The Wreck of the Cursed Little James

In 1623, the ship Little James set off from England with more supplies and immigrants for Plymouth Colony. Immediately the young Captain Altham faced challenges. After a one-week delay in the fog, the food supplies began spoiling. The crew blamed passenger John Jenney for neglecting the provisions, as he was busy with his pregnant wife who later gave birth on the voyage. 

The crew was further angered when the captain refused to plunder a nearby French vessel. After a slow, grueling voyage, the Little James finally arrived in Plymouth on August 5, 1623. The agitated crew protested their contract and refused to cooperate with their superiors, so Plymouth's Governor Bradford promised their pay to maintain peace. 

Come springtime, while the Little James was on a fishing assignment, the crew mutinied, forcing the captain off the ship to retrieve food supplies. On April 10, 1624, as Captain Altham returned with provisions, a furious storm slammed the ship against the rocks. The shipmaster John Bridges drowned, two crewmembers were killed, and all cargo was lost.

After costly repairs, the Little James was returned to England to recoup financial losses. Three years later, just south of England, the James was captured by pirates. The cargo was stolen and the shipmaster and crew were sold into slavery. Nothing is heard of the Little James after that. 

Looking back on the misfortune of the James, William Bradford wrote, "I fear the Adventurers did over-pride themselves in her, for she had ill success."

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“Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold sorrow? for spoiling, and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.”

(Habakkuk 1:3; 1599 Geneva Bible)

A Dreary Inspection of Their New Home

On December 21, 1620, passengers who had been onboard the Mayflower for months could finally visit the future site of their colony. With a violent storm lashing the coastline, only a few determined souls took that chance. After years of praying and planning, they would wait no longer to see their new homesite. 

The shallop’s sail struggled against the harbor winds, and the waves tossed them like driftwood. Once on land, it soon became clear that the squalls and angry waters would forbid them from going back to the ship. There was no choice; they were forced to endure through the night. A makeshift shelter would be crucial, but there was not enough time to construct one under the already darkened skies. This was the winter solstice – the darkest time of the year. A long, wet, and trembling night lay ahead for those who were brave enough to go ashore. 

With hunger and illness crouching in every corner, the outlook for those who stayed on the ship was no better. On the day they had looked forward to for years, the coughing and crying was inescapable. And there was no sympathy from sailors who much preferred to haul wood and wine than a boatload of sickly immigrants. 

As the storm battered outside the ship and sickness and stench filled the inside, one more passenger was lost. After five deaths already, Richard Britteridge was the first to slip away after they reached Plymouth Harbor, and the worst was yet to come.  

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“God is our hope and strength, and help in troubles, ready to be found. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains fall into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof rage and be troubled, and the mountains shake at the surges of the same..” 

(Psalms 46:1-3; 1599 Geneva Bible)