:''For the
footballer, see
John Carver (footballer).''
'John Carver' (
1576–
1621),
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 re-elected governor in the spring, he died, apparently from
sunstroke, in the spring of 1621.
William Bradford was his successor.
[1]
References
1.
See also
★
List of passengers on the ''Mayflower''
★
List of ''Mayflower'' passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621
★
Colony