Frances Billington was a mischievous child. There is no doubt about that. He had a way of finding trouble. As a small boy he traveled on the Mayflower to the New World. He was what the Puritan's called a stranger since his family did not belong to their church. While the Mayflower was anchored and his father was away young Frances shot off his fathers gun. There were many flammable things about the cabin, including gun powder. It could have been a catastrophe, however the people aboard were able to put it out with no injuries.
A few years later young Frances climbed a tree and from the top saw what he thought was a sea. I can only imagine his excitement at the find! Seems like he was quite the adventurer. I can picture him running back to their colony crying out about this "great sea".
Frances led a crew member of the Mayflower to his sea. They were scared because they saw an Indian encampment even though it hadn't been occupied in a long time. It was soon discovered however this sea was just a large, shallow pond. Because of Frances error the pond to this day is called Billington's sea. It can be found in Plymouth, Mass.
In the end it was decided this area would be great for a settlement later due to the fresh water and fish. So maybe Frances discovery wasn't such a huge error after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment