Weaker Vessels: The Women and Children of Plymouth Colony

Weaker Vessels

The Women and Children of Plymouth Colony

Building on the success of her first book, Diverse Gashes author Donna A Watkins now focuses her investigative talents on the less-studied population of women and children who lived in Plymouth Colony in her new work, Weaker Vessels. In this distinctive and compelling volume she sheds a new light on these less fortunate members of Pilgrim society, thus permitting us a glimpse into the pressure and ordeals which they experienced during the seventeenth century in America.

The majority of extant literature about the Pilgrims reveals a propensity to disregard or belittle these vital members of society, even though they, too, shared in the everyday struggles and challenges that were presented to them as they established their place in the New World. The author's aim is to rectify these omissions by presenting a case for remembrance of these exceptional individuals.        

Once again drawing her inspiration from tenacious research centered on an extensive array of court records, transcriptions, books, diaries, journals, and first-person accounts, Watkins carefully presents us with an impartial look at these neglected, yet essential, members of Plymouth. Their lives are examined in a nonjudgmental way within the context of the culture in which they lived, even given the unmistakable biases of the men who produced the laws and inflicted the punishments for various crimes and indiscretions committed in the colony. The reader is left to decide whether the punishment fits the crime, and what might have been the true motivation of those involved in the judicial process.

General laws and standards of the colony are examined with considerable insight, as are the intricacies and nuances of daily life in Plymouth. The details of courtship, marriage and divorce are scrutinized and explained, revealing some surprising aspects that may bewilder the modern reader. Domestic and civil violence are elucidated in their sometimes gruesome detail, as are the facts about children in servitude, unusual deaths in the colony, the consequences of "unnecessary talking," and the results of "unclean acts." Notable women of the colony are finally given their due in brief biographies, as are the seldom mentioned gerontological aspects of growing old in Plymouth society.

The time is right to call out these casualties of history, and in this timely and powerful book Donna Watkins presents us with an eloquent chronicle of their lives, a story that is long overdue.

Prologue – A Brief History of Plymouth Colony                              
Chapter 1 – Martyrs of the Mayflower                       
Chapter 2 – Laws and Standards              
Chapter 3 – Chastity and Courtship                        
Chapter 4 – Marriage and Fidelity                      
Chapter 5 – Divorce              
Chapter 6 – Domestic Violencee                           
Chapter 7 – Children in Service                 
Chapter 8 – Notable Women of Plymouth               
Chapter 9 – Slander, Defamination and "Unnecessary Talking"                   
Chapter 10 – Unclean Carriages and Lascivious Acts               
Chapter 11 – Children's Deaths                   
Chapter 12 – Danger and Desperation                       
Chapter 13 – Growing Old in Plymouth Colony               
Chapter 14 – Plymouth Colony Becomes Plymouth County               
Epilogue               
Acknowledgments                
Endnotes               
Bibliography                   
Illustration Credits                       
Index       
About the Author                   

Endorsements for Diverse Gashes

“The 1648 murder of four-year-old Martha Clarke, by her own mother, is perhaps Plymouth Colony’s most notorious but least studied community tragedy. In Diverse Gashes, Donna Watkins has masterfully pieced together the stories of family, witnesses, and magistrates, and placed the horrendous event in its social and historical contexts.” - Caleb Johnson, author, historian, and creator of http://mayflowerhistory.com

"What women suffered in New England, in the so-called name of justice, is a dark stain that should not be hidden under the rug of history. I congratulate Donna Watkins on her fearless handling of this subject." - Sue Allan, author and historian

 “Ms. Watkins provides the reader with an informative backstory into the lives of the Pilgrims before, during and after their arrival in the New World in 1620. In this compelling and fascinating account, Watkins explores in depth the circumstances of Alice’s heinous crime as well as the many unanswered questions brought forth as a result of her actions.” - Christine Cook, genealogist and Mayflower Descendant.

“In Diverse Gashes, Watkins focuses on the details leading up to the event and goes on to explain the social and religious stresses within the colony that were major contributory factors in Alice’s actions. The picture Donna has drawn of life in Plymouth Colony goes well beyond other historic reading I have done in this area. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Pilgrims, particularly those with ancestral lines back to Alice Bishop.” - Dennis Sutton, creator of “Home Grown in the Garden State,” http://www.njsuttonfamily.org.

“Watkins’ epic historical story, Diverse Gashes, gives an insightful glimpse into the Plymouth Pilgrims’ lives, their struggles, trials, and achievements against the odds. The murder of Martha Clarke by her mother, Alice Bishop, the investigation, and subsequent trial, leaves the reader with a true appreciation of modern-day justice.” - Michal Marshall, descendant of Alice Bishop.

“The 1648 death of four-year-old Martha Clarke at the hands of her mother, Alice Bishop, has haunted Alice’s descendants for centuries. Using primary documentation and hundreds of sources, Donna Watkins carefully investigates the murder and trial, as well as the key characters involved in this tragic story. As much a history of the Pilgrims as it is of Alice Bishop, Diverse Gashes explores the culture of "control and watchfulness” that pervaded Plymouth Colony, providing the context that family historians have long sought.” - Erin Taylor and Kristin Luce, co-authors of Alice Martin Bishop: Motherhood & Murder in Plymouth Colony, http://www.alicemartinbishop.com

Specifications

Format: 6" x 9" paperback printed on permanent acid-free paper
Pages: 334, including Prologue, Fourteen chapters, Epilogue, Acknowledgments, Endnotes, Bibliography, Illustration Credits, Index, and About the Author. Includes 27 illustrations of various aspects of Pilgrim life.
ISBN 10: 1-939995-34-5
ISBN 13: 978-1939995-34-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020017765
Price: $24.95 (Bulk order rates are available upon request)

About the Author

DONNA A. WATKINS has published articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers, including the "Los Angeles Times." She has an undergraduate degree in American Studies (CSULA), and she holds graduate degrees in Library and Information Management (USC) and American Studies (CSUF). Alice Bishop,the subject of this book, is her ninth-great-grandmother. Donna's career included work as a librarian at the Pasadena Public Library. After years of helping patrons find books in public libraries, she has turned to writing her own. She resides in Fullerton, California in a house full of quilts.