From England To Plymouth Colony in 1621
In the fall of 1621 Cushman sailed to Plymouth Colony aboard the ship Fortune accompanied by his son Thomas Cushman. The Fortune arrived at New Plymouth the 11th of November 1621 - the anniversary of the anchorage of the Mayflower at Cape Cod the previous year. The Fortune had aboard thirty-five prospective settlers who were gladly received at Plymouth Colony as partly making up for the loss of the many through death in the previous year.
Cushman carried with him a patent to the New Plymouth colony in the name of Mr. John Pierce of London, one of the Merchant Adventurers.
Robert Cushman was to remain but a few weeks. His mission was to convince the settlers to accept the conditions of the terms of their contract which was imposed by Thomas Weston and the London investors. This contract had incurred the resentment and anger of the Leiden contingent and which they had angrily rejected on August 5, 1620, the date of departure from Portsmouth. But what Cushman found at Plymouth was that finally the settlers had come to realize their situation and their need for assistance from London. Cushman did complete his mission, but was to leave his son Thomas in the care of Governor Bradford, and departed Plymouth on December 13, 1621, having already spent four months at sea. Governor Bradford later reported on Cushman’s visit to Plymouth - “stayed not above fourteen days” and that the ship Fortune was “speedily dispatched away laden with (cargo) estimated to be worth near 500£.”
Unfortunately, on the way back to England, the Fortune was attacked by French pirates and was robbed of its valuable cargo along with the possessions of crew and passengers.
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