From SIGNERS OF THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT by Annie Arnoux Haxton Pt.! The Billington boys were uncontrollable. The Billington boys were not persons to be suppressed or reduced to the subordination of extinction. The situation on the ship was one their hearts craved and the spirit of April Fool's day was not regulated by the calender. Francis Billington climbed a tree and discovered a body of water in the distance. It proved to provide a great quantity of fresh water and perpetuated his name as the Billington Sea. In 1634 he married Christian Penn, widow of Francis Eaton. they proved to be a thriftless pair ; Their growing family of eight children seemed to be too much for them and they were forced to bind most of them out to secure means for their existence. Francis was occasionally fined and sued and once had the choice of a whipping or a fine of 20 pounds.If the sentence was carried out I greatly fear the family exchequer would require the whipping, However as the years went by he was on committees, boards of reference and other organizations which gave evidence of his standing in the community. For more information on this family look under John Billington his brother and John and Eleanor Billington his father and mother. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From CHRONICLES OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS by Alexander Young. ( There is much material in this book about the Billingtons but is duplicate of above information ). ----------------------------------------------------------------- From THE BOWMAN FILES - Mass soc. of Mayflower Descendants. Vol VII pg 12 June 3 1639 Differences between McJohn Atwood and Francis Billington adjusted and attachment be discharged. Vol VIII pg 181" Such of the town of Plymouth as have taken the Oath of Fidelity in the year 1657 - FRANCIS BELLINGTON pg 187 AUG 1643 FRANCIS BILLINGTON in list of those able to bear arms in Plymouth. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From NEW ENGLAMD HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER Vol 4 pg 255 -August 1643 The names of all males that are able to beare arms from 16 years of age to 60 years of age in their several townships. From this list, in Plymouth, Francis Billington. Vol 3 pg 334 Francis Billington was one of the first landowners at Middleborough. Vol 3 Pg 334 Billington was the son of John Billington, one of the passengers in the Mayflower in 1620, who was executed at Plymouth for murder in 1630. The name of his son will be transmitted to posterity as the discoverer in 1621 of the beautiful pond called after him. Billington Sea. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sources of information on Francis Billington also are DESCENDANTS OF FRANCIS 2 BILLINGTON OF THE MAYFLOWER by Robert S. Wakefield also DESIRE BILLINGTON AND HER GRANDFATHER FRANCES'S BILLINGTON'S ESTATE by Harriet W. Plymouth His estate was worth 64 pounds
----------------------------------------------------------------
From PLYMOTH COLONY by Eugene Aubrey Stratton - Pg 146-4 JrancisBillington never became a freeman and he was never granted a right to vote. Pg 335 - Francis Billington married Christoan Penn who married Francis Eaton before 1627. After his death she married Frances Billington. She already had 3 children by Eaton and then had nine children by Bllington. They could not raise them and most were given out.