Francis Billington sailed to Plymouth on the Mayflower with his parents John Billington and Elinore. When looking at a graphic from the Mayflower Society showing which pilgrims survived the first winter, it is interesting to see that there are only three families that were still intact after that first winter. The Billington Family, the Brewster Family and the Hopkins Family. Francis is my 10X Great Grandfather and his parents are my 11X Great Grandparents.
This family ties in through the Bayne family and for a long time we were missing proof for one generation. Then we found a will from Olive Moore Hurd that gave all the needed information – we were in!
The Billington family was not really well liked or respected in the new colony. The boys Francis and John were often in trouble. Francis Sr was the first murderer in the new colony, so they really didn’t fit in well. Even Elinore was put in the stocks and whipped for slander. Mayflower History Link on the family Part of the issue may have been that the Billington Family was not part of the Leiden congregation – Mayflower Passenger List and Affiliations
I’ll repeat this again with other Mayflower stories, but of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower, only 57 survived that first winter. With the entire Billington Family that adds three direct relatives to my count of passengers. Combine the Howland and Tilley family with the Billington family and that means 7 of the passengers were family, and so far 5 survived the first winter. This graphic is really a powerful one to show how hard that winter was. I’ll put photos we took of the graphic in this story just in case the link breaks.
Proving lineage to Francis Billington Jr and Christian Penn looks like this (from Great Grandma Marjorie)
Marjorie Acenath Bayne Munter
James Buchanon Bayne and Aseneth Mae Phillips
Jacob Simeon Phillips and Surlina Hurd
Elijah Hurd and Asneith Truesdale (Asenith is unproven, but assumed)
Robert Hurd and Olive Moore
Jacob Hurd and Amy Welch
Thomas Herd and Lydia Bump
Philip Bump and Sarah Eaton
Samuel Eaton and Martha Billington
Francis Billington and Christian Penn
John Billington and Elinore
Clicking on any of these images will make them larger, and you can choose to view in “full size” or download as needed.
Mayflower Passengers Graphic 
Mayflower Passengers – those who started 
Mayflower Passengers – those who survived
Cory and Nicole Family History 
