It's a small world after all

Dear Editor,

During my senior year of college, I toured Boston, Mass.

It was filled with sights and sounds and intriguing places. I visited Paul Rever’s house that was built in the 1670s. My friends and I toured the Old North Church where two lanterns were hung, signaling Revere’s famous ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming.

At that time, I knew the Puritans in my family tree had arrived in Boston in the 1600s. However, I was busy visiting Boston Harbor and eating shrimp at the famous Old Oyster House, and exploring.

Now in 2019, I am busy gathering facts about the Puritans. When Queen Elizabeth I ruled England, there was religious tension and intolerance.

These problems increased during the reign of James I. He announced that the Puritans had to conform to the religious practices of the Church of England, or leave.

Despite the fact that the Puritans held high offices in villages and towns in Great Britain, King James I was determined to drive them out of the country.

Groups of Puritans gathered at the seaport in Plymouth, England. They set sail for America.

One of my ancestors, Thomas Hancock, who was born in Exeter, England, in 1605, was a Puritan. He paid Samuel Green to build him a merchant ship. Green charged him two pounds, twelve shillings and six pence per ton to construct it. He went to Boston.

Reverend John Maverick brought Puritans, known as the Dorchester Company, to the edge of Boston. They called their settlement Dorchester. This is now part of Boston.

Another group of Puritans settled near the Charles River outside of Boston. Roger Clapp was a member of the group. He described how they wandered in the wilderness until they found a wigwam and a log house.

There are people here in Southwest Nebraska with the last name of Clapp. More than likely, they are related to Roger Clapp and those Puritans.

When McCook celebrates Heritage Days in September with the theme of Back To Our Roots, I’m sure that some people will go back to the Puritans.

It’s a small world after all.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Neb.