Can You Help John Carver, the Mayflower Project and the Collaborative Profile of the Week

Question

The Mayflower Project and Collaborative Profile of the Week Present:

John Carver
Mayflower Passenger

John Carver helped organize the voyage of the Mayflower, is credited with writing the Mayflower Compact, signed it, and was the first governor of Plymouth Colony.

1. Are his parents and origins known or not? If we don't know that should be stated.
2. Wikipedia says he had two wives. Who was the other one?
3. Let's spruce up his wife Katherine's profile too. She was also a passenger. Her Last Name at Birth needs to be changed according to Wikipedia.
4. Alas, he has no known descendants, but he apparently had a couple of children who should at least get a mention in his biography.
5. I love the Quotes from Bradford's Journal that now make up the bulk of John's profile. Let's add some more information to that biography.
6. What did he do before the Mayflower?
7. What were the circumstances of his death?

If you want to work on some aspect of the profile. Post an answer here. That way we don't duplicate work and the question stays at the top of the G2G questions.

MAYFLOWER PROJECT

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the United States this week, it is fitting that we think about the women and men who founded this country. Some of those persons sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. In the United States, there are two "Holy Grails" of genealogy, one is to find your Revolutionary War ancestor, the other is to find your Mayflower Ancestor. The Mayflower Project highlights those ancestors: the passengers on the "Mayflower," their wives, and their descendants born before 1700 (generally children and grandchildren). 

Join us this week in being thankful for all the good things we have.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving

Answer 1

I added to his early bio leading up to the voyage. It includes first wife & two children that died young.

Comments

Great thank you Doug

Answer 2

Thanks, Anne! I'm going to make a few quick style edits to the bio.

Comments

Thank you Chris.

Answer 3

The biography says that John Carver had no children. I'm not sure if that means he is *known* to have had none or simply that no one can prove any children. That distinction should be clarified.

Comments

Actually, I thought he did, but the child died shortly after birth. Jim would you like to poke around a little on the internet and see if you can find them. I think maybe in wikipedia.

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FWIW, the wikipedia article on John Carver says that, "John Carver had no known surviving descendants.^[3]" For the source they cite: A genealogical profile of John Carver, (a collaboration of Plimoth Plantation and New England Historic Genealogical Society accessed 2013-04-21).

Elsewhere in the article, they state... 

...that he married twice in England; each marriage produced one child who died early

...that he had no children of his own with him when he boarded the Mayflower 

...that he and his wife both died by mid-1621 (hence, leaving scant time to bear a child)

So, it would seem reasonable to state that "no surviving children of John Carver are known or are likely."

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Thank you, that clarifies a lot.

Answer 4

It appears that his second wife's LNAB is White, not Legett: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Leggett-169

Comments

I agree, I left a note on the profile,

Answer 5

I am completing a book about John Carver. It includes his apprenticeship and life as a merchant in London; his marriage to Marie de Lannoy, joining the Pilgrims in Leiden; his marriage to Catherine Leggett (nee White); his work for the Pilgrims and his death. It should be finished next year.

Comments

Very industrious.