The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony

by James Deetz, Patricia Scott Deetz

The utterly absorbing real story of the lives of the Pilgrims, whose desires and foibles may be more recognizable to us than they first appear.

Americans have been schooled to believe that their forefathers, the Pilgrims, were somber, dark-clad, pure-of-heart figures who conceived their country on the foundation of piety, hard work, and the desire to live simply and honestly. But the truth is far from the portrait painted by decades of historians. They wore brightly colored clothing, often drank heavily, believed in witches, had premarital sex and adulterous affairs, and committed petty and serious crimes against their neighbors in surprisingly high numbers. Beginning by debunking the numerous myths that surround the landing of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving, James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz lead us through court transcripts, wills, probate listings, and rare firsthand accounts, as well as archaeological finds, to reveal the true story of life in colonial America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, 17th Century, Archaeology, The United States Of America, American

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Particle_Person · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Deetz was one of the founders of the field of historical archaeology and was one of the people who helped set up Plymouth Plantation. This book describes the history of Plymouth Colony from the Mayflower's landing to the 1690s with an emphasis on everyday life rather than the big historical events. It is a very idiosyncratic book, mostly by James I think, but completed by his wife Patricia. The text is entirely in the third person, which sounds ridiculous when James is talking about himself and even MORE ridiculous when Patricia is talking about her husband! There are four main sections.

The first part spends half a chapter talking about Thanksgiving and dispelling the standard Pilgrim myths. The first "thanksgiving" was really the 17th century English holiday of Harvest Home; the settlers were outnumbered by the indians at the feast; Plymouth rock was just some rock that an old guy — 121 years after the event — swore up and down his dad said was THE rock the forefathers stepped on, and so forth. After the debunking, Deetz gives a blow by blow of the events of 1620/21. This is riveting, reads like Swiss Family Robinson, and is worth the price of the book by itself.

The second part is about the historical record and gives detail on stuff like what the crimes were in Plymouth colony: adultery, sodomy, buggery (not to be confused with sodomy — buggery was what we'd call bestiality), fornication, witchcraft, rape, and murder. In many respects Plymouth's legal system, while harsh and unreasonable by modern standards, was reformed compared to the English system they'd left behind. There's also discussion of how the worldview of the 17th century differs from the present. People tended to blame inanimate objects, belief in witchcraft and superstitions were rampant, etc. The two cases of witchcraft in Plymouth colony are discussed. Nobody was put to death, a nice example of how Plymouth's laws were far more lenient than England's or the Massachusetts Bay Colony's. This part of the book gets a little dull since it is full of lists of objects from probate inventories, but the stories about the settlers and their legal disputes are worth it. Trust me, you want to read about that case of buggery.

The third part is about the archaeological digs, some of which James Deetz directly participated in. There's a lot of talk about how objects are dated, what kind of objects are typically found — lots of pipe stems! — and what conclusions can be drawn from them.

The book ends with a long description of how Plymouth Plantation, a living history museum, was constructed. Deetz was actually part of the events so it is a behind the scenes first-hand perspective, including some quiet criticism. The Plantation went through several stages of increasing realism. In the 1950s the Pilgrim myths were well represented, but as time went on the museum conducted actual archaeology and threw out the idiotic elements.

Overall I can recommend this book with a few misgivings. The tone of the book careens wildly from chapter to chapter. Sometimes there are random personal reminisces added that don't belong in the book. (Or maybe they should go in a foreword or afterword.) Finally, at one point Patricia cuts in with a lengthy ode to her husband that is embarrassing to read. These flaws make this a four star book rather than five.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a much more factual account of the lives of the settlers of Plymouth Colony, rich in details that draw a clear picture of real people and not mythical pilgrims. Included are court cases, wills, and archeological descriptions that illustrate many physical aspects of their every day experiences.

After this book I attempted to read The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, and was unable to follow along with his rather sensationalized version that from the beginning failed to mention much essential information.

[Taylor Dodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book with lots of information, but it did tend to go off topic in a couple places. I also didn't really like the chapter about the construction of the living museum of Plymouth Plantation, the chapter itself wasn't bad, I just found that I didn't care.

[Christopher Sturcke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content of the book is much better than the writing. The author presents some very interesting findings from court records, probate inventories, first-hand accounts, and archaeological digs. These findings give the reader good insight into the behavior and folkways of Plymouth colony which were quite different from those of their Puritans neighbors to the north in Massachusetts Bay. Some of the findings from the court records regarding behavior in Plymouth colony are actually quite shocking. Unfortunately the author presents the findings in such a chaotic and unprofessional (for the lack of a better term) fashion that it overshadows these valuable insight. James Deetz is a college lecturer and most of this book reads like a college lecture and other times like a term paper. The writing is choppy and the author ruins the flow of the book with quirky modern anecdotes as if he were giving a lecture while attempting to keep his students awake, very annoying. The last chapter is about the Plymouth Colony historical site and seems to belong more in a travel brochure than in a history book. Deetz also misuses past and present tense. Summary: this book has some good insight and therefore some value but is poorly written.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2000, "Times" examines the Pilgrim Myth -- with Thanksgiving as its centerpiece -- that was mostly established through artistic depictions in the 19th century. The reality was vastly different and really interesting to learn about. It takes the reader through the development of Plymouth colony, thought now to be the first successful English settlement in the United States. It was much smaller and apparently more tolerant (no witches executed here!) than its infamous neighbor the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A few chapters get long and bogged down in detail -- specifics of architectural digs, inventory of colonists' belongings -- but I skipped over some of those pages. The final chapter deals with the Plymouth Plantation living museum, which I believe author James Deetz must've curated for a few decades. When I finished reading, I watched a PBS "American Experience" episode simply called "The Pilgrims" which made a nice companion to the book. Bucket list item: visit Plymouth Plantation.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting if not exactly well written.
The first part of the book was devoted to debunking the myths of the Pilgrims but I feel like those myths have long been debunked and therefore the information presented was not terribly revelatory.
I also thought it strange that the author wrote about himself in the third person when talking about his research and work as an archaeologist.
But, overall, I enjoyed the book. Most especially I liked the sections that discussed the role and place of women in the colony and the establishment of the Plimoth Planation open-air museum. We visited a few years ago on Thanksgiving (it was where I actually purchased this book). I had read a fair bit about the history of the site at the time but it was interesting to read about it again, this time from the perspective of one of the people instrumental in turning the museum into what it is today.

[CathyD]

Love it. Recommend.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, it's important to state that this book is well-written and appears to succeed at every goal the authors had. Second, I'm glad I read it.

Those statements aside, though, it is a very dry read and at times cumbersome. For me, it lacks the page-turning effectiveness I greatly enjoy in other works that conjure history. Having descended from one of the very people being described throughout (and specifically, at one brief point, much to my thrill), I am certainly in the camp of "willing to fight through it" when it comes to the dry nature and slow pace. But for most who lack that connection or simply aren't used to such a scholarly type of text (I'm not!), there may be other, better, choices. Or just go to the Plimoth Plantation and interact with a living recreation spawned by the subjects of this book!

[Carolyn Di Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully researched! Made the lives of so many earlier Plymouth settlers seem less like myths and more like humans.

[D. P. Lafayette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deetz and his wife had some relative success here in depicting the lives of the Plymouth settlers.

The mission to venture off originated with a group of Separatists fleeing a religiously intolerant, post-reformation England. Over time, these Separatists gathered their stocks with some disparate others, many of which were not religiously organized, and bargained a deal with the London based Virginia Company to venture to America. Funnily enough, the bountiful and mostly foreign New England, of which the Cape Cod Bay would be the ventures target, had gathered its relevant moniker from Jamestown’s own John Smith.

The authors dispelled some myths around the Pilgrims. One being that this title of “Pilgrims” had been derived from a writer near the turn of the 19th century in America. It was based off of a biblical reference that Governor William Bradford of Plymouth made about the settlers — their being much like “strangers and pilgrims on the Earth.” Moreover, the myth of Thanksgiving… (I would hardly venture to say it is a myth). The author aims at quelling the origin of the American holiday in this text as one of an English “home-harvest” that was celebrated by families after processing their harvest in England. Not much more. However, Thanksgiving in contemporary America is a rumination on gratitude, of which this first American home-harvest certainly was the exemplar. The images that are more mythical, as Deetz does point out, should have had increased emphasis (i.e., the outfits, the furnishings, the dinner table, the people, etc). It seemed more that the motivation from the authors was refuting the matter rather than an elaborating what was and was not.

Overall, it is interesting what we have curated over time through popular culture about Plymouth and the Pilgrims. Deetz points out these clear curations, some of which were fantastical and some far understated.

The true worth of this book is the authors’ ability to ascertain what domestic life looked like at Plymouth. Its emphasis was not on the potential impact it wielded for an eventually independent nation, but more so on the monotonous. It made the people relatable and not so far from reach to understand.


The true defect is that too often it was the case they were invoking other settlements. For instance, often they were moving conversation toward the Massachusetts Bay Colony as if there were known ideas about the settlement by the reader. It would make sense as the authors mentioned Plymouth was absorbed by the MBC, but they persistently did so without expressing the process of absorption of the former by the latter. MBC wasn’t detailed or outlined before explicating much about it throughout the text. This made for confusing and frustrating reading when focus was expected to be centered at New Plymouth.

[Bob Lundquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depending on our generation, we all have ideas of what the Mayflower was, who it brought to America, and why. This includes events such as the first Thanksgiving, the Miles Standish story, Indians teaching the colonists how to grow American crops, etc. These ideas were all meant to give us, as a nation, a common view and history of how New England was settled by the Pilgrims and how they were a prototype for the nation that eventually became the United States. These ideas taught to children become outgrown as we all become adults. However, as adults, we may not be aware of the real events and people surrounding Plymouth colony.

The Deetz book should correct any false ideas we have about this period. There is a good description of how the Thanksgiving myth came about during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The real difficulties and tragedies of the first year or two of Plymouth. The first four chapters are the most useful for understanding the milieu of the Pilgrims. Much of the material is taken from probates, wills, and court records. They give a realistic view of what the people had, how they lived, how they died, and the hardscrabble living that had to be endured. The witches, the murderers, the myths, and the crimes committed. The suggestion in the book is that the court records are only the tip of the iceberg and that there was probably much more happening than ever got put to paper.

The last three chapters are archeological. Much of it are personal accountings of the authors efforts to excavate and interpret the Plymouth area. Most of the material describes how houses were built, their contents, and how they were designed. It is amazing that much of the archeological work and research was only started in the middle of the twentieth century. This may be a reason why the myths have lasted so long. However, these chapters are detailed and technical and may bore those not interested in the methodologies of historical analysis.

Another irksome thing is that important events are buried in otherwise irrelevant narration. For example, the cattle division of 1627 is briefly mentioned in a description of livestock growth in the colony and then again in a section about how houses were regulated and built. It is not explained what the situation in the colony was before 1627, what it was afterwards, and why it was important. Despite these weaknesses, the book is a good read and informative. It even explains how whaling got started.

[Megan Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for school and had to do a full book review on it. Here is my conclusion:

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The organization of it made sense to me and helped me understand each of the sections individually and how they worked together to form a grand picture of the Pilgrims lives. I appreciate that there are people like Deetz setting the record straight on things like Thanksgiving. I learned a lot through this book. I looked and plan to look further into the resources used for this book that are included in the back. The sources used are reliable and appropriate for the subject matter. The evidence these sources provide is put together well and broken down so that it is easily understood, and points can be connected between chapters and themes. The information is presented in an effective, persuasive manner and it makes me feel better to know the true story of the Pilgrims. The story of James Deetz is interesting, and I liked the ability to understand who he was even without further research. It makes the book more down to earth and not strictly scholarly, which, I believe, your average history reader has an easier time connecting with.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts not taught in school. For example; five young siblings whose 'father' determined they were the products of his wife's affair with another man...set them a sail on a dangerous voyage with presumably, strangers. Foreign land....strangers.....children. So hard to fathom an ego so big and a heart so small.
The dark side of the colony was never presented in school as we made buckles for our shoes and feathers for thanksgiving headbands (and doesn't need to be).
The book has in fact, many such unsanitized stories-not new to us if we have looked at the Salem Witch trial story in any depth.

I liked this book. I like all of my 3-star books but it reads like a text for college (and one I would have loved to read in college!) and I would pick up historical fiction on anyone of these American ancestors.

[Phil Schuler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high expectations of this book but in the end I was disappointed. At times the reading was very dense and slow. I had to force myself through some sections. The first chapter was great but then the second and the part about witchcraft was lacking. He also kept talking about himself in the third person which struck me as odd and read clumsily. Yes, there was a co-author but, for the most part we are to assume that James Deetz was the author. I only say this because at the end of the second to last chapter they mark out as the co-authors section. This led me to believe that the rest of the book was authored by Deetz himself. Otherwise it would be confusing as to who was saying what. It is possible that since there are two authors they would write in the third person regardless of who is doing the actual writing. The reasons aside, the execution did not come off well.

[Joshua Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather important book in the published analysis of Plymouth Colony. In my opinion, it starts rather weak, and gets better throughout the book. One of the early chapters focused on witchcraft in Plymouth Colony, but this is given far too much emphasis, for Plymouth never convicted anyone of witchcraft. Salem is famous, and perhaps this chapter was just trying to capitalize on that. The book continues with further delving into the Plymouth laws and records. There is some interesting stuff there, though more influenced by gender studies than I would like.

The scond half, examining the inventories of household goods of Plymouth colony, and the archaeology that has been done on the know Plymouth Colony sites, was more useful to me. I know more has been done since this book's printing, but this is still a lot of good information that it would be hard to find elsewhere.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as required reading goes this was a pretty good read. The book details everything from the voyage on the Mayflower, the arrival in the harbor and eventually Plymouth. It includes what life was probably like for the settlers, and a brief history of artifacts, excavations done, and excerpts from court and probate records. The authors do a great job of taking content that can be dry and boring to people, like me, who don’t particularly enjoy history, and putting it in an interesting and easy to read format.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engagingly illustrates the value of combining archaeological and documentary evidence to weave plausible stories about past lives when only fragmentary personal information is available. Perhaps the only time that a work of colonial history will include a reference to Kellem Winslow of the San Chargers, but probably not kin of joiner Kenelm Winslow, who arrived in Plymouth prior to 1633 and died in Salem in 1672. Deetz's quirky sense of humor frequently surprises readers with a gem like this one.

[Maryclaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

We recently traveled to Plymouth, and a Pilgrim Musem guide recommended this book. They are in the process of rewriting the history of Plymouth, the landing, and the first Thanksgiving.
This book was researched in detail with the use of probate papers from the colonies and archaeological excavations. The research also included the voice of the Wampanoag Indians. The book is a historian's dream if you are interested in early life in America.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written mainly by the man who knows more about Plymouth than anyone alive, I imagine, as it’s an exhaustive survey of all things Pilgrim, including debunking most of what we thought we knew. Lots of minute details but they leaven it from time to time with modern-day references. Even a bit of humor sneaks in, quoting George Harrison talking about Ringo and his drums. There ya go.

[Nanny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of 17th century life in the Plymouth Colony, and the creating of Plimoth Planation, the live history museum. It helped draw in my mind a truer picture of these early settlers' daily lives.

[Nanny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best book I've read about the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony to date. Very informative and well written. Especially loved the last chapter about the history of Plimoth Plantation. and its's development.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was informative, but very dull reading.

[Leiki Fae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really accessible historical account of the colonizers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Seeks to demystify the Pilgrims and restore their more accurate legacy.

[Candice Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting updates and details for anyone with an interest in American colonial history.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough and well-researched but a bit dry at times. I really enjoyed the chapters on social history and crime within the colony but found those on archeology and the founding of Plimouth Plantation less than enthralling. Yes, this book does a fine job of debunking the Puritan myth both by contrasting the reality with the myth and also contrasting the different settlements against one another (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, and Chesapeake Bay) where applicable. But my biggest problem was the formatting of the notes. For easier reading by laypeople, no notes are included in the text, which is fine, but the text also omits endnote numbers, forcing scholarly readers to read each chapter and then turn to the back to read the endnotes. From the notes, bibliography, and background given in the last chapter on Plimoth Plantation, you can tell the Deetzes have written a well-researched work, so if you're curious about the Separatists and those other colonists who had no religious angle whatsoever, this book is definitely worth reading.

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. The James and Patricia Deetz are historians. James is an archeologist and Patricia is a cultural historian. They explain how artifacts, early building sites and primary documents can tell the tale of how the first settlers in Plymouth lived. I am a history major and can understand how some people would think this was dry. I loved it, and was actually annoyed at some obvious heavy-handed attempts to compare culture back then to popular culture today. Definitely read this if you want to get a whole different view of the "Pilgrims".

[Jeni Kirby]

Offers great background story of the Pilgrims, how the myths were formed, and the issues of teaching those myths today in public school settings. Furthermore, it goes into legal court cases, documents, such as wills, to illustrate how these individuals preserved life and what they had to survive. For me, the last chapter was the best. It described archeological digs and what they found at the Plymouth site. Every artifact found illustrates the life that these people led. It's a must have for a historians libarary.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of this book, about the archaeology of Plymouth, is the more engaging. Deetz is more interested in the archaeology as well--the writing becomes more energetic and fluid, his off-hand remarks funnier. This presupposes that you're interested in what sorts of houses the 'pilgrims' built, what spoons and dishes they used, what they drank out of and wore. If you're interested in the history of these early settlers, Philbrick's Mayflower is better.

[Shirley Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be, but nonetheless I found it interesting because of my connection to the Plymouth Colony through John Alden, Priscilla Mullens, her parents, Edward Doty and George Soule who were all passengers on the Mayflower. The archaeological digs were most interesting and the court transcripts wills, probate listings were informative. Over-all the book was a little slow, but I would recommend it to any one who is interested in the "Pilgrims".

[Natalia]

I found the first few chapters interesting when the authors discussed the travel to and first landings on the new land, but then the authors jumped ahead to the late 1600's after the colony is well established. I am more interested in the early years of the plymouth colony.