Any Mayflower descends here?

[cynannmarie]

15. I am--through Stephen Hopkins and his daughter Constance

Stephen was one of the "Strangers" (not the religious "Saints&quot . He was an adventurer and a truly colorful character. Was the only one in history to have been both at Jamestown and at Plymouth. On the way to Jamestown in 1609 the ship he was on was shipwrecked near Bermuda and the crew stayed there for about 10 months before getting to Jamestown, which was in a very bad state by then. A couple years later Stephen went back to England because he got word that his wife had died there. In 1620 he set out again for the New World on the Mayflower with his new wife and 2 children (Constance and Giles) from 1st marriage and another from the 2nd marriage. His wife gave birth on that wretched ship on the way over, to a child they named Oceanus. Stephen and his wife and children were the only family that survived the devastating first year with no one dying. (Only 4 women made it.) The account of the 1609 shipwreck at Bermuda had gotten back to England and Shakespeare heard of it and used it as the basis for his play "The Tempest", which has a character in it called Stephano.

I have learned so much history in researching my genealogy. It really makes it come alive.