John Carver

John Carver
Carver signing the Mayflower Compact
1st Governor of Plymouth Colony
In office 1620 – 1621
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	William Bradford
Born	1576 (1576) Nottinghamshire, England
Died	1621 (1622) Plymouth, Massachusetts?
Nationality	English
Religion	Puritan

John Carver (1576–1621) was a pilgrim leader and the first governor of Plymouth Colony, born probably in Nottinghamshire, England. Carver was a wealthy London merchant, but he left England and went to Leiden, Netherlands, in 1607 or 1608 because of religious persecution. In 1617 he became the agent for the Pilgrims in securing a charter and financial support for the establishment of a colony in America. He chartered the Mayflower and, with 101 other colonists, set sail from Plymouth, England, in September 1620. He signed the Mayflower Compact on November 11, 1620, and on the same day was elected to a one-year term as governor. He was probably instrumental in choosing Plymouth as the site for settlement and in making the treaty of alliance with Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe in 1621. Shortly after being elected governor in the spring, he died, apparently from sunstroke, in the spring of 1621. William Bradford was his successor.

References

"Carver, John". Encyclopædia Britannica (11 ed.). Cambridge University Press. 1911. 

See also

• List of passengers on the Mayflower
• List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621
• Colony