John Billington
Encyclopedia
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
who was convicted of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in what would become the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the first to be hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
for any crime in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Billington was also a signer of the Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
.
Billington came to the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
on the famous voyage of the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
in 1620 with his wife and two sons. He soon made enemies with many aboard the ship. He was known as a "foul mouthed miscreant" and "knave". He was not a member of the separatist Brownist
Brownist
The Brownists were English Dissenters and followers of Robert Browne who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England in about 1550.-Origins:...
congregation that dominated the colony's life, but had fled England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to escape creditors. His sons were also seen as troublemakers, as one or both of them set a fire next to one of the powder keg reserves, which caught fire and could have sunk the ship before it reached its destination. One of his sons got separated from the colonists and was taken care of by the Native Americans over the winter; he returned in the Spring.
In March 1621, Billington was convicted of contempt for insulting Captain Myles Standish
Myles Standish
Myles Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony. One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its inception...
. His punishment was to have his heels tied to his neck. Billington apologized profusely and was spared from the penalty.
In 1624, Billington became a follower of the Reverend John Lyford
John lyford
The Reverend John Lyford was a controversial figure during the early years of the Plymouth Colony. After receiving degrees from Oxford University , he became pastor at Leverlegkish, near Laughgaid, Armagh, Ireland. He was the first ordained minister to come to the Plymouth Colony...
, who was banished from Plymouth Colony in 1625 for being a danger to the community. Though Billington was nearly convicted as Lyford's accomplice, he was permitted to remain in Plymouth Colony.
In September 1630, after a heated argument over hunting rights, Billington fatally shot fellow colonist John Newcomen
John Newcomen
John Newcomen was murdered by Mayflower passenger John Billington in 1630, making him the first white settler murdered by another white settler in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.There are two principal recordings of the event written in the 17th century...
in the shoulder with a blunderbuss
Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
. After counseling with Governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
, Governor William Bradford concluded that capital punishment was the necessary penalty. Billington was convicted of murder and hanged at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The inland pond known as Billington Sea
Billington Sea
Billington Sea is a warm water pond located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Morton Park lies on the pond's northern shore. The pond is fed by groundwater and cranberry bog outlets. The average depth is seven feet and the maximum depth is . The pond provides the headwaters to Town Brook...
was named after his son, Francis.
Governor William Bradford's account of Billington's hanging was included in The Library of America's 2008 anthology True Crime.
Some believe the Billingtons were wrongly accused or treated because of John Billington, Sr's beliefs and outspoken nature. From American families from New Plymouth, 1620-1790+: The Billingtons were not in sympathy with the aims and tenets of the Plymouth Church, but one wonders that they were not more cooperative with those in authority who heavy-handily struggled to establish and maintain such a fragile colony on the hostile shores of New England. John Billington, however, stoutly supported individual choice and freedom of speech, raising the voice of America's first 'opposition' to governing authority, undoubtedly at great personal sacrifice, when he disagreed with the rule of government. He and his descendants surely have contributed to that integral part of the American character by having the courage to say no. The recap of the events of Billington's life and the ultimate death of Newcomen were made by William Bradford, a longtime opponent of John Billington.