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Photo Vincent Guadazno
Memorial tablet for the five Pilgrims on the Mayflower who died at sea and in Provincetown Harbor. This stone was formerly situated at the foot of High Pole Hill Road, and is now located to the left of the bas relief in the newly landscaped park |
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History Highlights
Moving Memorials
Laurel Guadazno
BANNER COLUMNIST
On a sunny day in August 1921 more than 200 members of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants gathered to witness the brief but impressive ceremony on the occasion of the unveiling of a memorial tablet honoring those who died while the Mayflower was at sea and anchored in Provincetown Harbor.
Those who grew up in town probably remember this memorial stone on the small triangular piece of land at the foot of High Pole Hill Road where the re-greening committee has now created a 'vest pocket park' with a bench and tree. They may not remember, however, in whose honor the tablet was erected or know where the stone is now.
The Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants erected the Memorial tablet as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims. At the time The Sunday Boston Globe reported that the stone, made of Pennsylvania slate, was erected at a cost of $3,000 and stood out against an 'artistic background of verdant foliage, only a few feet from the street.' The center top has an engraving of the Mayflower and the dates 1620-1920. The inscription was done using lettering taken from a 17th century tombstone inscription as a model and reads, 'In memory of the five Mayflower passengers who died at sea while the ship lay in Cape Cod Harbor. William Button, Nov. 16, 1620, Edward Thomson, Dec. 14, 1620, Jasper More, Dec. 16, 1620, Dorothy Bradford, Dec. 17, 1620, James Chilton, Dec. 18, 1620. James Chilton was the only signer of the Mayflower compact who died at Cape Cod. This memorial erected by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants.'
In 1921 there was a flurry of activity in town related to the 300th anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims. By vote of Town Meeting, the Provincetown Tercentenary Commission took charge of the stone and developed plans for a suitable memorial to the Mayflower Pilgrims. They took, by eminent domain, the land now referred to as the Bas Relief Park, and installed the bas relief designed by Cyrus Dallin there. The sidewalk in front of town hall was widened and the memorial stone commemorating the signing of the Mayflower Compact at Provincetown, placed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in front of Town Hall, was put under the jurisdiction of the Tercentenary Committee and moved to Ryder Street.
In 1969 a beautification plan was developed for the Bas Relief area and, by vote of Town Meeting, the memorial stone commemorating the early Pilgrim dead at the foot of High Pole Hill Road, along with the one erected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts commemorating the signing of the Mayflower Compact, were moved to the area we now call the Bas Relief Park. Just this year the park was redesigned and the two stones were once again moved.
If there were a prize for memorial stones that have moved the most, certainly these two would receive it.
[Laurel Guadazno is visitor services manager for the Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum. She also writes and narrates 'History Highlights,' heard regularly on WOMR, 92.1 FM.]
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Jul 24th, 2003