Thomas Cushman (Plymouth colonist)

Thomas Cushman (1607/08–1691) was a leader in Plymouth Colony, New England.

He arrived at the colony with his father Robert Cushman on the ship Fortune in November 1621. Robert Cushman returned to England alone, leaving Thomas as a ward of Governor William Bradford.[1]

In 1649 Thomas succeeded William Brewster as Ruling Elder and held that position for over 40 years until his death. Over his long life Cushman became a person of note in the colony being involved in numerous important activities. His wife Mary was the daughter of Pilgrim Isaac Allerton.[2][3]

  1. ^ Cushman, Henry Wyles (1855). Historical and Biographical Genealogy of the Cushmans. Little Brown and Company, Boston. p. 84.
  2. ^ Eugene Aubrey Stratton. Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691 (Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT, 1986) p. 276
  3. ^ A genealogical profile of Thomas Cushman