Six years after their 1610 marriage, Samuel More was convinced his wife had a long-term affair. All four children in the More household bore a noticeable resemblance to Katherine’s childhood friend, Jacob Blakeway. Long before Samuel and Katherine were married, she and Jacob promised themselves to each other, but her father had other plans. He arranged for Katherine to marry her cousin, Samuel, in order to keep their Shropshire County estate within the family.
Months after their fourth child was born, despite Katherine’s wishes, Samuel placed the children with another family. Four years later, he placed them all aboard the Mayflower with those pious passengers intent on planting another English colony on the American continent. By sending them across the ocean, Samuel believed the children could leave behind a lifetime of questions about their parentage and have a far better chance for happiness and prosperity. But Samuel surely also knew it was an effective way to minimize his pubic humiliation, lash out against his cheating wife, and slash his financial burden for children he no longer wanted.
On December 6, 1620, seven-year-old Jasper More died at Cape Cod from an infection, the first child to die on the journey. Within weeks, both sisters would follow him in death. Out of the four Mayflower siblings, only Richard More survived to adulthood, becoming an important sea captain for the colonists.
Little is known of their mother's fate, but Samuel More became a member of England’s Parliament and a military officer.
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“Behold, children are the inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb his reward. As are the arrows in the hand of the strong man; so are the children of youth. Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of them.”
(Psalms 127:3-5; 1599 Geneva Bible)
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