Page 15 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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Mayflower Compact’s Signers

Although the original document was lost, there are three versions that are in existence – the 17th century version
printed in Mourt's Relation (1622), which was reprinted in Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625), second a hand written
version by William Bradford in his journal Of Plimoth Plantation (1646), and a printed version by Bradford's
nephew Nathaniel Morton in New-Englands Memorial (1669). The three versions differ slightly in wording and
significantly in spelling, capitalization and punctuation. William Bradford wrote the first part of Mourt's Relation,
including its version of the compact. Hence, he wrote two of the three versions. The wording of both versions is
quite similar, which is unlike that of Morton’s writing. Bradford's handwritten manuscript is kept in a vault at the
State Library of Massachusetts. A list of 41 male passengers who signed the document was supplied by
Bradford's nephew Nathaniel Morton in his 1669 New England's Memorial. Thomas Prince first numbered the
names in his 1736 A Chronological History of New-England in the form of Annals. Because the original document had
been lost, Morton (1669) is our sole source for the signers. Although he probably had access to the original
document, he could not have known simply by inspecting it the actual order that it was signed. 10

The Compact was signed as a governing document and it makes the statement “for our better Ordering and
Preservation.” It was to provide order in the new settlement. The signers of the Compact were religious men
who honored God. They thought it was important to sign it in the “Presence of God.” It is similar to swearing on
the Bible in the name of God. The following list of signers is organized into the six short columns of Morton
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with the numbers by Thomas Prince. The names are given their modern spelling according to Morison.

1. Mr. John Carver 8. Mr. Samuel Fuller 15. Edward Tilley
2. William Bradford 9. Mr. Christopher Martin 16. John Tilley
3. Mr. Edward Winslow 10. Mr. William Mullins 17. Francis Cooke
4. Mr. William Brewster 11. Mr. William White 18. Thomas Rogers
5. Mr. Isaac Allerton 12. Mr. Richard Warren 19. Thomas Tinker
6. Capt. Myles Standish 13. John Howland 20. John Rigsdale
7. John Alden 14. Mr. Stephen Hopkins 21. Edward Fuller

22. John Turner 29. Degory Priest 36. Richard Clarke
23. Francis Eaton 30. Thomas Williams 37. Richard Gardiner
24. James Chilton 31. Gilbert Winslow 38. John Allerton
25. John Crackstone 32. Edmund Margeson 39. Thomas English
26. John Billington 33. Peter Browne 40. Edward Doty
27. Moses Fletcher 34. Richard Britteridge 41. Edward Lester
28. John Goodman 35. George Soule

The Mayflower Compact’s Signers (recreated table from Prince, 1736)

The names are published in his 1669 New England’s Memorial. They are also posted by the Avalon Project of Yale
University. Some of the more familiar names are those such as: John Carver, William Bradford, Edward
Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, and John Alden. When creating the Mayflower
Compact, the signers believed that covenants were not only to be honored between God and man, but also
between each other. They had always honored covenants as part of their righteous integrity and agreed to be
bound by this same principle with the Compact. It is similar to a covenant made between God and man, but it

10 Henry Martyn Dexter, G. Mourt; George Morton, Mourt's Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth, 1865, pp.6–7

11 Samuel Eliot Morison, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620–1647 by William Bradford (New York: Alfed A. Knopf, 1966)