John Turner, “Mayflower” Passenger

From http://mayflowerhistory.com/turner/

Little is known about John Turner and his family--even the names of his two sons that came on the Mayflower remain unknown. They all died the first winter at Plymouth, likely between January and March 1621.

Turner, John Died in the first sickness. His wife's name is unknown and she did not come over. A daughter Elizabeth, who remains a mystery, was, according to Bradford [443] living in Salem, coming some years after. Thus she was alive in 1650/1 at the writing of Bradford's list.

John Turner was a merchant living in Leiden, where on 27 September 1610 he was granted citizenship in Leiden by sponsors Peter Boey and William Lisle. On 11 June 1620, Robert Cushman wrote a letter to the Leiden congregation in which he stated "I received your letter yesterday, by John Turner . . . " and later wrote "You shall hear distinctly by John Turner, who I think shall come hence on Tuesday night."

There are, unfortunately, hundreds of John Turners living in England at this time, and a conclusive identification seems unlikely. He had a daughter named Elizabeth who came to New England and married, perhaps in Salem, but who she married or where they lived has not been discovered.