On September 6, 1620, George Soule, a young man in his early twenties, boarded the Mayflower, a three-masted wooden ship in Plymouth, England. Exactly where he lived before that day or why he chose to join the pilgrims’ voyage to the New World isn’t known. Much has been speculated about him but little proven. What he looked like, his accent or education isn’t known, but by examining records that exist we can surmise that he was literate, civic-minded, strong, brave and successful.
There were two groups of passengers on the Mayflower: the 37 Separatists who wanted to leave England and "separate" from the Church of England, 65 who were motivated by financial interests, about 25 crew members, and two dogs, a mastiff and a spaniel.
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George was one of two servants of Edward Winslow and his wife, Elizabeth, which places him among the 65 non-separatists. In those days servant also meant apprentice. Nothing is known of Edward’s and George’s prior relationship. It is sometimes said that George was brought along as a tutor for the Winslow children, but there is no proof of this. Were they good friends? Did they meet through the church? Might the financial backers of the voyage have introduced them? These questions have not yet been answered.
George’s place and date of birth is the source of much conjecture. Because no records have been found, his age can only be guessed by clues. He signed the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document in the New World, so he had to be at least 21. The age for ending an apprenticeship was 25 so he wasn’t older than 24, which would make his date of birth between1595 and 1599.
The pilgrims were required by contract to their underwriters to live in a tight community for seven years. Because single men were not given their own homes, George lived in the small house erected for the Winslows. Conditions were so harsh in the colony that only 4 of the 18 adult women who sailed on the Mayflower, were alive to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.
In 1623, two important things happened to George. Because he was an original settler, he was given an acre of land, and Mary Becket (sometimes spelled Buckett) arrived on the second passenger ship sent from England, the Anne. Onboard with her were many pilgrim wives who had been left behind and the first farm animals to be brought to the New World. Nothing is known of Mary’s origins and little research has been undertaken to learn about her. Did she travel alone? Did she know George before he left England? Was she related to any of the other pilgrims?
Mary and George married at Plymouth sometime before 1626, and qualified for a home of their own. Their first child, Zachariah, was born by 1627; a few years later, a second son, John, arrived.
In 1637 George volunteered to fight in the war against the Pequot Indians in the Connecticut Valley, where many new settlers had moved. This was the first war with Native Americans and the English won.
That same year Mary gave birth to a third son, Nathaniel, and George was granted land at Powder Point in Ducksburrow, across the bay from Plymouth. He farmed it in good weather at first, and in 1642 he and Mary moved there permanently.
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In 1664 tragedy struck the Soule family when Zachariah, 36, the eldest child, died fighting the Mohawks in what was called the Canada Expedition. He left a wife, but no known children. In 1676 the youngest child, Benjamin, age 25, was killed in a battle with the Wampanoag Indians, often called King Philip’s War. He had not married and left no children.
George was appointed a representative to the Plymouth Colony General Court, a position he held for many years. He served many times as a jurist for the Colony, once as a member of The Grand Inquest in Plymouth, and on various committees, including one “to draw up an order concerning disorderly drinking of tobacco.”
In December of that same year Mary (Becket) Soule died, George followed in 1679. They are buried in the Standish Cemetery in Duxbury. In George’s will, he left his home, lands, books and money to his surviving children— John, Nathanial, George, Susanna, Mary, Elizabeth and Patience—from whom all Soules in the New World descend.
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Sources: Pilgrim Hall Museum, The Search for the English Origins of Mayflower Passenger George Soule by Caleb Johnson, Mayflower Families in Progress, Mourt’s Relation by Edward Winslow.
