1 Tbs. Butter, melted ¼ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. ground cloves 1 12 oz. Pkg. Fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl in the order given (except cranberries), blending until smooth. Then fold in berries. Pour filling into pie shell. Weave the 10 strips of dough over each other (1 inch apart) to form the lattice. Pinch the strip ends with wet fingers to seal the pie-shell rim. Crimp pie-shell edges. Bake in 350 degree F oven 45 to 50 minutes. Serve with warm cream or ice cream.

~~~~~~~~ In Memoriam ~~~~~~~~

Wanda was born to Harold and May Elizabeth Persons Clark on April 1, 1918 near Blue Mound, KS in the midst of the excitement of a tornado in the area. When she was only 8 months old when she and her whole family suffered from the infamous Spanish ‘flu but thankfully, all survived. She spent most of her youth in Boulder, Colorado and graduated from the State Preparitory School (now Boulder High School) in 1936.

Wanda Mae Clark Bartlett Wanda married John T. Bartlett in 1938 and they lived in Denver, Pueblo, Greeley and Ft. Collins while he served as auditor for the State of Colorado. They had two sons, Jack and Robert. Jack and his wife Debbie now live in Wheatland, Wyoming after living and working in Ft. Collins for the Poudre School District. Robert’s career was also in education as a math teacher and head of his department in Woodland Park, Colorado. John and Wanda celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in September 2008. John is currently living with Alzheimer’s disease at the Union Pinter’s Home in Colorado Springs. Robert feels very fortunate to have lived with and cared for Wanda during her long battle with Alzheimer’s and heart failure. She passed away on August 11, 2009. Earlier she was able to live with the sweet memory of being told by the poet Robert Frost, who was an old friend of the Bartletts, that she was “very pretty”! Wanda is survived by grandchildren Jody Smith and John Bartlett, great grand children Joshua, David and Cassie Smith and John Bartlett. Two step-grandchildren include Marge Jones of Ft. Collins and Hilary Jones of Pennsylvania. A great enjoyment in Wanda’s life was doing genealogical research and she was a long-time member of the Colorado Society of Mayflower Descendants, a member of the Governor William Bradford Compact and the Nancy Gary Chapter of the NSDAR in Norfolk, NE. Nancy Gary was Wanda’s great-great grandmother and that chapter was organized in part by her mother Mary Elizabeth in 1913. Son, Robert Bartlett says his mother truly enjoyed coming to the lunches and dinners of our society and we in turn truly miss her presence.

A request from Stacy B. C. Wood, Jr. I am drafting an article about songs and hymns written for the General Society and our various SMDs. On February 16, 1900, at the annual meeting of the SMDPA in Philadelphia, The Pilgrims, with words based on an earlier poem by Florence (Earle) Coates and music by Thomas Whitney Surette, was sung by the members and their guests. The cover is shown and carries the copyright date of 1900. Florence Coates was a poet laureate of Pennsylvania and one of 21 Charter Members of SMDPA (#10). The composer was “of” Bryn Mawr College. I have not examined the minutes of subsequent annual meetings to see there is an indication of how often and when it was last used. Currently no song is usually sung at the annual meeting. An annual memorial service on the Sunday before Thanksgiving was begun in 1933 and hymns and songs are sung there. In 1955 we adopted the Allen Eastman Cross hymn sung to “Duke Street” “More Light Shall Break” (aka “The Mayflower Hymn”) because it ends “The Mayflower still is sailing on.”

Written on the 300th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ voyage to America in the Mayflower, this hymn was first sung at the International Council of Congregational Churches in the Old South Church, Boston, Massachusetts, 1920. The words come from Pastor Robinson’s farewell to the Pilgrims. We also often sing “America the Beautiful” because of the 2nd verse “O beautiful for pilgrim feet.” The June 2003 Mayflower Quarterly printed the “The Mayflower Song.” It had been composed for the Second General Congress of our General Society that was held in Plymouth, MA, on September 15, 1900. The song was reprinted for the 1903 Congress. The lyrics are by Richard H. Greene of SMDNY and the music was written by gospel song composer W. Howard Doane, a member of SMDOH. The GSMD 1999 Centennial History compiled by the late Duane A. Cline lists half a dozen Mayflower/Pilgrim songs with their scores: “The Breaking Waves Dashed High” aka “The Landing of the Pilgrims” by Felicia D. Hemans and Mary Ann Brown. “The Mayflower Song” by Richard H. Greene and W. Howard Doane (see above). “Our Mayflower – The Thanksgiving Song” words and music by Marie Rich Rockwood (became the GSMD official song in 1954) “We Have Faith in This Land” words and music by Mark Nichols (SMDUT AG/DGG) “Oh Plymouth Ship” (sung to “America the Beautiful”) by Annie L. Sutton “Our Mayflower Men” (sung to “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes”) by Lydia Hammond Gale Would you please take time to send me an answer to the following? Perhaps one of your long-time members can help. It would help greatly. Be sure to identify your SMD. Credit will be given. 1. Do you sing hymns/songs regularly at your meetings? 2. Do you use one or more of the above? If so which and what meeting? 3. Do you have an original Mayflower/Pilgrim hymn/song? If so, who wrote it and when?

Officers and Board Members: Officers: Governor:…………. John F. Cook Deputy Governor:… Barbara C. Brown Secretary:….……… Delilah B. Blount Asst. Secretary:……. Kathryn B. Thomas Treasurer:.…………. Beverly Spooner Historian:…..……… Emily S. Palmer Asst. Historian: …... Nancy Jensen Elder:…………….... Steve Hunt Captain:…………… Andrew Thomas Surgeon:…………… Larry D. Moline Counsellor:………… Richard Jost

Board of Assistants: Blythe “Mickey” Boyes, Pilgrim Times Editor Betty Brown Nilou Kahn Tommie Kadotani Valorie Santino Liz Gaudreau General Society Officers: Deputy Governor General:…… George Garmany And Surgeon General Assistant Governor General:…. John F. Cook

~~~~~~~~ New England Humor ~~~~~~~~ from Old New England Recipes, Bear Wallow Books

New Englanders have long been known for their wry sense of humor. And none are so wry as the old Vermont farmers who keep sharp eyes on tourists wandering the beautiful Green Mountain roads. The following exchange has become legend: Lost tourist to the farmer: “How do I get to Burlington?” Vermont Farmer: “If I were ‘agoing to Burlington, I wouldn’t try ta git ther from here!”

An Essay by Kathleen Munns

An Essay by Andrew Rudy