John BILLINGTON a signatory to the "Mayflower Compact"

Our MCKINNON and PRILL ancestors nearly all came to Philadelphia, Virginia or Maryland. One of our ancestors, Richard BULLOCK I landed in Massachusetts and married Elizabeth BILLINGTON. Elizabeth's grandfather was John BILLINGTON a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. Our John Billington, his two sons and wife Eleanor were perhaps the most despicable family on the Mayflower. As recounted in www.history.howstuffworks.com


On a d?ay late in Sep?tember 1630, John Billington -- an original Plymouth colonist, a landowner, a father to two sons, a signatory of the Mayflower Compact -- stood with a noose around his neck. He was sentenced to hang. When he died that day, John Billington left behind a legacy of grim historic firsts for the New World.
John Billington was the first person to commit a crime in the colony. He had the dubious honor of being the first European to be convicted of murder in this new place. And he was the first to be executed by the state in the New World.
Earlier that same year, John Billington shot a young man named John Newcomen, who had recently migrated to Plymouth. Billington ?waylaid? the man and shot him in the woods. Governor William Bradford, in his historical treatise ?Of Plymouth Colony 1620 - 1647,? doesn't mention the reason for the shooting [source: Morison].
T?he hanging death of Billington was a result of a long, tense history between his family and the Puritan leaders. The Billingtons (John, his wife Eleanor and sons, John and Francis) were part of the Strangers -- a group of people who came to America on the Mayflower with the rigidly pious Separatist Puritans. Billington is believed to have been a Catholic, the branch of Christianity that the Puritans disliked the most.
On the voyage to North America, John Billington was involved in an attempted mutiny aboard the Mayflower. With tensions already high, one of John Billington?s sons nearly blew up the ship. In a cabin full of people, the unidentified son (sic Frances) fired his father?s gun beside an open barrel half-filled with gunpowder. Despite the risk of the muzzle flash of the shot igniting the gunpowder, no one was hurt.
Once in the new world, Billington?s bad reputation continued to develop, after he scoffed at being pressed into military service by Captain Miles Standish. He was threatened with being hogtied, but is said to have begged for forgiveness. The records show that the leaders chose not to carry out the sentence since it was, after all, Billington?s first offense. It would hardly be his last.
Billington apparently disliked how the Puritan leaders governed the colony, for he is said to have spent a lot of his time involved in what would be considered anti-government subversion. He was implicated in a plot to overthrow the Plymouth Colony's religious governance. When pressed, however, he denied having been a participant and wasn't charged.
Over the course of the 10 years that the family worked its plot of land at Plymouth, accorded to them by the British crown as members of the first settler party, the Billingtons appear to have continued to make trouble for their fellow colonists.
John Billington Jr. ended up lost in the woods and wandered 20 miles before happening upon a Native American village. From there, he was taken to another village farther away. A group of 10 men set sail to find the boy and found him at what is now Cape Cod after a couple of days. When he returned to the colony, he was ?behung with beads? [source: Fiore].
William Bradford especially disliked the family. The long-time governor of Plymouth said the Billingtons were ?one of the profanest families? to come to the colony [source: Morison].
From these accounts, it may seem that John Billington and his family were the scourge of the early Plymouth Colony. But not so fast. John Billington may serve as a cautionary marker to remind us that history is never so clear-cut.

Generation 1. John BILLINGTON
John BILLINGTON b 1580 in Spaulding, Linconshire England and hung to death Sep 1 1630 in Plymouth Mass
Eleanor possibly LONGLAND or NEWTON b 1592 in All Hallows Parish Stayning Eng. and d 3/12/1643 in Plym.
Issue of John and Eleanor were two sons, John and Frances

Generation 2. Frances BILLINGTON
Frances BILLINGTON b 1506 in Spaulding, Lincolnshire England and d Dec 3 1684 in Middleborough Plym.
Christian PENN b 1600 in England and d Dec 13 1684 in Plymouth Massachusetts
Issue of Frances and Christian were Desire, Joseph, Martha, Mary, Rebecca, Frances and Elizabeth

Generation 3. Elizabeth BILLINGTON
Elizabeth BILLINGTON b Jul 19 1635 in Plymouth Mass. and d Mar 22 1710 in Providence Rhode Island
Richard BULLOCK I b Jul 16 1622 in Essex England and d Jul 22 1667 in Rehoboth, Bristol Mass.
Issue of Elizabeth and Richard were Israel, Marcy, John and Richard II

Generation 4. Richard Bullock II
Richard BULLOCK II b Mar 1667 in Rwhoboth, Bristol Mass. and d after 1687
Susanna ? B ?? and d ? in Prince William county Virginia
Issue of Richard and Susanna was Richard III

Generation 5. Richard BULLOCK III
Richard BULLOCK III b 1695 in Hanover county Virginia and d 1766 in Granville county North Carolina
Anne HENLEY b 1688 in New Kent county North Carolina and d 1764 and buried in Granville county NC
Issue of Richard and Anne were William, John, Leonard, Nathaniel and Agnes

Generation 6. Agnes BULLOCK
Agnes BULLOCK b abt 1715 in Hanover Virginia and d about 1802 in Granville county NC
George KEELING b abt 1718 in Nine Oaks, Granville county NC and d Sep 1759 in Halifax NC
Issue of Agnes and George were John, Thomas, Frances, Anne, Agatha and Elizabeth

Generation 7. Elizabeth KEELING
Elizabeth KEELING b1742 in Granville county North Carolina and d after 1786 in North Carolina
Richard HENDERSON b Apr 20 1735 in Hanover Virginia and d Dec 10 1842 In Rockingham North Carolina
Issue of Elizabeth and Richard were Fanny, Archibald, Elizabeth, Leonard, Richard, John Lawson and Jane

Generation 8. Jane HENDERSON
Jane HENDERSON b 1762 in Abingdon, Washington, Virginia and d Oct 25 1829 in Washington, Virginia
Robert SMITH b Apr 23 1755 in Abingdon, Washington, Virginia and d Oct 23 1841 in Brandywine Hancock In
Issue of Jane and Robert were John, Mary Jane, Nancy, Robert, Eleanor and Daniel

Generation 9. Daniel SMITH
Daniel SMITH b Feb 9, 1783 in Washington Virginia and d Dec 29 1848 in Rush county Indiana
*Isabel GILSON b Jan 18 1783 Marshaville Union North Carolina and d Aug 15 1864 in Hancock county In.
Issue of Daniel and Isabel (17 children) were Hiram, Jane, Robert, Samuel, Mary, Lavina, Louise, Isabelle, Andrew Jackson, Nancy Ellen, Sarah Ann, Lillis, Direxia Lucretia, Joriel, John Henderson, Emeline and Elizabeth.

Generation 10. Elizabeth Smith
Elizabeth SMITH b Feb 5 1814 in Washington Virginia and d May 1880 in Lee VIrginia
Thomas Dillow MCKINNON b 1809 in Boone county Kentucky and d Oct 28 1882 Lowell Iowa
Issue of Elizabeth and Thomas (15 children) were Mary, Theophalis Addison, Thomas Jefferson, Josephine, Daniel S, James Monroe, Isabella, Ann Eliza, John Quincy, Lillian Sarah, William A, Baby girl, Stephen Samuel, Turtullus and Robert Jackson Sr.

Generation 11. Robert Jackson MCKINNON Sr.
Robert Jackson MCKINNON Sr. b Jan 22 1837 in Indiana and d Apr 13 1920 in Harney, Harney, Oregon
Emily Harriet LONG b Mar 24 1843 in Indiana and d Jul 18 1911 in Burns, Harney, Oregon
Issue of Robert and Emily were John E, Ida May, Andrew Johnson, Lucy Jane, Belle Dora, Harriet E, Thomas Daniel, Emma Allice, Elsie Ollie, William E, Essie Geneva and Robert Jackson Jr.

Generation 12. Robert Jackson MCKINNON Jr.
Robert Jackson MCKINNON Jr. b Sep 12 1863 in Iowa and d Nov 3 1932 in Burns, Harney, Oregon
Laura Ann GALLOWAY b Mar 15 1868 in Elk City, Benton, Oregon and d Jan 21 1915 in Burns, Harney, Oregon
Issue of Robert and Laura were Eula Lea, Ralph Earl, Gladys Delta, Otho Walter, Cleo Addison, Leo Addis and Clarence Roy

Generation 13. Clarence Roy MCKINNON
Clarence Roy MCKINNON b Jul 30 1889 in Coffee Pot, Harney, Oregon and Nov 25 1959 in Carlton Oregon
1st Wife Eulalia P SMITH b Sep 1895 in California and d Mar 11 1917 in Burns Harney Oregon
Issue of Clarence and Eulalia were Lavelle, Dillon and Denver
2nd Wife Mamie Veda PRILL b Jan 26 1901 in Belle Plaine Iowa and d Jun 12 1998 in Corvallis, Benton, Or
Issue of Clarence and Mamie were Mava Lurhea, Felice Grace , Robert Prill and Dale Lynn

* For a picture of Isabel Gilson go to www.findagrave.com scroll down to "70 million graves", fill in appropriate fields (the memorial number is 14173254) and then see what happens to you after giving birth to 17 children.