Today Leiden in the Netherlands is a delightful city of about 125,000. The center city is much as it was hundreds of years ago, but easily reached today by modern bus service. In 1609 the Scrooby Separatists religious refugees relocated there from Amsterdam. At that time Leiden was a significant industrial community of around 15,000 and growing. By 1650 the town had grown to a city 55,000. Though I grew up knowing our family tree […]
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Meet A Few Pilgrim Authors
I’ve been offering blog readers tours of places that played a role in the Mayflower story. You can visit Scrooby, York, and Boston in England at your leisure. Before we emigrate with the Pilgrims to Holland, I want you to meet a few Pilgrim Authors – that is authors who have researched and written about the Mayflower story. These people have devoted years to researching and writing about the fascinating stories behind the Mayflower story. […]
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Scrooby, England and the Mayflower Pilgrims
As far as I’m concerned, the Mayflower story begins in Scrooby, England in the very late 1500s and early 1600s. Come with me to explore this little community far off today’s beaten path. According to a Legacies of History article about Scrooby, the village’s population then was between 150 and 200 people. Today it still a small village, with a population of less than 500, located on the River Ryton, near the confluence with the […]
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A Tribute to the Great x11 Granddaughter of William and Mary Brewster
Were she still alive, my mother, Elizabeth J. Hieber, would have turned 106 last Sunday (March 29, 2020). She died at the age of only 78. I say “only” because her mother lived to the age of 96. I am grateful to her for the example she set on how to face adversity and obstacles. Her lessons have proven invaluable during this coronavirus challenge. I credit her for my love of reading. Her curiosity led […]
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Twelve Generations After the Mayflower
I met Beth Splaine last summer at the writer’s retreat where I was working on Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures. Each evening we read portions of our work, so she was aware of my efforts to retell this famous story as a historical novel, with special emphasis on the perspective of the Natives and women. As a result of that event, I signed a contract with Green Writers Press to publish the book. […]
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