Crime: Colonial America

 

John Billington was not a Pilgrim. He was part of the “Strangers”—non‑Separatists recruited by the London merchants who financed the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620. From the moment the Mayflower left England, Billington was a problem.

William Bradford, later governor of Plymouth, described him as “a knave,” a man prone to defiance and disorder. His family was equally notorious: his wife Ellen was reprimanded for slander, and his sons were involved in repeated mischief.

The Billingtons were loud, unruly, and unwilling to submit to the colony’s leadership

Billington’s clashes with authority escalated quickly. In 1621, he refused to obey military orders issued by Captain Myles Standish. Billington’s refusal to comply was seen as a direct challenge to the colony’s survival in a savage environment.

He was arrested and nearly executed, but the colony—still fragile and desperate for manpower—chose leniency.  This would prove a mistake.

By 1630, Plymouth had grown more stable.  But stability did not tame Billington.

That year, he became embroiled in a feud with a young man named John Newcomen. One day, encountering Newcomen alone, Billington raised his musket and shot him. Newcomen died from his wounds.

Billington was arrested and brought before the colony’s governing council, which acted as both judge and jury.

Witnesses testified to the shooting. Billington offered no compelling defense. The council found him guilty of “willful murder.”

The governor described Billington as a man who had “been a bad man” from the beginning, whose death was the inevitable result of years of disorderly conduct.

Billington was sentenced to death by hanging. His execution took place in September 1630, making him the first European settler executed in what would become the United States.