18. The second Mayflower made several voyages to the New World
In 1629 another Mayflower arrived in Plymouth, bearing 35 passengers. Several of the passengers came from the Leiden Congregation. This Mayflower subsequently made several additional crossings of the Atlantic to North America. In 1630 it sailed as part of the Winthrop Fleet. Eleven ships sailed from England that summer, carrying several hundred Puritans, supplies, and livestock. They were bound not for the Plymouth Colony, but for the new Massachusetts Bay Colony. One of the passengers, John Winthrop, served as the Governor of the new colony, which eventually absorbed Plymouth and became the colony, and finally Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The second Mayflower made several additional trips to the British colonies, though not to Plymouth. Instead, it delivered emigrants and supplies to Massachusetts Bay and Virginia, returning to England with crews of dried fish and furs from the northern settlements, and tobacco from Virginia. In total, five successful voyages of the vessel occurred between the 1629 visit to Plymouth and a 1639 visit to Massachusetts. In October 1641, this Mayflower left London bound for Virginia. It carried 140 passengers hoping to join the settlements there. The ship vanished at sea, possibly lost to storms during that year’s hurricane season.