Robert Cushman (1578-1625) was one of the Pilgrims. He was born in the village of Rolvenden in Kent, England, and was baptized in the parish church there on February 9, 1578. He spent part of his early life in Canterbury. He was one of a group of Pilgrims who fled to Holland because of differences with the official church over their practice of religion. From there, he later returned to England and arranged the leasing of the Mayflower for the Pilgrims to use on their voyage to America. He did not complete the trip aboard the Mayflower with the other Pilgrims, because their smaller sister ship, the Speedwell, experienced a disaster which threatened its survival. He left the Mayflower, which had not proceeded very far at that time, in order to involve himself in saving this vessel. If the Speedwell had been seaworthy, and Robert Cushman not been ill and able to sail on the Mayflower, he would have been one of the first signers of the Compact along with John Carver, William Brewster and William Bradford. His expertise in financial matters, which had been valuable in acquiring the Mayflower, was also valuable in arranging for needed repairs for Goodspeed. Cushman sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts in the fall of 1621 on the Fortune, but returned shortly thereafter to England to promote the colony's interests. There, he published an essay concerning the Lawfulness of Plantations, which was appended to Mourt's Relation. This document is of interest to modern scholars because of its treatment of the economic reasons for emigration. Unfortunately, before he could return to the New World, he succumbed to an outbreak of plague in London, in the spring of 1625; as a result, the site of his grave is unknown. The book Saints and Strangers by George F. Willison recounts his story. His son, Thomas Cushman (ca. 1607/08 - 1691), who accompanied him on the Fortune, was raised in the family of Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford (1590-1657), and served as Ruling Elder of the Plymouth church from 1649, until his death in 1691.
Robert Cushman was also a forbear of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
