Henry Samson

Henry Samson (c. 1603 – 1685) In 1620 Henry Samson traveled as a member of the Edward Tilley family on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. The Tilleys died in the first winter but Henry Samson survived to live a long, fulfilling life in Plymouth Colony.

Henry Samson was baptized in Henlow, Bedford, England on January 15, 1603/04. He was a son of James Samson and his wife Martha (Cooper), a sister of Ann, wife of Edward Tilley. Henry was noted in his father’s 1638 will and was bequeathed five pounds.

Shortly after their marriage Edward Tilley and his wife went to live in Leiden, Holland. They appear in a 1616 Leiden record where he was reported to be a weaver as with a number of other Leiden Separatists, and future Mayflower passengers. There is an indication that Edward’s brother John Tilley was also in Leiden along with Edward’s ward Henry Samson.

Henry Samson, age about sixteen, boarded the ship Mayflower as a nephew of the Edward Tilley family, along with his cousin, one year old Humility Cooper. Why Henry was in the custody of the Tilleys is unknown – it is possible he may have been apprenticed out to his uncle Edward Tilley. The reason that Humility and Henry were given over to the care of the Tilleys, apparently in Leiden, has never been fully explained. Henry's parents and siblings remained in Henlow, Bedfordshire.

Per William Bradford’s later recollection of this family: “Edward Tillie, and Ann, his wife; and *2* children that were their cossens, Henery Samson and Humility Coper.”

The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30−40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.

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