Cooper. We know almost nothing about her except that she and Henry
Sampson were cousins of Edward Tilley and his wife. She is also
mentioned as a relative of Richard Clopton, one of the early religious
leaders in England. [Footnote: N. E. Gen. Hist.; iv, 108.]

The "mother" of this group of matrons and maidens, who survived the
winters of 1621-2, was undoubtedly Mistress Mary Brewster. Wife of the
Elder, she shared his religious faith and zeal, and exercised a strong
moral influence upon the women and children. Pastor John Robinson, in
a letter to Governor Bradford, in 1623, refers to "her weake and
decayed state of body," but she lived until April 17, 1627, according
to records in "the Brewster Book." She was only fifty-seven years at
her death but, as Bradford said with tender appreciation, "her great
and continuall labours, with other crosses and sorrows, hastened it
before y'e time." As Elder Brewster "could fight as well as he could
pray," could build his own house and till his own land, [Footnote: The
Pilgrim Republic; John A. Goodwin.] so, we may believe, his wife was
efficient in all domestic ways. When her strength failed, it is
pleasant to think that she accepted graciously the loving assistance
of the younger women to whom she must have seemed, in her presence,
like a benediction. Her married life was fruitful; five children lived
to maturity and two or more had died in Holland. The Elder was "wise
and discreet and well-spoken--of a cheerful spirit, sociable and
pleasant among his friends, undervaluing himself and his abilities and
sometimes overvaluing others." [Footnote: Bradford's History of
Plymouth Plantation.] Such a person is sure to be a delightful
companion. To these attractive qualities the Elder added another proof
of tact and wisdom: "He always thought it were better for ministers to
pray oftener and divide their prayers, than be long and tedious in the
same."