11 AUGUST 1923 — PLYMOUTH BENCH
PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS
Marker on Plymouth Bench
The second permanent English Colony was planted in 1620 at Plymouth, on the coast of what is now Massachusetts. Here the Pilgrims landed. They were the first of many English settlers to come to America because of religious persecution. In 1628 the Puritans settled the town of Salem. By 1640, twenty-five thousand more religious refugees had settled in New England.
These early colonists of the Pilgrim Colony came not only to plant crops for subsistence, but to plant on this virgin soil a new nation to perpetuate the cultural development of Anglo-Saxon civilization, whose fruit would bear the best of English traditions, culture and laws.
The Mayflower came in 1620 bearing 101 passengers. The entire company settled at Plymouth. The Fortune, the Sparrow and Swan and a small vessel, with name unknown, made their way to New England in 1621 and 1622.
Then about July 10, 1623, the ship “Anne” arrived in Plymouth bringing 60 persons. William Pierce was the Master. This was the first ship which bore a feminine name. It carried a very precious cargo: 12 maidens who soon married colonists, 7 wives to join their husbands, 12 children of these couples, 4 mothers or sisters, 3 sons to join their parents, 14 men to establish themselves as planters
The bench was dedicated to pay tribute to the maidens, wives and daughters who came to comfort, support, and assist the colonist planters in the foundation of our great nation.