George Soule was born 1593 in England and died 1678 Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts of unspecified causes. He married Mary Buckett (1602-1676) 1625 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.
Biography[]
George Soule traveled to Plymouth Colony in 1620 as a servant to leader Edward Winslow (1595-1655) on the Mayflower.
Voyage of the Mayflower[]
Mayflower at Provincetown Harbor
The Mayflower, originating from London with a group of Adventurers bound for the New World rendezvoused on 22 July with the Speedwell just arriving from Holland with a group of religious refugees from Leiden. Originally intended to sail jointly to the English Colony in Virginia it soon became evident that Speedwell was not seaworthy. Passengers and cargo were combined onto Mayflower (with many left behind) for the journey, finally departing on September 9.
During the voyage fierce storms blew the ship off course, arriving at Cape Cod on the Eastern Massachusetts coastline on November 9th. For two days they attempted to sail south to Virginia but exhausting supplies and fierce storms caused them to abort this effort and drop anchor at what is now Provincetown Harbor. On November 11th, the group decided to settle here and start their own colony. They wrote a governmental contract called the Mayflower Compact, George was the 35th of the 41 signers on this document.
Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899
About the middle of December 1620, the ship moved and dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor. All the while the pilgrims were conducting several exploring missions of the area and negotiations with the local natives. Almost half of the passengers died, suffering from an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis. In the spring, they built huts ashore, and on March 21, 1621, the surviving passengers disembarked from the Mayflower into their new settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Duxbury Settlement[]
Reconstruction of the pilgrim home of George and Mary Soule in Duxbury MA.
George Soule and family moved to Duxbury, Massachusetts very early on, and he was a deputy to the Plymouth Court for a number of years beginning in 1642. He had volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637, but Plymouth's troops were not needed. He was on various committees, juries, and survey teams, during his life in Duxbury. In 1646, for example, he was appointed to the committee to deal with Duxbury's problem of the disorderly smoking of tobacco.
George Soule made out his will on 11 August 1677, and added a codicil to it on 20 September 1677.
Marriage and Family[]
George Soule and wife Mary had nine known children, eight of which were born by 1650. This is reflected in the 1650 Journal of William Bradford by the entry "George Soule is still living and hath 8 children." The ninth child, Benjamin, was born approximately one year later in 1651, but died unmarried in 1676 at Pawtucket, RI, a combatant and casualty of the King Philip's War with the Massaquoit Indians.
On May 22, 1627 the Division of Cattle was recorded in the Plymouth Colony Records. This division was essentially a complete census of 1627 Plymouth. At the date of division in 1627, their first-born infant, Zachariah, was George and Mary's only recorded child living at that time in the household.
- Zachariah was born by May 1627 and died in Duxbury before 11 December 1663. He married Margaret _____ by 1663, but had no recorded children.
- John was born about 1632 and died in Duxbury before 14 November 1707.
- Nathaniel was born between 1634 and 1646 and died in Dartmouth before 12 October 1699. He married Rose Thorn by 1680 and had five children.
- George was born about 1639 and died in Dartmouth before 22 June 1704. He married by 1671 Deborah _____ and had eight children. She died in Dartmouth about February 1709.
- Susanna was born about 1640 and died in Kingstowne, Rhode Island after 1684. She married Francis West by 1660 and had nine children.
- Mary Soule (1642-1720) was born about 1642 and died in Plymouth after 1720. She married John Peterson by 1665 and had nine children. He died between 29 April 1718 and 26 March 1720, probably in Plymouth.
- Elizabeth was born about 1644 and died after 1667. She married Francis Walker by 23 July 1668 and had one child. He died in probably Middleboro about 1701.
- Patience was born about 1646 and died on 11 March 1705/6 in Middleboro. She married John Haskell in January 1666/7 in Middleboro and had eight children. He died on 15 May 1706 in Middleboro.
- Benjamin was born by about 1652 and died unmarried during King Philip's War on 26 March 1676 in combat against the Massaquoit Indians.
Children
Vital Records[]
Duxbury Tombstone[]
Tombstone of George Soule in Duxbury MA.
Gravestone Location: Myles Standish Burying Ground - Duxbury MA
Bradfords Passenger List[]
Source: History of Mayflower Plantation (1650) by William Bradford (1590-1657)
"Mr. Edward Winslow, Elizabeth his wife, & 2 men servants called George Soule, and Elias Story, also a little girl was put to him called Ellen, the sister of Richard More."
"Mr. Ed Winslow, his wife died the first winter; and he married with the widow of Mr. White, and hat 2 children living by her marriageable, besides sundry that are dead. One of his servants died, as also the little girl soon after the ships arrival. But his man George Soule is still living,, and hath 8 children."
Codile to Last Will 1677[]
George Soule made out his will on 11 August 1677, and added a codicil to it on 20 September 1677. The codicil is quite interesting as it gives a little insight into a family squabble between son John and daughter Patience:
"If my son John Soule above-named or his heirs or assigns or any of them shall at any time disturb my daughter Patience or her heirs or assigns or any of them in peaceable possession or enjoyment of the lands I have given her at Nemasket alias Middleboro and recover the same from her or her heirs or assigns or any of them; that then my gift to my son John Soule shall be void; and that then my will is my daughter Patience shall have all my lands at Duxbury and she shall be my sole executrix of this my last will and testament and enter into my housing lands and meadows at Duxbury."
Pilgrim Monument[]
National Monument to the Forefathers, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims, (including this person) who came to Plymouth Colony in 1620 on the Mayflower. Dedicated on August 1, 1889, it is thought to be the world's largest solid granite monument. Located on an 11 acre hilltop site on Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
References[]
- George Soule (c1593-1678)/List of Famous Descendants
- MainTour Plymouth Colony
- George Soule - MayflowerHistory.com
- George Soule Mayflower Passenger - Wikipedia
- George Soule - FindAGrave Memorial #5728447
- George Soule Kindred in the U.S.
- Soule Family in England
- George Soule Primary Sources