The Women Who Came in the Mayflower by Annie Russell Marble
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Annie Russell Marble >> The Women Who Came in the Mayflower
While Mistress Brewster did not excel the women of her day, probably,
in education, for to read easily and to write were not considered
necessary graces for even the better-bred classes,--she could
appreciate the thirty-eight copies of the Scriptures which were found
among her husband's four hundred volumes; _these_ would be
familiar to her, but the sixty-four books in Latin would not be read
by the women of her day. Fortunately, she did not survive, as did her
husband, to endure grief from the deaths of the daughters, Fear and
Patience, both of whom died before 1635; nor yet did she realize the
bitterness of feeling between the sons, Jonathan and Love, and their
differences of opinion in the settlement of the Elder's
estate. [Footnote: Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.]
A traditional picture has been given [Footnote: The Pilgrim Republic;
John A. Goodwin; foot-note, p.181.] of Captain Peregrine White of
Marshfield, "riding a black horse and wearing a coat with buttons the
size of a silver dollar, vigorous and of a comely aspect to the last,"
[Footnote: Account of his death in _Boston News Letter_, July 31,
1704.] paying daily visits to his mother, Mistress Susanna White
Winslow. We may imagine this elderly matron, sitting in the Winslow
arm-chair, with its mark, "Cheapside, 1614," [Footnote: This chair and
the cape are now In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth; here also are portraits of
Edward Winslow and Josiah Winslow and the latter's wife, Penelope.]
perhaps wearing the white silk shoulder-cape with its trimmings of
embossed velvet which has been preserved, proud that she was
privileged to be the mother of this son, the first child born of white
parents in New England, proud that she had been the wife of a Governor
and Commissioner of eminence, and also the mother of Josiah Winslow,
the first native-born Governor of any North American commonwealth.
Hers was a record of which any woman of any century might well be
proud! [Footnote: More material may be found in Winslow Memorial;
Family Record, Holton, N. Y., 1877, and in Ancestral Chronological
Record of the William White Family, 1607-1895, Concord, 1895.]
In social position and worldly comforts her life was pre-eminent among
the colonists. Although Edward Winslow had renounced some of his
English wealth, possibly, when he went to Holland and adopted the
trade of printer, he "came into his own" again and was in high favor
with English courts and statesmen. His services as agent and
commissioner, both for the Plymouth colony and later for Cromwell,
must have necessitated long absences from home, while his wife
remained at Careswell, the estate at Green Harbor, Marshfield, caring
for her younger children, Elizabeth and Josiah Winslow. By family
tradition, Mistress Susanna was a woman of graceful, aristocratic
bearing and of strong character. Sometimes called Anna, as in her
marriage record to William White at Leyden, February 11, 1612,
[Footnote: The Mayflower Descendant, vii, 193.] she was the sister of
Dr. Samuel Fuller. Two children by her first marriage died in 1615 and
1616; with her boy, Resolved, about five or six years old, she came
with her husband on _The Mayflower_ and, at the end of the
voyage, bore her son, Peregrine White.
The tact, courtesy and practical sagacity of Edward Winslow fitted him
for the many demands that were made upon his diplomacy. One of the
most amusing stories of his experiences as agent for Plymouth colony
has been related by himself [Footnote: Winslow's Relation.] when, at
the request of the Indians, he visited Massasoit, who was ill, and
brought about the recovery of this chief by common sense methods of
treatment and by a "savory broth" made from Indian corn, sassafras and
strawberry leaves, "strained through his handkerchief." The skill with
which Winslow cooked the broth and the "relish" of ducks reflected
credit upon the household methods of Mistress Winslow.
After 1646, Edward Winslow did not return to Plymouth for any long
sojourn, for Cromwell and his advisers had recognized the worth of
such a man as commissioner. [Footnote: State Papers, Colonial
Service, 1574-1660. Winthrop Papers, ii, 283.] In 1655 he was sent as
one of three commissioners against the Spaniards in the West Indies to
attack St. Domingo. Because of lack of supplies and harmony among the
troops, the attack was a failure. To atone for this the fleet started
towards Jamaica, but on the way, near Hispaniola, Winslow was taken
ill of fever and died, May 8, 1655; he was buried at sea with a
military salute from forty-two guns. The salary paid to Winslow during
these years was L1000, which was large for those times. On April 18,
1656, a "representation" from his widow, Susanna, and son was
presented to the Lord Protector and council, asking that, although
Winslow's death occurred the previous May, the remaining L500 of his
year's salary might be paid to satisfy his creditors.
To his wife and family Winslow, doubtless, wrote letters as graceful
and interesting as are the few business epistles that are preserved in
the Winthrop Papers. [Footnote: Hutchinson Collections, 110, 153,
etc.] That he was anxious, to return to his family is evident from a
letter by President Steele of the Society for Propagating the Gospel
in New England (in 1650), which Winslow was also serving; [Footnote:
The Pilgrim Republic; Goodwin, 444.] "Winslow was unwilling to be
longer kept from his family, but his great acquaintance and influence
were of service to the cause so great that it was hoped he would
remain for a time longer." In his will, which is now in Somerset
House, London, dated 1654, he left his estate at Marshfield to his
son, Josiah, with the stipulation that his wife, Susanna, should be
allowed a full third part thereof through her life. [Footnote: The
Mayflower Descendant, iv. i.] She lived twenty-five years longer,
dying in October, 1680, at the estate, Careswell. It is supposed that
she was buried on the hillside cemetery of the Daniel Webster estate
in Marshfield, where, amid tangles and flowers, may be located the
grave-stones of her children and grandchildren. Sharing with Mistress
Susanna White Winslow the distinction of being mother of a child born
on _The Mayflower_ was Mistress Elizabeth Hopkins, whose son,
Oceanus, was named for his birthplace. She was the second wife of
Stephen Hopkins, who was one of the leaders with Winslow and Standish
on early expeditions. With her stepchildren, Constance and Giles, and
her little daughter, Damaris, she bore the rigors of those first
years, bore other children,--Caleb, Ruth, Deborah and Elizabeth,--and
cared for a large estate, including servants and many cattle. The
inventory of the Hopkins estate revealed an abundance of beds and
bedding, yellow and green rugs, curtains and spinning-wheels, and much
wearing apparel. The home-life surely had incidents of excitement, as
is shown by the accusations and fines against Stephen Hopkins for
"suffering excessive drinking at his house, 1637, when William
Reynolds was drunk and lay under the table," and again for "suffering
men to drink in his house on the Lord's Day, both before and after the
meeting--and allowing his servant and others to drink more than for
ordinary refreshing and to play shovell board and such like
misdemeanors." [Footnote: Records of the Colony of New
Plymouth.] Such lapses in conduct at the Hopkins house were atoned
for by the services which Stephen Hopkins rendered to the colony as
explorer, assistant to the governor and other offices which suited his
reliable and fearless disposition.
These occasional "misdemeanors" in the Hopkins household were slight
compared with the records against "the black sheep" of the colony, the
family of Billingtons from London. The mother, Helen or Ellen, did not
seem to redeem the reputation of husband and sons; traditionally she
was called "the scold." After her husband had been executed in 1630,
for the first murder in the colony, for he had waylaid and killed John
Newcomen, she married Gregory Armstrong. She had various controversies
in court with her son and others. In 1636, she was accused of slander
by "Deacon" John Doane,--she had charged him with unfairness in mowing
her pasture lot,--and she was sentenced to a fine of five pounds and
"to sit in the stocks and be publickly whipt." [Footnote: Records of
the Colony of New Plymouth.] Her second husband died in 1650 and she
lived several years longer, occupying a "tenement" granted to her in
her son's house at North Plymouth. Apparently her son, John, after
his fractious youth, died; Francis married Christian Penn, the widow
of Francis Eaton.
Their children seem to have "been bound out" for service while the
parents were convicted of trying to entice the children away from
their work and, consequently, they were punished by sitting in the
stocks on "lecture days." [Footnote: The Pilgrim Republic; Goodwin.]
In his later life, Francis Billington became more stable in character
and served on committees. His last offense was the mild one "of
drinking tobacco on the high-way." Apparently, Helen Billington had
many troubles and little sympathy in the Plymouth colony.
As companions to these matrons of the pioneer days were four maidens
who must have been valuable as assistants in housework and care of the
children,--Priscilla Mullins, Mary Chilton, Elizabeth Tilley and
Constance Hopkins. The first three had been orphaned during that
first winter; probably, they became members of the households of Elder
Brewster and Governor Carver. All have left names that are most
honorably cherished by their many descendants. Priscilla Mullins has
been celebrated in romance and poetry. Very little real knowledge
exists about her and many of the surmises would be more interesting if
they could be proved. She was well-born, for her father, at his
death, was mentioned with regret [Footnote: New England Memorial;
Morton.] as "a man pious and well-deserving, endowed also with
considerable outward estate; and had it been the will of God, that he
had survived, might have proved an useful instrument in his place."
There was a family tradition of a castle, Molyneux or Molines, in
Normandy. The title of _Mr._ indicated that he was a man of
standing and he was a counsellor in state and church. Perhaps he died
on shipboard at Plymouth, because his, will, dated April 2, 1621, was
witnessed by John Carver, Christopher Jones and Giles Heald,
probably the captain and surgeon of the ship, _Mayflower_.
This will, which has been recently found in Dorking, Surrey, England,
has had important influence upon research. We learn that an older
sister, Sarah Blunden, living in Surrey, was named as administratrix,
and that a son, William (who came to Plymouth before 1637) was to have
money, bonds and stocks in England. Goods in Virginia and more
money,--ten pounds each,--were bequeathed equally to his wife Alice,
his daughter Priscilla and the younger son, Joseph. Interesting also
is the item of "xxj dozen shoes and thirteene paire of boots wch I
give unto the Companie's hands for forty pounds at seaven yeares." If
the Company would not accept the rate, these shoes and boots were to
be for the equal benefit of his wife and son, William. To his friend,
John Carver, he commits his wife and children and also asks for a
"special eye to my man Robert wch hath not so approved himself as I
would he should have done." [Footnote: Pilgrim Alden, by Augustus
E. Alden, Boston, 1902.] Before this will was probated, July 23, 1621,
John Carver, Mistress Alice Mullins, the son, Joseph, and the man,
Robert Carter (or Cartier) were all dead, leaving Priscilla to carry
on the work to which they had pledged their lives. Perhaps, the
brother and sister in England were children of an earlier marriage,
[Footnote: Gen. Hist. Register, 40; 62-3.] as Alice Mullins has been
spoken of as a second wife.
Priscilla was about twenty years old when she came to Plymouth. By
tradition she was handsome, witty, deft and skilful as spinner and
cook. Into her life came John Alden, a cooper of unknown family, who
joined the Pilgrims at Southampton, under promise to stay a
year. Probably he was not the first suitor for Priscilla's hand, for
tradition affirmed that she had been sought in Leyden. The single
sentence by Bradford tells the story of their romance: "being a
hop[e]full yong man was much desired, but left to his owne liking to
go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryed here." With
him he brought a Bible, printed 1620, [Footnote: Now in Pilgrim Hall,
Plymouth.] probably a farewell gift or purchase as he left
England. When the grant of land and cattle was made in 1627, he was
twenty-eight years old, and had in his family, Priscilla, his wife, a
daughter, Elizabeth, aged three, and a son, John, aged one. [Footnote:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.]
The poet, Longfellow, was a descendant of Priscilla Alden, and he had
often heard the story of the courtship of Priscilla by Miles Standish,
through John Alden as his proxy. It was said to date back to a poem,
"Courtship," by Moses Mullins, 1672. In detail it was given by Timothy
Alden in "American Epitaphs," 1814, [Footnote: American Epitaphs,
1814; iii, 139.] but there are here some deflections from facts as
later research has revealed them. The magic words of romance, "Why
don't you speak for yourself, John?" are found in this early
narrative.
There was more than romance in the lives of John and Priscilla Alden
as the "vital facts" indicate. Their first home was at Town Square,
Plymouth, on the site of the first school-house but, by 1633, they
lived upon a farm of one hundred and sixty-nine acres in
Duxbury. Their first house here was about three hundred feet from the
present Alden house, which was built by the son, Jonathan, and is now
occupied by the eighth John Alden. It must have been a lonely
farmstead for Priscilla, although she made rare visits, doubtless on
an ox or a mare, or in an ox-cart with her children, to see Barbara
Standish at Captain's Hill, or to the home of Jonathan Brewster, a few
miles distant. As farmer, John Alden was not so successful as he would
have been at his trade of cooper. Moreover, he gave much of his time
to the service of the colony throughout his manhood, acting as
assistant to the Governor, treasurer, surveyor, agent and military
recruit. Like many another public servant of his day and later, he
"became low in his estate" and was allowed a small gratuity of ten
pounds because "he hath been occationed to spend time at the Courts on
the Countryes occasion and soe hath done this many yeares."
[Footnote: Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.] He had also been
one of the eight "undertakers" who, in 1627, assumed the debts and
financial support of the Plymouth colony.
Eleven children had been born to John and Priscilla Alden, five sons
and six daughters. Sarah married Alexander Standish and so cemented
the two families in blood as well as in friendship. Ruth, who married
John Bass, became the ancestress of John Adams and John Quincy
Adams. Elizabeth, who married William Pabodie, had thirteen children,
eleven of them girls, and lived to be ninety-three years; at her death
the _Boston News Letter_ [Footnote: June 17, 1717.] extolled her
as "exemplary, virtuous and pious and her memory is blessed." Possibly
with all her piety she had a good share of the independence of spirit
which was accredited to her mother; in her husband's will [Footnote:
The Mayflower Descendant, vi, 129.] she is given her "third at Little
Compton" and an abundance of household stuff, but with this
reservation,--"If she will not be contented with her thirds at Little
Compton, but shall claim her thirds in both Compton and Duxbury or
marry again, I do hereby make voyde all my bequest unto her and she
shall share only the parte as if her husband died intestate." A
portrait of her shows dress of rich materials.
Captain John Alden seems to have been more adventuresome than the
other boys in Priscilla's family. He was master of a merchantman in
Boston and commander of armed vessels which supplied marine posts with
provisions. Like his sister, Elizabeth, he had thirteen children. He
was once accused of witchcraft, when he was present at a trial, and
was imprisoned fifteen weeks without being allowed bail.
[Footnote: History of Witchcraft; Upham.] He escaped and hurried to
Duxbury, where he must have astonished his mother by the recital of
his adventures. He left an estate of L2059, in his will, two houses,
one of wood worth four hundred pounds, and another of brick worth two
hundred and seventy pounds, besides much plate, brass and money and
debts amounting to L1259, "the most of which are desperite." A tablet
in the wall of the Old South Church at Copley Square, Boston, records
his death at the age of seventy-five, March, 1701. He was an original
member of this church. Perhaps Priscilla varied her peaceful life by
visits to this affluent son in Boston. There is no evidence of the
date of Priscilla Alden's death or the place of her burial. She was
living and present, with her husband, at Josiah Winslow's funeral in
1680. She must have died before her husband, for in his Inventory,
1686, he makes no mention of her. He left a small estate of only a
little over forty pounds, although he had given to his sons land in
Duxbury, Taunton, Middleboro and Bridgewater. [Footnote: The
Mayflower Descendant, iii, 10. The Story of a Pilgrim Family;
Rev. John Alden; Boston, 1890.] Probably Priscilla also bestowed some
of her treasures upon her children before she died. Some of her
spoons, pewter and candle-sticks have been traced by inheritance. It
is not likely that she was "rich in this world's goods" through her
marriage, but she had a husband whose fidelity to state and religion
have ever been respected. To his memory Rev. John Cotton wrote some
elegiac verses; Justin Winsor has emphasized the honor which is still
paid to the name of John Alden in Duxbury and Plymouth: [Footnote:
History of Duxbury; Winsor.] "He was possessed of a sound judgment
and of talents which, though not brilliant, were by no means
ordinary--decided, ardent, resolute, and persevering, indifferent to
danger, a bold and hardy man, stern, austere and unyielding and of
incorruptible integrity." The name of Mary Chilton is pleasant to the
ear and imagination. Chilton Street and Chiltonville in Plymouth, and
the Chilton Club in Boston, keep alive memories of this girl who was,
by persistent tradition, the first woman who stepped upon the rock of
landing at Plymouth harbor. This tradition was given in writing, in
1773, by Ann Taylor, the grandchild of Mary Chilton and John Winslow.
[Footnote: History of Plymouth; James Thatcher.] Her father, James
Chilton, sometimes with the Dutch spelling, Tgiltron, was a man of
influence among the early leaders, but he died at Cape Cod, December
8, 1620. He came from Canterbury, England, to Holland. By the records
on the Roll of Freemen of the City of Canterbury, [Footnote: Probably
this freedom was given, by the city or some board therein, as mark of
respect. N. E. Gen. Hist. Reg., 63, 201.] he is named as James
Chylton, tailor, "Freeman by Gift, 1583." Earlier Chiltons,--William,
spicer, and Nicholas, clerk,--are classified as "Freemen by
Redemption." Three children were baptized in St. Paul's Church,
Canterbury,--Isabella, 1586; Jane, 1589; and Ingle, 1599. Isabella
was married in Leyden to Roger Chandler five years before _The
Mayflower_ sailed. Evidently, Mary bore the same name as an older
sister whose burial is recorded at St. Martin's, Canterbury, in
1593. Isaac Chilton, a glass-maker, may have been brother or cousin of
James. Of Mary's mother almost nothing has been found except mention
of her death during the infection of 1621. [Footnote: Bradford's
History of Plymouth Plantation; Appendix.]
When _The Fortune _arrived in November, 1621, it brought Mary
Chilton's future husband among the passengers,--John Winslow, younger
brother of Edward. Not later than 1627 they were married and lived at
first in the central settlement, and later in Plain Dealing, North
Plymouth. They had ten children. The son, John, was Brigadier-General
in the Army. John Winslow, Sr., seemed to show a spirit of enterprise
by the exchange and sale of his "lots" in Plymouth and afterwards in
Boston where he moved his family, and became a successful owner and
master of merchant ships. Here he acquired land on Devonshire Street
and Spring Lane and also on Marshall Lane and Hanover Street. From
Plans and Deeds, prepared by Annie Haven Thwing, [Footnote:
Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. Also dimensions in Bowditch
Title Books: 26: 315.] one may locate a home of Mary Chilton Winslow
in Boston, a lot 72 and 85, 55 and 88, in the rear of the first Old
South Church, at the southwest corner of Joyliffe's Lane, now
Devonshire Street, and Spring Lane. It was adjacent to land owned by
John Winthrop and Richard Parker. By John Winslow's will, probated May
21, 1674, he bequeathed this house, land, gardens and a goodly sum of
money and shares of stock to his wife and children. The house and
stable, with land, was inventoried for L490 and the entire estate for
L2946-14-10. He had a Katch _Speedwell_, with cargoes of pork,
sugar and tobacco, and a Barke _Mary_, whose produce was worth
L209; these were to be divided among his children. His money was also
to be divided, including 133 "peeces of eight." [Footnote: The
Mayflower Descendant, 111, 129 (1901).]
Interesting as are the items of this will, which afford proofs that
Mary Chilton as matron had luxuries undreamed of in the days of 1621,
_her_ will is even more important for us. It is one of the three
_original_ known wills of _Mayflower_ passengers, the others
being those of Edward Winslow and Peregrine White. Mary Chilton's will
is in the Suffolk Registry of Probate, [Footnote: This will Is
reprinted In The Mayflower Descendant, I: 85.] Boston, in good
condition, on paper 18 by 14 inches. The will was made July 31,
1676. Among other interesting bequests are: to my daughter Sarah
(Middlecot) "my Best gowne and Pettecoat and my silver beare bowl" and
to each of her children "a silver cup with a handle." To her
grandchild, William Payne, was left her "great silver Tankard" and to
her granddaughter, Ann Gray, "a trunk of Linning" (linen) with bed,
bolsters and ten pounds in money. Many silver spoons and "ruggs" were
to be divided. To her grandchild, Susanna Latham, was definite
allotment of "Petty coate with silke Lace." In the inventory one may
find commentary upon the valuation of these goods--"silk gowns and
pettecoats" for L6-10, twenty-two napkins at seven shillings, and
three "great pewter dishes" and twenty small pieces of pewter for two
pounds, six shillings. She had gowns, mantles, head bands, fourteen in
number, seventeen linen caps, six white aprons, pocket-handkerchiefs
and all other articles of dress. Mary Chilton Winslow could not write
her name, but she made a very neat mark, M. She was buried beneath the
Winslow coat of arms at the front of King's Chapel Burial-ground in
Boston. She closely rivalled, if she did not surpass in wealth and
social position, her sister-in-law, Susanna White Winslow.
Elizabeth Tilley had a more quiet life, but she excelled her
associates among these girls of Plymouth in one way,--she could write
her name very well. Possibly she was taught by her husband, John
Howland who left, in his inventory, an ink-horn, and who wrote records
and letters often for the colonists. For many years, until the
discovery and printing of Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation in
1856, it was assumed that Elizabeth Tilley was either the daughter or
granddaughter of Governor Carver; such misstatement even appears upon
the Howland tombstone in the old burying-ground at Plymouth. Efforts
to explain by assuming a second marriage of Carver or a first marriage
of Howland fail to convince, for, surely, such relationships would
have been mentioned by Bradford, Winslow, Morton or Prence. After the
death of her parents, during the first winter, Elizabeth remained with
the Carver household until that was broken by death; afterwards she
was included in the family over which John Howland was considered
"head"; according to the grant of 1624 he was given an acre each for
himself, Elizabeth Tilley, Desire Minter, and the boy, William Latham.
The step-mother of Elizabeth Tilley bore a Dutch name, Bridget Van De
Veldt. [Footnote: N. E. Gen. Hist. Reg., i, 34.] Elizabeth was ten or
twelve years younger than her husband, at least, for he was
twenty-eight years old in 1620. They were married, probably, by
1623-4, for the second child, John, was born in 1626. It is not known
how long Howland had been with the Pilgrims at Leyden; he may have
come there with Cushman in 1620 or, possibly, he joined the company at
Southampton. His ancestry is still in some doubt in spite of the
efforts to trace it to one John Howland, "gentleman and citizen and
salter" of London. [Footnote: Recollections of John Howland,
etc. E. H. Stone, Providence, 1857.] Probably the outfit necessary for
the voyage was furnished to him by Carver, and the debt was to be paid
in some service, clerical or other; in no other sense was he a
"servant." He signed the compact of _The Mayflower_ and was one
of the "ten principal men" chosen to select a site for the colony. For
many years he was prominent in civic affairs of the state and
church. He was among the liberals towards Quakers as were his brothers
who came later to Marshfield,--Arthur and Henry. At Rocky Neck, near
the Jones River in Kingston, as it is now called, the Howland
household was prosperous, with nine children to keep Elizabeth
Tilley's hands occupied. She lived until past eighty years, and died
at the home of her daughter, Lydia Howland Brown, in Swanzey, in 1687.
Among the articles mentioned in her will are many books of religious
type. Her husband's estate as inventoried was not large, but
mentioned such useful articles as silk neckcloths, four dozen buttons
and many skeins of silk. [Footnote: The Mayflower Descendant, ii, 70.]