Only four English women from the Mayflower are believed to have survived to help prepare and celebrate what is commonly called the “first Thanksgiving” in 1621.

Who those four women were

Most historical reconstructions agree on the names of the surviving married women at the 1621 harvest feast:

  • Eleanor Billington
  • Mary Brewster
  • Elizabeth Hopkins
  • Susanna White Winslow

These women were part of a group of about 50–55 surviving English colonists who joined Wampanoag guests at the multi‑day harvest celebration in Plymouth.

Why the number is so small

The first winter in New England was catastrophic for the Mayflower passengers, and women died at especially high rates.

  • Contemporary lists and later research indicate only five women survived the first winter, and one of them (Katherine Carver) died in spring 1621, leaving four by the time of the feast.
  • Estimates of total colonists at the feast (around 52–55 English people) and about 90 Wampanoag guests match the idea that adult women were a very small minority in the group.

A note on certainty

Historians rely on ship lists, colony records, and later compilations, which leads to small differences in total attendee counts, but the consensus about four surviving women at the “first Thanksgiving” is strong.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.