8. Mayflower sailed without a physician aboard
Though the Merchant Adventurers, Separatists, and Captain Jones all took great pains to ensure they carried with them skilled artisans and other required professions, they did not include a physician. The closest the company had was Samuel Fuller, a maker of serge in Leiden. An active member of the Leiden Congregation, and heavily involved in the planning of the voyage and colony, Fuller at least recognized the need for some medical knowledge in the company. Prior to and during the voyage, he read medical treatises and books, attempting to acquire some basics of medical care. For this reason, he is sometimes described as a physician, though there is no evidence of his having medical training. During the voyage, Fuller’s personal servant died, his master failed to cure his disorder. One other fatality occurred on the crossing, the death of a crew member.
Fuller continued to study medical texts in the New World, and became the de facto physician of the colony, even consulting with cases in subsequent settlements. One later colonist referred to Fuller as a quack, and suggested he be punished by riding a rail. For the most part, though, the settlers came to appreciate his efforts, which consisted of the accepted medical practice of bleeding, as well as poultices and herbal teas. At a time when medical care killed as many patients as it saved Fuller certainly presented no exception. The fact that the company survived the harrowing crossing with but two fatalities speak not to his medical abilities, but rather to the hardiness of the people who undertook the journey.