America's oldest settler? Fruit tree planted by pilgrim is still going strong aged 383 years

English Puritan named John Endicott planted the sapling in Plymouth Rock

Thought the pear sapling imported from across the Atlantic from England



Pilgrim Fathers landed at Cape Cod in 1620 to start a new colony

A pear tree planted by a pilgrim in 1630 is still bearing fruit centuries later.

An En glish Puritan named John Endicott planted the sapling i n Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts.



Mr Endicott had followed the Pilgrim Fathers who landed at Cape Cod in 1620 to start a new colony.



Still going strong: A pear tree planted by a pilgrim in 1630 is still bearing fruit centuries later. An English Puritan named John Endicott planted the seed in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts

New beginnings: Mr Endicott was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and determined to make the land more habitable and welcoming, he planted one of the first fruit trees to be cultivated in America. Pictured, the Endicott Pear Tree in May, 1920



Arriving in 1629, Mr Endicott's was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

D etermined to make the land more habitable and welcoming, he planted one of the first fruit trees to be cultivated in America, according to tree website, Treehugger.



Reports differ, but is is thought the pear sapling was imported from across the Atlantic from England on the Arbella in June 1630.



As his children watched, Mr Endictott is said to have declared at the time: 'I hope the tree will love the soil of the old world and no doubt when we have gone the tree will still be alive.'

New beginnings: Reports differ, but is is thought the pear sapling imported from across the Atlantic from England on the Arbella in June 1630. The tree is pictured here at the start of the century

The tree was damaged by a storm in 1804, during the hurricane season and was damaged at least twice more in the 19th century.

Treehugger reports that in 1809, the tree;s fame had spread so far that even President John Adams is thought to have received a special delivery of its pears.



The suffered further damage during a hurricane in 1934 and on July 27, 1964, vandals cut off the tree's branches and part of its trunk using hacksaws.

But the tree has continued to bear fruit throughout its difficulties and is now protected by a fence surrounding its trunk.

Plymouth Colony, founded by the Pilgrim Fathers after they landed in the Mayflower at Cape Cod in November 1620, is one of the best-known American colonies despite not being the first.

Voyage: The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, pictured, in the 17th century



Its fame is partly because it was the first community in what would become the U.S. to be founded by Puritans fleeing religious persecution, establishing the New World's reputation as a land of tolerance and freedom.



The Pilgrims were mostly English men, women and children who had been banned from worshipping as they wished thanks to strict laws against all Christian denominations outside the Church of England.



Many had previously fled to Leiden, in the Netherlands, but seized the opportunity to found a new community based on the spirit of religious equality.



They travelled in the Mayflower from London via Plymouth, and made landfall at a spot they called 'Plymouth Rock', founding a colony of settlers nearby.



Despite widespread illness and harsh conditions, the community survived, and in late 1621 held a ceremony which later became known as the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday.



The settlement founded by the Pilgrims has remained continuously occupied for nearly 400 years, and is now the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

