establishes in this case the identity of the "Master Williamson" who was
Governor Bradford's incognito, and the person of the same name mentioned
a month earlier in "Master" Mullens's will; as also the fact that in him
we have a new officer of the MAY FLOWER, hitherto unknown as such to
Pilgrim literature. If Mr. Bowman's belief as to Giles Heale (see note)
proves correct, we have yet another, the Surgeon.

The Carpenter, Gunner, Boatswain, Quartermaster, and "Masters-mates" are
the only "petty officers" of the Pilgrim ship of whom any record makes
mention. The carpenter is named several times, and was evidently, as
might be expected, one of the most useful men of the ship's crew. Called
into requisition, doubtless, in the conferences as to the condition of
the SPEEDWELL, on both of her returns to port, at the inception of the
voyage, he was especially in evidence when, in mid-ocean, "the cracking
and bending of a great deck-beam," and the "shaken" condition of "the
upper works" of the MAY-FLOWER, gave rise to much alarm, and it was by
his labors and devices, and the use of the now famous "jack-screw," that
the bending beam and leaking deck were made secure. The repairs upon the
shallop in Cape Cod harbor also devolved upon him, and mention is made of
his illness and the dependence placed upon him. No doubt, in the
construction of the first dwellings and of the ordnance platform on the
hill, etc., he was the devising and principal workman. He undoubtedly
returned to England with the ship, and is known in history only by his
"billet," as "the carpenter" of the MAY-FLOWER.

The Master Gunner seems to have been a man with a proclivity for Indian
barter, that led him to seek a place with the "third expedition" at Cape
Cod, thereby nearly accomplishing his death, which indeed occurred later,
in Plymouth harbor, not long before the return of the ship.