Born in Shropshire, England in the early 17th century, Richard More was an unlikely candidate for the Mayflower expedition, being the son of the aristocratic Samuel More. Or possibly not. More had long been skeptical of the parentage of his children, his wife (and distant cousin) Katherine More never having been particularly fond of him. A paranoid Samuel would eventually confront his wife, and her defense (that their marriage had not been valid, due to a technicality) did nothing to set his mind at ease. As a messy divorce and lengthy custody battle ensued, Samuel More would attempt to rid himself of his illegitimate offspring by buying them a stake in the Pilgrims’ expedition to America, sending young Richard and his three siblings on a voyage they were not expected to return from. Richard, as it would happen, would be the only one of the More children to survive the terrible first winter at Plimoth, but upon reaching adulthood would find success with his promised land and the connections of his foster father, William Brewster. Richard was decidedly not a Pilgrim, choosing to live in Salem rather than Plimoth and spending much of his time at sea. His first marriage to Christian Hunter was most likely practical (marriage would be required to claim the land in Plimoth he had a stake in) and he would quickly marry again in England (most likely due to his being the father of his young bride-to-be’s child).
Richard had a varied career, sailing across the Atlantic, serving as a surveyor of goods, and managing a tavern on Derby St. While he experienced great success considering his difficult upbringing, Richard More would never fully be able to leave scandal behind. Accusations of shady business dealings dogged him for much of his maritime career and late in his life he would be briefly excommunicated from the church for adultery. Whether sincere or not, his public shows of repentance were enough for him to be allowed back into the church, which he remained a member of until his death at some point after 1694. Around 1918, the inscription Mayflower Pilgrim was added to his stone, along with the death date of 1692, despite the fact that Richard actually appears to have died between 1694-1696. He is buried between his two Salem wives, Christian and Jane, and possesses the only original stone for a Mayflower Passenger.