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

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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)

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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]). 

Day Four "On the Path of the Pilgrims" Tour by the GSMD

 Click on these links to see the previous days of this tour:

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

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

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

Day Four:  Alden House, Standish Burying Ground, Plymouth Rock, Pilgrim Mothers Monument, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Burial Hill, the Mayflower House, the Mayflower II, and back to Plimoth Patuxet to "Eat Like a Pilgrim"  (see below)

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

The Alden House, Duxbury, Massachusetts

One of the bedrooms inside the Alden House

On the fourth day of the tour we drove to Duxbury, Massachusetts to tour the Alden Homesite.  This historic home and archealogical dig site is operated by the Aden Kindred of America, a lineage society of Alden descendants.  After the Mayflower passengers John and Priscilla left Plymouth, they were granted land in what is now the town of Duxbury.  Their original homesite is about 750 feet from the Alden House.  It was excavated in 1960 by archaeologist Roland Wells Robbins, and the artifacts found are on display inside the house.  

The Alden House was built around 1700 by Jonathan Alden, son of John and Priscilla.  The Alden family occupied this structure for three centuries.  It is the only surviving house from the 1627 land division still owned by the same family.  It is currently a museum house, open to the public, with many family items.  There is also a barn with restrooms, a theater, more displays, and a gift shop. 

A docent led a tour from the Alden House to the
older Alden Homesite nearby

Bricks mark out the excavated basement of the
First Alden Homesite

The Myles Standish Burial Ground is the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States.  Myles Standish and his family, John and Priscilla Alden and their family, and Mayflower passenger George Soule are all buried here.  Originally the Duxbury meetinghouse was built here, but it was abandoned in 1789.  The Duxbury Rural Society bcame interested in restoring the burial place of Myles Standish in 1887, and they exhumed several bodies to find the exact spot. A very impressive and flamoyant monument featuring four cannons was built over the place were his remains were located.  The oldest gravestone in the cemetery is Captain Jonathan Alden, died 1697 (the youngest son of John and Priscilla Alden).  The other Mayflower passengers' gravesites are marked by monuments erected by descendants. 

The Myles Standish Burial Ground, Duxbury, Massachusetts

The Standish family tomb

Visiting my Standish ancestors

George Soule, died 1679, another ancestor

The monuments to John Alden and his wife Priscilla Mullins

We drove back to Plymouth for lunch and some free time to explore the waterfront of Plymouth Harbor.  Vincent and I walked along and viewed the Plymouth Rock, the fountain dedicated to the Pilgrim Mothers, and Mayflower II.  

Plymouth Rock

The Pilgrim Mothers Monument

We rejoined the group tour for a visit to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, operated by the Pilgrim Society.  The museum was dedicated in 1824, and is the oldest public museum in the United States.  This is the place to view Pilgrim possesions donated by the families of the Mayflower passengers, as well as other artifacts including from the native Wampanoags as well as the families from England. There is quite a gallery of art dedicated to the Mayflower story, and a small library and research center.  

Pilgrim Hall Museum

Rev. John Robinson's last sermon to his flock,
as they leave Delftshaven, Holland for the New World

This cup was passed down in the Allerton and Cuschman families

This chest was passed down in the Standish family

Some of the tour members chose to take on a walk up Burial Hill to the cemetery on top.  It is a very steep climb, and it was a hot day.  This is the location of the original fort built by the 1620 settlement, and graves of the earliest families.  Mayflower passengers are buried here including Governor William Bradford, William and Mary Brewster, and John and Elizabeth Howland.  Other notable burials here are Marcy Otis Warren, James Warren, and Governor Thomas Prence. It was a strenuous climb, but well worth it! 

The view from the top of Burial Hill

This monument honors the nearby grave
of John Howland, another ancestor

This monument on Burial Hill lists the Howland family

The Mayflower Society House

The Mayflower Society Rose Garden

The new statue to William Bradford

After climbing back down Burial Hill we walked to the Mayflower Society House on 4 Winslow Street. It is undergoing historical restoration, and is not open for tours this year.  And the Mayflower Society library is not open either.  But we were able to tour the lovely rose gardens behind the house, and see the new statue of William Bradford.  It was dedicated in 2021 for the 400th commemoration of the Mayflower voyage.  It depicts Bradford writing in his journal. 

The Mayflower II

The lower deck of the Mayflower II, where the passengers
endured a voyage of 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean

From the Mayflower Society House we walked down the hill to the Plymouth harbor to visit the Mayflower II.  This is a replica of the original Mayflower ship that arrived in 1620.  The Mayflower II was built in 1957 as a gift from England as a thank you for assistance during World War II.  It is always humbling, as a descendant, to visit this humble little ship.  Our group of 45 grew quiet when we went below decks to the hold where the Mayflower passengers were confined for 66 days during the voyage to the New World.  It's hard to imagine spending a few hours in this space, let alone being squished in there for over two months with 102 passengers, their cargo, and animals.  

After our visit to the Mayflower II we went back to Plimoth Patuxet again, not for a tour, but for a dining experience called "Eat like a Pilgrim".  We had a humble meal of cheate bread, butter, cheddar cheese, local grapes, pickles, roast turkey, onion sauce, apple cider, and Indian pudding. Salt was served in a salt cellar.  Our guide gave us a brief lecture on the table manners and recipes of the 17th century. We tried to eat with no forks, napkins over our shoulders, and using our hands.  It was fun, educational, and a bit messy!  

Stay tuned for Day Five of our tour - the last day!

Back to Plimoth Patuxet for dinner

Vincent enjoying his Pilgrim meal!

For the Truly Curious:

The Alden House Historic Site:   http://alden.org/  

The Myles Standish Burial Ground   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Standish_Burial_Ground  

Pilgrim Memorial State Park (Plymouth Rock and the Forefathers Monument):   https://www.mass.gov/locations/pilgrim-memorial-state-park  

The Pilgrim Mothers Fountain:  https://blog.dar.org/inspired-pilgrim-mothers   

Pilgrim Hall Museum:   https://pilgrimhall.org/  

Burial Hill in Plymouth (including a burial record search and map to locate gravesites):  https://www.plymouth-ma.gov/cemetery-and-crematory-management/pages/burial-hill-cemetery   

The Mayflower Society House:   https://themayflowersociety.org/visit/mayflower-society-house/  

The Mayflower II (operated by the Plimoth Patuxet Museums)   https://plimoth.org/plan-your-visit/explore-our-sites/mayflower-ii  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Day Four "On the Path of the Pilgrims" Tour by the GSMD", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 27, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-four-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html: accessed [access date]). 

Day Three of the "Path of the Pilgrims" Tour by the GSMD

 Click here to see Day One of the tour:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-from-general.html   

Click here to see Day Two of the tour:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-two-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by-gsmd.html  

Day Three - The Aptuxet Trading Post in Bourne, Massachusetts, Provincetown, Corn Hill, First Encounter Beach, Cove Cemetery in Eastham, and the Forefathers Monument in Plymouth, Massachusetts - see below

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

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

Aptucxet Trading Post, Bourne, Massachusetts

Wampum was the currency of choice at Aptucxet
in the 17th century

Interior of the Aptucxet Trading Post

The Aprucxet Trading Post is a replica of the building erected in 1627 by Plymouth Colony in what is now the town of Bourne.  It was built for trade with the native Wampanoag people and with traders from the Dutch colony in what is now New York state.  The building was contructed according to descriptions in journals and archaeological digs in the area.  The building is situated on the Cape Cod Canal, but in the 1600s this was the banks of the Manomet River.  

The interior of this two room structure replicates the trading post.  There are also displays about the Wampanoag people from this area, and information about wampum, which was the trade item of choice between the Dutch, English and Wampanoag.  They also traded items for corn, beans, fur, and other items for survival and to repay debts to the English companies that financed the Plymouth Colony.  The colonists also operated the Cushnoc Trading Post in what is now the town of Augusta, Maine.  Several of my Mayflower ancestors were instrumental in establishing this trading post - Myles Standish, Isaac Allerton, and John Howland.  

Provincetown, Massachusetts

We ate lunch here, of course!

A Mayflower window over the door of the Mayflower Cafe

Next our tour took us to the tip of Cape Cod, the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts.  This is where the Mayflower made landfall after 66 days at sea.  The ship moored in Provincetown Harbor after failing to navigate the shoals off Cape Cod.  The passengers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact here, establishing a New England settlement and forming a civil union while they waited for a new patent (permission to settle outside of the original plan near the Hudson River).  

We had time to explore Provincetown and have lunch, before boarding a trolley for a short tour.  The tour gave us a great history of the town, and some of the neighborhoods built over the last 400 years.  I especially liked learning about the fishermens' homes that were floated off the sandbars to line the streets near the harbor.  We had a chance to view the harbor with its breakwater and lighthouse.  Except for a few buildings, it probably looked like it did back in 1620.  

Our tour took us to view the Pilgrim Monument.  This 252 foot tower was dedicated in 1910 to honor the Pilgrims' landing in Provincetown.  It is visible from Plymouth (on a clear day) and from all over Cape Cod.  Years ago Vincent and I climbed to the top, all 116 steps and 60 ramps.  This time we did not climb!  Trivia fact:  President Teddy Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1907, and President Taft led the dedication ceremony three years later. There is a museum at the base of the tower, too.  When you are in Provincetown, just look behind the town hall for the funicular to the top of the hill where the tower is lcated. 

The Mayflower Compact was signed here in Provincetown Harbor

The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown

Corn Hill Monument, at Corn Hill Beach
in Truro, Massachusetts

The inscription at Corn Hill monument

After visiting Provincetown, we went to Corn Hill Beach in Truro, Massachusetts.  This is a lovely beach, considered one of the nicest beaches on Cape Cod.  At the public parking lot you will find this little fenced in enclosure with a marker acknowledging the place where the Pilgrim explorers found a cache of Indian corn in November 1620.  According to Bradford's journal, they did not know if they should steal the corn, but decided to take it because they were starving after the long voyage from England.  This is a controversial part of the Pilgrim story.  Not only because of the theft of the seed corn, but also because the corn was NOT FOUND IN THIS SPOT!

The actual spot where the corn was found is up the hill on private property.  The road to this hill is a private road.  So the first monument (photograph above) is as close as possible to the real spot.  However there is a very small marker on the actual spot, owned by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants who maintain a right of way.  Since we were all members, we took tools to clear out, weed, and visit the monument! 

Tools for maintaining the "real"
Corn Hill marker

Yours truly at the site of the actual corn cache found
on Corn Hill.  It is hidden behind overgrown vegetation. 

The small Corn Hill Marker before clearing the vegetation

The stone is now visible due to everyone helping
to clear the weeds, branches and vegetation. 

Vincent and I hard at work clearing Corn Hill

The monument at the very windy
First Encounter Beach, Eastham, MA

The First Encounter marker

First Encounter Beach

After Corn Hill we went to see First Encounter Beach.  This is the site of another controversial event between the Nauset people and the Mayflower passengers.  The Nauset members of the Wampanoag nation were very wary of the new English men who had arrived in 1620 because several years earlier some of their tribe members had been kidnapped and taken as slaves to Europe (including Tisquantum "Squanto").  When the Pilgrims and the native people met on this beach, arrows and bullets flew but no one was hurt.  The Nauset retreated and the English went back to the Mayflower.  Fortunately, by the spring of 1621 the relations between the two groups improved. 

We were here at First Encounter Beach on a very windy day.  The tide was low, and there were few visitors even though this beach, like Corn Hill Beach, is a very popular site for swimming and boating. It was easy to imagine how it looked in 1620.  

Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Massachusetts 

The gravesite of Mayflower passenger Constance Hopkins Snow
died 1677 Eastham, Massachusetts

The gravesite of Giles Hopkins, Mayflower passenger,
died 1690 Eastham, Massachusetts 

The gravesite of Joseph Rogers, Mayflower passenger,
died 1673 in Eastham, Massachusetts

While we were in Eastham, we also stopped at the Cove Burying Ground, where three Mayflower passengers are buried.  This cemetery dates to 1646.  There are no 17th century markers surviving, but descendants of the passenger interred here have placed memorials.  See the link below for a listing of burials here, including the Mayflower passengers Constance Hopkins Snow, Giles Hopkins, and Joseph Rogers.  

The National Monument to the Forefathers
Plymouth, Massachusetts

A detail on the monument showing the Mayflower Compact

One of the panels on the monument lists the Mayflower passengers

Our last stop for the day was the National Monument to the Forefathers, on Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  This is a solid granite monument standing 81 feet tall.  It was erected by the Pilgrim Society, and dedicated in 1889.  It was deeded to the Massachusetts government, and the monument and Plymouth Rock are both part of Pilgrim Memorial State Park.  It is not a federal or national park. 

It was nice to visit this monument near sunset.  The most popular part of the monument with our tour group was the panel listing the Mayflower passengers.  Everyone wanted to find the name of their ancestor or ancestors!

For the truly curious:

The Aptucxet Trading Post:   https://www.bournehistoricalsociety.org/aptucxet-museum/   

Provincetown, Massachusett Tourism:  https://ptowntourism.com/   

The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown:   https://www.pilgrim-monument.org/   

Corn Hill Beach, Truro, Massachusetts:  https://www.truro-ma.gov/beach-office/pages/corn-hill-beach  

The two Corn Hill plaques (markers):   http://www.cornhillcottages.org/Cottage10/Corn_Hill_Cottage_10/History.html  

First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts:   http://www.capecodgravestones.com/easthampixweb/firenccove.html  

Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Massachusetts:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cove_Burying_Ground  

A listing of burials at the Cove Burying Ground:   http://www.capecodgravestones.com/easthamcove.html  

National Monument to the Forefathers:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_to_the_Forefathers  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Day Three of the "Path of the Pilgrims" Tour by the GSMD", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 25, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-three-of-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html: accessed [access date]).