Did you ever think that you could claim an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower? Well you can if you are on my Father’s side of the family. My 10th great grandfather, on my paternal grandmother’s side was John Billington Jr. He, his wife Eleanor, and sons John and Francis arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. John was a non-separatist (not a pilgrim) so he and his family did not share in the values and goals of the pilgrim majority. This caused quite a bit of friction. He increasingly got in trouble with the Plymouth leaders. There are numerous documented events portraying this. Two of the the most serious are as follows. In 1620 he was tried and found guilty of not obeying a lawful command of Capt. Myles Standish. He humbled himself and craving pardon, he was forgiven.  In 1630, he was hanged for murder of a John Newcomen.