Titus Waymouth died in Plymouth, so Governor William Bradford appointed a jury of twelve men to conduct a coroner’s inquest on October 5, 1656. Those investigating the incident found no bruises, no wounds, nor any other indication as to what may have taken his life. We know little of Mr. Waymouth today, nor apparently did the people of Plymouth Colony centuries ago. Aside from a chest that Waymouth owned back in Boston (with unknown contents), the entirety of his known estate amounted to a suit, hat, shirt, compass, and back wages of four pounds, sixteen shillings that were owed to him by Boston shipmaster, Samuel Mayo.
When the jury finally concluded their investigation about two weeks later, their best guess as to the cause of Mr. Waymouth’s death, according to the Plymouth Colony records, was that he succumbed to deadly case of chronic constipation (“stoppings,” they called it) and too much hard cider.
Perhaps it was an indication of Mr. Waymouth’s financial status and solitary existence that the colony at Plymouth made the financial arrangements for the funeral of this out-of-towner. His burial expenses included a coffin, burial cloth, and the services of the court clerk and gravediggers. Lastly, twelve shillings of Mr. Waymouth’s meager estate were to be paid out to the local tavern for a customary post-funeral toast; after all, no heirs were nearby who could object to the charges.
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"Look not thou upon the wine, when it is red, and when it showeth his color in the cup, or goeth down pleasantly. In the end thereof it will bite like a serpent, and hurt like a cockatrice."
(Proverbs 23:31-32; 1599 Geneva Bible)
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