Happy 100th Birthday to Dick Van Dyke! Did you know he was a Mayflower Descendant?

 

Dick Van Dyke 1964

We recently watched the PBS production of American Masters “Starring Dick Van Dyke” which aired on 12 December 2025 to honor his 100^th birthday.  You can catch this show airing many times this month on PBS stations and streaming online. Watching this documentary made me nostalgic for the old TV shows and movies like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but it also made me curious about his family tree.  Of course, since he is so famous, it was easy to find a lot of information on his ancestry online. 

This is what I learned about his family tree:

Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke 13 December 1925 in West Plains, Missouri and raised in Danville, Illinois.  His father, Loren Wayne Van Dyke, is of Dutch origins, and his mother, Hazel Victoria McCord, has English and Scots ancestry.  Dick is a veteran of World War II, where he served as a radio announcer and entertained the troops.  He married Margerie Willet in 1948 on the air for the radio show “Bride and Groom”.  He has four children and seven grandchildren. In 2012 he married Arlene Silver.

As an actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke’s career spans over 80 years and he has won six Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award.  He is known as a slapstick comedian, singer and dancer, but he is less well known for his many dramatic roles.  He is also related to many other entertainers, including Walt Disney! 

I was surprised to find that Dick Van Dyke has at least eight Mayflower passenger ancestors.  Here is a list from https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-menu.php?name=6554+dick+van+dyke

Francis Eaton

Peter Brown

John Alden

Francis Cooke

Myles Standish

Edward Doty

George Soule

Degory Priest

I won’t give all the details (you can check out the websites listed below), but since I share a few Mayflower ancestors with Dick Van Dyke, here are our shared ancestors, and Dick’s lineage from these few:

Myles Standish

Alexander Standish and Sarah Alden

Sarah Standish and Benjamin Soule

Sarah Soule and Nathan Tinkham

Isaiah Tinkham and Susannah Ellis

Susanna Tinkham and David Child

David Lorenzo Child and Margaret Longwell Dysart

Susan Elizabeth Child and Ninian Alphonse McCord

Charles Cornelius McCord and Adeline Verinda Neal

Hazel Victoria McCord and Loren Wayne Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke

-----------------

Edward Doty

Mary Doty and Samuel Hatch

Hannah Hatch and Japhet Turner

Hannah Turner and William Thomas

Ruth Thomas and Thomas Churchill Ellis

Susannah Ellis and Isaiah Tinkham

(see above)

-------------------

George Soule

John Soule and Rebecca Simmons

Benjamin Soule and Sarah Standish

Zachariah Soule and Mary Eaton

Sarah Soule and Nathan Tinkham

Isaiah Tinkham and Susannah Ellis

(see above)

 

Dick Van Dyke descends from the following Great Migration immigrants, and probably many more.  You can have fun finding a cousin connection with some of these colonial settlers.

Benjamin Nye

John Jenny

Griffith Bowen

Nathaniel Child

Edmund Freeman

William Hoskins

Phineas Pratt

John Johnson (c. 1588 -1659)

Thomas Holbrook

William Hatch

William Heath

Moses Simmons

For the truly curious:

For specific details on Dick Van Dyke’s Mayflower ancestors and his other colonial ancestry, see this link at the website Famous Kin:     https://famouskin.com/famous-kin-menu.php?name=6554+dick+van+dyke

Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Van_Dyke 

The webpage for PBS American Masters “Starring Dick Van Dyke”   https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/dick-van-dyke-documentary/37036/    

All Family Tree results for Dick Van Dyke at Ancestry:    https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/42/?name=Dick_Van+Dyke&searchMode=advanced 

The Dick Van Dyke webpage:  https://www.officialdickvandyke.com/biography/   

The image above, "Dick Van Dyke in 1964" is by Rogers & Cowan, public relations, Beverly Hills - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79770747

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To cite/link to this blog page:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Happy 100th Birthday to Dick Van Dyke!  Did you know he was a Mayflower Descendant?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 14, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/12/happy-100th-birthday-to-dick-van-dyke.html: accessed [access date]). 

A Photo Tour of Plimoth Patuxet Museum

Happy Thanksgiving! 

At the Plimoth Patuxet open air museum, this path leads to the English village.  However, due to recent archeaological digs in downtown Plymouth at the site of the original fort, historians have learned that the native Wampanoag people lived very close to the palisade.  Previously they were believed to live nearby, but not this close.  The museum is re-interpreting the palisade and the Wampanoag dwellings.  A grant from Americana Corner helped to fund the new palisade. 

In 1635, the colony contracted Thomas Boreman to build the wall as such: “All the posts are to be 10 inches square, and not to stand above 10 foote asunder, to be done with 3 rails between every post, of fit scantling. The post and rails are all to be sawne. He [Thomas Boreman] is to enclose the whole work with sawne boards. It is to be 9 foote high, and they are to be cut sharp at the top and either listed or shot with a plane…”.

This is the wetu that is now very close to the palisade and the fortress. 

Our cousins from Spain enjoyed the Wampanoag Homesite very much.  The inside of the wetu is a very interesting experience. 

For the truly curious:

Plimoth Patuxet website:  https://plimoth.org/   

Americana Corner web page about Plimoth Patuxet's palisade    https://www.americanacorner.com/preserving-america/plimoth-patuxet-museums

My 2019 blog post about Dr. Langdon from UMass and his archeaological digs at Plymouth   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-archaeological-finds-at-plymouth.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Photo Tour of Plimoth Patuxet Museum", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 27, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/11/a-photo-tour-of-plimoth-patuxet-museum.html: accessed [access date]). 

Votes for Women! The White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire

 

National Votes for Women Trail

Road to the 19th Amendment

Home of Armenia S. and 

Nathaniel White, social

reformers and founders

of New Hampshire Woman

Suffrage Association 1868.

William C. Pomeroy Foundation 2022

                                            Learn more at

                                    nvwt.org

View of the entrance to White Farm

We recently visited the White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire for the New Hampshire Surplus store, which is open on Mondays. This is a fun place to find all sorts of office equipment and government supplies, and to also find bins full of items confiscated by the TSA agents at airports (pocket knives, electronics, snow globes, baseball bats, tools, etc.) as well as things abandoned at airports (books, water bottles, wheelchairs, leg braces, glasses, and other oddities).  I noticed a new sign in front of the entrance, or rather a new sign to me since the pandemic.  I was excited to read about the family that once lived here, but I also wanted to learn more about the sign.  Who was the NVWT?  What was this "National Votes for Women Trail"? What is the William C. Pomeroy Foundation? 

First I tackled the White family.  I googled and searched for more information on Armeia S. and Nathaniel White.  This property on Clinton Street was their dairy farm, but they also had a fine mansion downtown, and White Park is named for them. 

Armenia Smith Aldrich (November 1, 1817 - May 7, 1916) was born in Mendon, Massachusetts to John Aldrich and Harriet Smith.  If you are interested in her ancestry, read the "Cow Hampshire" or the Wikipedia articles listed below. She was descended from many colonial families, including Edward Doty, Francis Cooke, and Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.  She married Nathaniel White and lived in Concord, where Nathaniel had a stage coach business.  Armenia was very interested in reform and progressive movements, including abolition, sufferage, and temperance.  She was elected the first president of the NH Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the first president of the NH Woman Suffrage Association. 

Nathaniel White (February 7, 1811 - October 2, 1880) owned a stage coach business, and later a railroad entrepreneur.  He was also interested in progressive ideas and was instrumental in the NH Asylum for the Insane (just down the road from his farm), the NH State Reform School, the Orphanage in Franklin, and the Home for the Aged in Concord.  His farm was originally over 400 acres. He served in the NH state legislature, and ran for governor in 1875 for the Prohibition Party. 

Children of Armeia and Nathaniel White:

1. John A (1838 - 1899)

2. Armenia E. (b. 1847 and married Horatio Hobbs)

3. Lizzie H. (b. 1849 and married Charles H. Newhall)

4. Annie F. (1852 - 1865)

5. Nathaniel, Jr. (1855 - 1904)

6. Selden F. (b. 1857 and died young)

7. Benjamin C. (b. 1861)

In researching this signpost, I learned about the National Votes for Women Trail, which is part of the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites.  The link below has an interactive map with over two thousand sites.  Many of these sites are in New England, and many of those are in New Hampshire!  Who knew? 

The signpost also mentions the William C. Pomeroy Foundation, which helps "communities celebrate and preserve their history" according to their website (see the link below).  Their signage program began in 2006 to place historical markers in NY state. Then the foundation expanded across the country with grants for historical markers in 48 states.  

For the truly curious:

"Cow Hampshire" blog article on Armenia White:  https://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/03/24/new-hampshires-leading-suffragist-civil-leader-and-philanthropist-armenia-s-aldrich-white-1817-1916/  

Armeia S. White Wikipedia article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia_S._White  

Nathaniel White Wikipedia article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_White_(businessman)  

NH Historical Society on Armenia White  https://www.nhhistory.org/object/313471/white-armenia-s-1817-1916   

NH Surplus - White Farm, 144 Clinton Street, Concord, NH     https://www.das.nh.gov/purchasing/white-farm.aspx   

NH Women's Foundation article on this historical marker:   https://nhwomensfoundation.org/2022/08/11/armenia-white-marker-added-to-the-new-hampshire-womens-heritage-trail/  

The National Votes for Women Trail: https://ncwhs.org/votes-for-women-trail/   

The William C. Pomeroy Foundation:  https://www.wgpfoundation.org/    

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Votes for Women!  The White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 18, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/votes-for-women-white-farm-in-concord.html: accessed [access date]). 

A Mayflower Themed Weathervane in Dorking, UK - Weathervane Wednesday

Dorking, Surrey, England is the birthplace of William Mullins, a passenger on the ship Mayflower in 1620.  He brought his family to the New World – including his wife Alice, and his teenaged children, Joseph and Priscilla Mullins.  Yes, that Priscilla!  The one who married John Alden, and made famous by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1858 poem The Courtship of Miles Standish. This terribly romantic poem is pure fiction, but also quite a bit of famous Americana.

We know a lot about Priscilla, but not too much about the rest of the Mullins family. Two older children stayed behind in England (William and Sara).  Priscilla survived the first winter in New England, but both her parents and her brother died during the “starving time”.  William dictated his will to Governor John Carver before he died, and it was written down. We know some details about his life from that will, which still survives today, including the fact that William Mullins was a cobbler, and he brought a large number of shoes (21 dozen shoes and 13 pairs of boots!) on board the Mayflower. Alice, his wife, has no known maiden name.

I was lucky enough to visit Dorking in 2017 with a tour sponsored by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. We saw the house where the Mullins family lived, which is marked by one of England’s famous blue plaques seen at historic sites.  Dorking is about 35 miles from London.

Just recently a local artist created a fantastic art installation for Dorking. This is a fantastic weathervane installed near the William Mullins house.  The ship Mayflower is featured on the weathervane, the William Mullins house, as well as sea birds, and sea creatures such as a whale and an octopus. What a wonderful tribute to the Mayflower, as well as a fun thing for descendants and Mayflower cousins to visit!  It is one of the most elaborate weathervanes I have ever seen!

This new weathervane is entitled “Mayflower Weathervane” and was created by the Fire and Ice Gallery. It was installed in March 2023.

 For the truly curious:

A blog post about the new Mayflower weathervane: 

https://newleatherheadliving.wordpress.com/2021/03/21/fire-and-iron-gallery-commission-celebrates-dorkings-mayflower-heritage/ 

Caleb Johnson’s page about William Mullins:   http://mayflowerhistory.com/mullins-william 

Wikipedia’s article on William Mullins:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mullins_(Mayflower_passenger) 

My blog post about visiting Dorking in 2017:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-william-mullins-of.html 

A “Weathervane Wednesday” post about another weathervane (a “weathercock”) I spotted while in Dorking:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/weathervane-wednesday-ancestral-church_29.html 

Click here to see more than 500 more Weathervane Wednesday posts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “A Mayflower Themed Weathervane in Dorking, UK – Weathervane Wednesday”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 21, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-mayflower-themed-weathervane-in.html: accessed [access date]). 

Walking on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts

 

In July 2022 I visited Burial Hill with a group of Mayflower descendants from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  Only some of us went to the top of Burial Hill to visit the cemetery and see the sights.  It was a lovely summer day, and quite a climb to the top (lots of stairs) and another long climb back down the hill.  It was well worth it, especially since I wanted to see the memorial to John Howland, which was at the very top of the hill.  I had visited Plymouth dozens of times previous to this tour, but had never made the climb to the top of Burial Hill.  

FYI! If you plan to visit, there are long stairs up to the top of Burial Hill.  There are stairs behind the meetinghouse, and also behind Burial Hill with a large parking lot. But no matter which direction you use to approach Burial Hill, there are stairs! 

Among the gravestones are historical markers for important people, and the location of the first fort the settlers built in 1621 (replicated at the Plimoth Patuxet museum as a wooden garrison also used as a meetinghouse.) 

An old postcard of Burial Hill.  The view hasn't changed much, has it?

This is the Meetinghouse at the foot of Burial Hill.  Next to the meetinghouse, on the grassy slope you see to the right of the parked cars, are several memorial stones to Mayflower passengers.  These men are probably buried somewhere on Burial Hill, but the actual locations have been lost to time.  Descendants have placed the three memorials (cenotaphs) next to the meetinghouse. I have photographs below. 

Edward Doty, the Mayflower passenger, is buried somewhere on this hill.  Descendants placed this memorial stone here in the 1800s.  There is also a cenotaph to Edward Doty at the Winslow Burying Ground in Marshfield. The back of this memorial stone lists his children.

This is the memorial stone to Mayflower passenger John Alden.  The actual location of his grave is unknown, but believed to be somewhere on Burial Hill.  

This rather big stone to Mayflower passenger Elder William Brewster is also at the foot of Burial Hill next to the Meetinghouse.  I didn't show the entire memorial stone because it is full of inaccurate information (including the wrong name for his wife!).  This stone was placed by a descendant. 

For the truly curious:

Burial Hill Cemetery, from the Plymouth, Massachusetts town website (There are links to maps):  https://www.plymouth-ma.gov/cemetery-and-crematory-management/pages/burial-hill-cemetery   

Find A Grave, Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts    https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/310849  

My ancestor, John Howland, A Mayflower passenger, buried here at Burial Hill -  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/02/john-howland-mayflower-passenger-died.html  

Here is a link to my blog post about our tour to Plymouth and Burial Hill.  We visited on Day Four of our tour, on the same day as a trip to Duxbury and Pilgrim Hall Museum -   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-four-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Walking on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 28, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/02/walking-on-burial-hill-in-plymouth.html: accessed [access date]). 

John Howland, Mayflower Passenger, died 1673 - Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

Here ended the Pilgrimage of

JOHN HOWLAND

who died February 23, 1672/3

aged above 80 years.

He married Elizabeth daughter of

JOHN TILLEY

who came with him in the 

Mayflower Dec. 1620.

From them are descended a 

numerous posterity.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hee was a godly man and an ancient

professor in the wayes of Christ.  Hee was

one of the first comers into this land and

was the last man that was left of those

that came over in the Shipp called the

Mayflower that lived in Plyouth."

                      Plymouth Records.

John Howland is my 10th great grandfather, and was a Mayflower passenger.  His wife, Elizabeth Tilley, was also a young passenger on board the Mayflower, along with her parents, brother, aunt and uncle.  She was left an orphan when they all died that first winter, and married John Howland three years later in the new Plymouth Colony.  They had ten children.  You can read all about my lineage from John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley HERE.  Elizabeth Tilley was buried in Swansea, Massachusetts, where she went to live with her daughter Lydia when she was widowed. NOTE: This burial ground in what was once Swansea, Massachusetts is now East Providence, Rhode Island [thank you to reader Andrew Whipple for this edit!] 

This is the second known tombstone for John Howland.  It is unknown if any type of marker, stone or wooden, was place on his grave site in 1673.  Around 1844 a simple marker was erected, and then replaced with this current, more elaborate memorial stone in 1897.  

For the truly curious:

Surname Saturday - Howland -   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-howland-mayflower.html  

A blog post about Rocky Nook, the homesite of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley in Duxbury, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/rocky-nook-site-of-mayflower-passenger.html   

Find A Grave, John Howland -  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6613808/john-howland  

A story about the two known grave markers for John Howland at Burial Hill in Plymouth -   https://pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/The_history_of_John__Elizabeth_and_Yet_Mercy__s_Headstones    

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "John Howland, Mayflower Passenger, died 1673  - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 21, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/02/john-howland-mayflower-passenger-died.html: accessed [access date]). 

2022 New Hampshire Thanksgiving Proclamation

 

At the statehouse, in Concord, New Hampshire, at 10am on Tuesday, 22 November, 2022 the New Hampshire Governor Christopher T. Sununu signed and presented the annual Thanksgiving Proclamation with members of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society. 

By His Excellency

Christopher T. Sununu, Governor

And the Honorable Executive Council

A Proclamation

In the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-Two

Thanksgiving Day

November 24, 2022

Whereas, in the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate the pentiful harvest they reaped following their first winter in North America, and

Whereas, the first national Thanksgiving Day, proclaimed by President George Washington, was November 26, 1789, and President Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed the first annual national holiday in 1863, establishing the date as the last Thursday of November at the behest of nationally celebrated editor and author, and daughter of New Hampshire, Sarah Josepha Hale, and

Whereas, on Thanksgiving Day, New Hampshire citizens and all Americans come together to enjoy the fellowship of family and friends with a feast that symbolizes the many blessings of our lives, and

Whereas, while Thanksgiving is a time to gather in a spirit of gratitude with family, friends and neighbors, it is also an opportunity to serve others and to share our blessings with those in need, and

Whereas, as citizens we pause to consider our good fortunes, and are especially mindful of the heroic men and women who serve and have served our country;

Now, therefore, I, Christopher T. Sununu, governor of the state of New Hampshire, do hereby proclaim November 24, 2022 as Thanksgiving Day in the State of New Hampshire, and call this day to the attention of all citizens.

Given during Executive Council session, this 22nd day of November, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand twenty-two, and of the independence of the United States of America, two hundred forty-five.

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "2022 New Hampshire Thanksgiving Proclamation", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 23 November 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/11/2022-new-hampshire-thanksgiving.html: accessed [access date]). 

A walk through Plimoth Colony

These photographs were taken in July 2022 at the Plimoth Patuxet Museum's English village during the "Path of the Pilgrims" tour sponsored by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  

For the truly curious:

The Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Plymouth, Massachusetts:  https://plimoth.org/   

My blog posts about the "Path of the Pilgrims" tour 2022

Day 1  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-from-general.html   

Day 2  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-two-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by-gsmd.html  

Day 3  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-three-of-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html  

Day 4  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-four-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html

Day 5  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-five-of-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A walk through Plimoth Colony", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 7, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/11/a-walk-through-plimoth-colony.html: accessed [access date]).