A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth

by Jonathan Mack

Overview

In 1609, on a voyage to resupply England’s troubled Jamestown colony, the Sea Venture was caught in a hurricane and shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda. The tale of its marooned survivors eventually inspired William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but for one castaway it was only the beginning.

A Stranger Among Saints traces the life of Stephen Hopkins, who spent ten months stranded with the Sea Venture crew, during which he was charged with attempted mutiny and condemned to die—only to have his sentence commuted just before it was carried out. Hopkins eventually made it to Jamestown, where he spent six years before returning to England and signing on to another colonial venture, this time with a group of religious radicals on the Mayflower.

Hopkins was the only member of the party who had been across the Atlantic before—the only one who’d encountered America’s native people and land. The Pilgrims, plagued by disease and contentious early encounters with indigenous Americans, turned to him for leadership. Hopkins played a vital role in bridging the divide of suspicion between the English immigrants and their native neighbors. Without him, these settlers would likely not have lasted through that brutal first year.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641600903
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Mack is an attorney and an official member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and lives in the San Diego area.

Table of Contents

Author's note vii

Introduction ix

1 Hopkins and the Sea Venture 1

2 Hopkins at Jamestown 27

3 The Pilgrim Expedition 41

4 The Mayflower Compact 68

5 Mutual Suspicion 92

6 Finding Plymouth Rock 114

7 A Deadly, Discontented Winter 140

8 Samoset and the Spring Thaw 163

9 A Melancholy Unraveling 188

10 An End Among Friends 208

Epilogue Hopkins's Legacy: "Friend of Indians" 221

Acknowledgments 229

Notes 230

Index 282

Editorial Reviews

2019-12-29
How a little-known member of the Plymouth settlement made a significant impact on its success.

Attorney Mack, a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, makes his book debut with an absorbing, perceptive biography of Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644), who made two voyages from England to the New World. As the author argues convincingly, he proved to be "a key figure in the Pilgrims' struggles and triumphs." Hopkins sailed first to Jamestown in 1609, remaining there for a few years. In 1620, he joined the passengers of the Mayflower: the Saints, bound by religious covenant, and the dissident Strangers, Hopkins among them. Because he left no diary or journal, Hopkins has been neglected by historians, overshadowed by his contemporaries Myles Standish and William Bradford. But Mack makes judicious use of evidence to create a nuanced portrait of a complex man—independent, intelligent, "stubborn when he felt wronged"—who took an influential role, bringing to decisions wisdom gleaned from his earlier experiences. Those experiences were dire: Shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda in 1609, Hopkins became mired in scandal, accused of mutiny, and sentenced to death. He escaped to Jamestown, where he found himself "on the doorstep of hell": The town was in ruins, the population decimated by starvation, and relationships with Native peoples were tense. The author creates a visceral sense of the hardship of settlement and of trans-Atlantic crossing, when ships were at the mercy of doldrums or tempests. "The wooden ship groaned and creaked," he writes, and in the dark living area, "the smells of 150 unwashed people and rotting food intensified." Many died during the voyage. The survivors, their food stores perilously diminished, landed on cold, inhospitable terrain, and attack by Indigenous tribes seemed probable. Because he had advocated for diplomacy with Natives in Jamestown—where he had met Pocahontas—Hopkins, "a cool thinker," pressed for conciliation and peace. His success in developing rapport and forging bonds between Pilgrims and Natives opened "the door to the prospect of prosperity that came with peace."

Deftly crafted history illuminates the nation's earliest days.

Kirkus Reviews

“Jonathan Mack has written an unforgettable story of Stephen Hopkins and how his indenture of seven years at Jamestown later helped in the settlement of Plymouth Colony. Bit by bit, Mack extracts from early extant writings an intimate and insightful account of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Mack tells of Hopkins’s critical role as liaison between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe with new insight and intimate detail. If you think you knew the story but wish for more, this deeper understanding of Hopkins and his service in the founding of Plymouth Colony will delight you.” —Linda Longley, Historian, California Mayflower Society


“We didn’t know enough about Stephen Hopkins, whose enterprising spirit and rapport with Native Americans contributed to the nation’s founding. Mack fills the gap with tireless research and storytelling skills, bringing a complex historical figure to life.” —Amy Finnerty, Culture Writer and Editor


"An absorbing, perceptive biography...Deftly crafted history illuminates the nation's earliest days." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher