Attached to John Carver's certificate of the particulars of this will,
filed at Somerset House, London, are the names, "Giles Heale" and
"Christopher Joanes." As Mr Mullens died Wednesday, February 21, 1620,
on board the MAY-FLOWER in Plymouth harbor, on which day we know from
Bradford' that "the Master [Jones, whose name was Thomas] came on shore
with many of his sailors," to land and mount the cannon on the fort, and
as they had a full day's work to draw up the hill and mount five guns,
and moreover brought the materials for, and stayed to eat, a considerable
dinner with the Pilgrims, they were doubtless ashore all day. It is
rational to interpret the known facts to indicate that in this absence of
the Captain and most of his crew ashore, Mr. Mullens, finding himself
failing fast, sent for Governor Carver and--unable to do more than speak
--dictated to him the disposition of his property which he desired to
make. Carver, noting this down from his dictation, undoubtedly called in
two of the ship's company (Heale very likely being the ship's-surgeon),
who were left aboard to "keep ship," to hear his notes read to Mullens
and assented to by him, they thus becoming the witnesses to his will, to
the full copy of which, as made by Carver (April 2), they affixed their
names as such. As there were then at Plymouth (besides savages) only the
passengers and crew of the MAY-FLOWER, and these men were certainly not
among the passengers, it seems inevitable that they were of the crew.
That "Christopher Joanes" was not the Master of the ship is clear,
because Heale's is the first signature, and no man of the crew would have
dared to sign before the Captain; because the Captain's name was (as
demonstrated) Thomas; and because we know that he was ashore all that
day, with most of his men. It is by no means improbable that Captain
Jones had shipped one of his kinsmen in his crew, possibly as one of the
"masters mates" or quartermasters referred to (and it is by no means
certain that there were not more than two), though these witnesses may
have been quartermasters or other petty officers left on board as "ship-