USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c. > Part 10
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The town was at this time almost deserted, in consequence of the removals to Eastham, and other towns, at different times. Governor Winthrop represents it as a special interposition of divine providence, that Capt. Cromwell's squadron should have been compelled by stress of weather to put into the har- bor, as, during their continuance of fourteen days, they spent liberally, and gave freely to the poorer sort. The freemen and townsmen, in town at this time, were, in number, only seventy- nine.
Mr. Edward Winslow was this year a third time despatched as agent to England, for the adjustment of some difficulties respecting the colonies of both Massachusetts and Plymouth. He executed his commission with great ability, and such was his high standing in that country, that he accepted some employ- ment there, under O. Cromwell, and never returned to Ply- mouth, which was much lamented by his brethren in the colony. -See life of E. W., page 90.
In town meeting ordered, that, whereas there is too much neglect of appearance at town meetings, if any one neglect to come to town meetings when regularly summoned thereto, he shall be liable to pay a fine of twelve pence for every such default, unless he have a sufficient and lawful excuse.
It was this year required by the general court that a town clerk should be appointed and ordained, to keep in each town a. register of the day and year of the marriage, birth and burial
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of every man, woman, or child, within the township. Every father, mother or next in relation was required to certify to the register, keeper or town clerk, the name of the day of the birth of every child so born within his house, within a month next after the birth, under penalty of 3s. for such neglect, or for neglecting to inform of marriages. The town was also required to publish all contracts of marriages. Towns refusing or neg- lecting to choose deputies were fined 50s., and deputies neg- lecting to attend court, without sufficient reason, were fined 20s.
1649 .- The death of Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts, this year, 1649, was considered as a heavy loss to all New- England. It occasioned much grief and sorrow at Plymouth, where his counsel and advice had been often sought and re- ceived, as from one of sound judgment and the purest integri- ty. He died at the age of sixty. His life and character are ably delineated in the American Biography, and by many other writers who have been justly impressed with a sense of his worth and excellence.
In town meeting at the house of Governor Bradford, it was ordered, that whoever shall kill a wolf or wolves, and bring testimony thereof by the skin or head, shall have 15s. for each one killed within the town's liberties, and several persons en- gaged to pay two coats apiece to any Indian who shall kill a wolf, and make it known to the governor by undoubted testi- mony, and such as shall kill lesser wolves shall have an axe or hatchet for each one killed. And it was further agreed by the townsmen present, that as the court has ordered that wolf-traps be put in practice, five traps or more be forthwith made by several companies in the town, and that Nathaniel Morton give notice, by papers, of the names of such as are to join together for the end aforesaid, that they may be made and tended.
Town meetings were first named to be held in the meeting- house this year, and seven discreet men were chosen, five being a quorum, whose duty it should be to act in behalf of the town in disposing of lands; to make inquiry into the state and condition of the poor, to provide for their comfortable support, and to find them employment; to direct to the proper means of relief for the aged and decrepid, and to attend to the affairs of the town generally. The duties assigned to these fathers of the town being the same which afterwards were committed to the selectmen, they may be considered as the first selectmen ever chosen in the colony.
1651 .- At town-meeting it was ordered, that if any persons should be disabled from appearing at town-meetings in person, they may have liberty to send in their votes by proxy, for the
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choice of governor, assistants, commissioners, and treasurer. Voting for the choice of officers, was, in the days of our fathers, considered as a civil duty incumbent upon all, and it was en- joined under a penalty, unless the party could prove that he was prevented by some unavoidable impediment.
Died this year at Marshfield, William Thomas, and his re- mains were honorably buried there. He was one of the mer- chant adventurers in England connected with the Plymouth planters, and came over about the year 1630. Secretary Mor- ton says of him, that " he was a well approved and well ground- ed Christian, and one that had a sincere desire to promote the common good, both of church and state." He was chosen an assistant in 1642, and was re-elected to that office, annually, until his death. His son; Nathaniel, served in Philip's War, in 1675. A grandson, as is supposed, named Nathaniel, was for many years Judge of Probate for the county of Plymouth, and Judge of the Supreme Court from 1712 to 1718. Dr. William Thomas, late of this town, and General John Thomas, late of Kingston, were descendants of William Thomas. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Esq., who was a lineal descendant, espoused the royal cause at the commencement of the Revolution, and was a mandamus counsellor. He abandoned his native country, and joined the British. His son, John Thomas, Esq., occupies the ancient mansion at Marshfield.
Nathaniel Basset and Joseph Prior were fined 20s. each, for disturbing the church in Duxbury; and at the next town-meet- ing or training-day, both were to be bound to a post for two hours in some public place, with a paper on their heads, on which their crime was to be written in capital letters. Miss J. Boulton, for slandering, was sentenced to sit in the stocks during the court's pleasure, and a paper written with capital letters to be made fast unto her all the time of her sitting there; all of which was accordingly performed.
1655 .- Jonathan Coventry, of Marshfield, was presented for making a motion of marriage to Catharine Bradbury, without her master's consent. L. Ramsgate was presented for lying, slandering, and defaming her brother-in-law. Joanna, the wife of O. Mosely, was presented for beating her husband, and getting her children to help her, and bidding them knock him in the head, and wishing his victuals might choke him. Pun- ished at home.
Edward Winslow. This gentleman was born in the year 1594, and was the son of Edward Winslow, of Droitwich, in Worcestershire, England, whose family was ancient and hon- orable. He was one of the most efficient and illustrious set-
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tlers of the colony of Plymouth. In early life, while travelling on the continent of Europe, he became acquainted with John Robinson, and soon united himself with the church under his pastoral charge at Leyden, where he settled and married. A stern advocate for the puritan cause, he embarked with the first company of the Leyden church in the Mayflower, and on his arrival at Cape Cod, December 11, 1620, subscribed the mem- orable covenant of incorporation, and his name stands the third on the list. He was one of the company which, in the shallop, first explored the shores of Cape Cod, and which proceeded thence to Plymouth harbor, and reached Clark's Island in great distress, and which landed there on the third day after. Mr. Winslow was one of those who first came on shore, and selected the place as the foundation of Plymouth settlement. Possessing a sound intellect, a pious heart, and happy address, his eminent services in mitigating the sufferings, and promoting the settlement and welfare of the lonely pilgrims, entitle him to the gratitude of posterity. Accordingly we find his name mentioned, with honor, in all the records of transactions per- taining to our earliest history. His family consisted of his wife, Elizabeth, and three other persons. But on the 24th of March, 1621, his wife died, and, on the 12th of May following, he married Susannah, the widow of William White. This was the first marriage ever solemnized in New England, and the lady was the mother of Peregrine White, the first English child born in the new colony. When the great sagamore, Massasoit, made his first appearance on Strawberry Hill, in- viting an interview with the settlers, Mr. Winslow was deputed to meet him, and he voluntarily placed himself a hostage in the hands of the Indians, while their chief, Massasoit, held his in- terview with governor Carver (page 35). In July, 1621, Mr. Winslow and Mr. Stephen Hopkins were appointed to visit Massasoit, at his cabin at Pokanoket, for the purpose of ex- ploring the country, and ascertaining the situation, character and strength of the tribe, and to cultivate their friendship. He had the address to accomplish the object of his mission, and to confirm the treaty of amity with the great sachem. In the month of March, 1623, Mr. Winslow, with John Hampden, was again despatched to visit Massasoit when dangerously sick, and was the happy means of restoring him to health when appar- ently about expiring. The details of this visit have already been given (page 52 to 55). In the year 1623, Mr. Winslow was despatched to England in the Ann, as an agent, to transact some concerns for the colony, and, in the short space of six months, he returned in the ship Charity, bringing provisions,
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clothing, and the first stock of neat cattle ever in New Eng- land. While in England he published a narrative of the set- tlement and transactions of the colony of Plymouth, entitled " Good News from New England, or, A Relation of things remarkable in that Plantation-by Edward Winslow." This narrative is abridged in Purchase's Pilgrims, and has been of great utility to all succeeding historians. The author having been personally concerned in all the transactions which he re- lated, and his veracity unquestionable, his writings are consid- ered as entitled to unlimited confidence. His narrative con- tains an interesting account of the manners and customs of the aboriginal tribes, with which he had made himself acquainted, and his writings will be read with profit by all who feel an in- terest in the subject, and have a relish for simplicity and truth. During the same year he was again sent to England as agent for the colony. In the year 1625 he was elected one of the five assistants in the colonial government, in which office he was continued till 1633, when he was elected governor of the colony for one year. From his activity, fortitude and perse- verance, Mr. Winslow was well qualified to conduct enter- prises and trading voyages, which he willingly performed for the benefit of the company. He undertook excursions of traf- fic to Penobscot, Kennebec, and Connecticut rivers. In 1635, he accepted another mission to England, jointly for the colo- nies of Plymouth and Massachusetts. The subjects requiring this agency were the infringments made on the New England territories, by the French on the east, and the Dutch on the west; and, also, to answer complaints which had been made to the Government against the Massachusetts colony, by Thomas Morton, that miscreant, who, for his turbulent conduct at Mount Wollaston, had been twice expelled the country. It was in the execution of this mission that Mr. Winslow was subjected to the ignoble abuse and tyranny of Archbishop Laud, as recorded in the ecclesiastical history in this volume. When he returned to Plymouth, 1636, he was cordially re- ceived, and elected to the office of governor, but the year fol- lowing took his place among the magistrates. In 1643, the New England colonies united into a confederacy for mutual defence, when Mr. W. was chosen one of the commissioners in behalf of Plymouth, and was continued in that office three years, when in 1646 he was persuaded to undertake another embassy to England, to answer to the complaints of Samuel Gorton and others, who had charged the colonists with religious intolerance and persecution. At this period, the puritan inter- est in England was predominant, and governor Winslow being
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in high estimation for his intrinsic merit, by those in power, he was enabled to accomplish the object in view, to universal sat- isfaction. He was now in great favor with Oliver Cromwell and his officers, and was invited to accept of employment in his service. Accordingly, in 1654, he received the appoint- ment of first commissioner, on the part of the commonwealth, to arbitrate and determine the value of the English ships seized and detained by the King of Denmark, in 1652. Governor Winslow had then, for 34 years, resided in an American colo- ny, a compeer with those puritan exiles and outcasts who were demed unworthy of consideration. The appointment there- fore, to the office of first commissioner in a concern of such magnitude, implies a high degree of confidence in the merit and character of governor Winslow by the Protector, and is a lasting monument to the honor of him on whom it was con- ferred. The last public service performed by governor Win- slow was in 1655, when he received from Cromwell the ap- pointment of commissioner, with two others, to superitend the operations of the Fleet and Army sent to the Spanish West Indies, under admiral Penn and General Venables. Having, on this service, been subjected to extraordinary fatigue and anxiety of mind, he was seized with a fever of the climate, to which he fell a sacrifice, on the 8th of May, 1655, aged 61. His remains were committed to the deep with the honors of war, 42 guns being fired on the solemn occasion.
The New England Memorial, and whole early history of our country, bear ample testimony to the energy, activity, and well directed exertions of governor Winslow. His efforts in behalf of the native Indians illustrate his benevolence and charity. When in England, he was indefatigable in the cause, em- ploying his interest and influence with members of Parliament, and other gentlemen of quality and fortune, for the promotion of the object of his pious sympathy. The result was, an act of Parliament, in 1649, incorporating a society in England for propagating the gospel among the Indians in New England. The commissioners of the United Colonies were constituted a board of correspondents, and distributors of the money which was supplied in England, by charitable donations from all the
* " The eighth of May, west from 'Spaniola's shore, God took from us our grand commissioner, Winslow by name, a man in chiefest trust, Whose life was sweet and conversation just, Whose parts and wisdom most men's did excel, An honor to his place, as all can tell."
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cities, towns, and parishes in the kingdom. This society is still in existence, though the board of correspondents has been discontinued since our separation from Great Britain. His "Good News from New-England " is a very rare work; the · abridged copy in Purchase's Pilgrims being all that the Mas- sachusetts Historical Society could obtain for re-publication in their collections. His interesting account of the manners and customs of the aboriginal tribes, found in the appendix to Bel- knap's Biography, Vol. 2, cannot fail of being gratifying to the antiquarian. When the celebrated Roger Williams had be- come alienated from the favorable regards of his countrymen, and was reduced to extreme indigence, governor Winslow ex- tended to him the hand of charity, and afforded him relief by his advice and pecuniary contribution. " It pleased the father of mercies," said Mr. Williams, "to touch many hearts with relentings, among whom that great and pious soul, Mr. Wins- low, melted, and he kindly visited me at Providence and put a piece of gold into the hands of my wife for our supply." " In New England," says Dr. Holmes's American Annals," his name will never be forgotten. His portrait is an excellent painting; the eye is black and expressive, and the whole coun- tenance very interesting. The portrait is taken with whiskers. Josiah, son of Edward, is drawn without them. Beards were left off early in New England, and about the same time they were in the Old.
In the year 1637, a valuable tract of land at a place called Green's harbor, at Marshfield, was granted to Mr. Winslow and others, who established themselves there as permanent settlers. Mr. Winslow erected a handsome dwelling-house, and called his seat Careswell, from a castle and seat in Staf- fordshire, England, as conjectured by Dr. Belknap. This seat received improvements from time to time, and continued in the Winslow family till within the last few years; and at that place will be found the sepulchre which contains the ashes of the honorable family. Governor Winslow had one child only, a son, Josiah, who sustained the office of governor of the colony from 1673 to 1680. His life and character will be given below. Edward Winslow had four brothers, * John, Kenelm, Gilbert, and Josiah, all of whom emigrated to the new colony; Gilbert in the Mayflower, John, the next year, in the Fortune. The
* The following notice of the Winslow family was furnished by a lineal descendant of John Winslow :-
John Winslow was the second son of Edward Winslow, of Droitwich, England, whose family consisted of five sons and three
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latter married Mary Chilton, and settled in Boston, where his descendants now reside. One of the brothers settled at Roch- ester, county of Plymouth, one at Harwich, Cape Cod, and
daughters, viz. Edward, born 1595-John, 1596-Elynor, 1598- Kenelm, 1599-Gilbert, 1600-Elizabeth, 1601-Magdalen, 1604- Josiah, 1605.
John as is recorded in page 94, followed his brother Edward, and arrived at Plymouth in the Fortune in 1621. Gilbert who came in the Mayflower in 1620, it is said, by the tradition in the family, re- turned to England, and did not revisit New England. Kenelm and Josiah came over at later periods, but the date of their arrival is not known; Josiah is supposed to have early removed to Duxbury, and from this branch is thought to be derived those of the name in Duxbury, Cape Cod, and Maine. Kenelm, or his son Kenelm, pur- chased a tract of land in Rhode Island, and the many branches of the family in that vicinity are, no doubt, descended from him.
John Winslow, the next brother to Edward, was married in Ply- mouth, before 1627, to Mary Chilton, daughter of James Chilton, one of the first emigrants in the Pilgrim. The tradition of the family, confirmed by a writing at the death of Ann Taylor, in 1773, the last grand-child of John Winslow, is, that Mary Chilton " was the first female who set her foot on the American shore." This may refer to the landing at Cape Cod, where, as is mentioned by Belknap, " the women went ashore to wash their clothes ; " or, to the landing at Plymouth, which, is not known. John Winslow resided in Plymouth till about 1656. His children were mostly, if not all born there. There names are-John, (wives' names unknown) -Sarah, married 1st, Miles Standish, Junr. who died in 1661-no issue ; 2d, Tobias Payne of Boston, having issue by this marriage ; (this was the ancestor of the Payne family of Boston) 3d, Middlecot of Boston-Isaac, married Parnell-Susanna, married Robert La- tham-Benjamin, his birth recorded in Plymouth records, 1653- Mary, born at Plymouth 1630, married Edward Gray, a merchant of Plymouth, 1650-Joseph, no particulars of him known-Mercy, married Arthur Harris Samuel, died Oct. 14, 1680, supposed in Bos- ton-Ann, married Le Blond of Boston.
John Winslow was by profession a merchant, was selectman in Plymouth, and held other offices. In 1661, with Boyes, Tyng and Brattle, he purchased the colony lands on the Kennebec River, and this is thought to be the beginning of the well known "Plymouth Company." In 1637, he sold a house in New or North street for £16. It is not known whether he resided here ; his place being in the North part of Ancient Plymouth, called " Plain Dealing." This estate was sold to his son-in-law Edward Gray, about the time of his removal to Boston, and, by the latter, disposed of to the colony in 1662 ; who purchased it as a residence for governor Prince. Mary, wife of Edward Gray, died in 1663, leaving, as is supposed, two or three daughters and one son ; John Winslow died in Boston
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one at Portsmouth, N. H. There were also three sisters, Ely- nor, Elizabeth, and Magdalen. Whether either of these ac- companied their brothers to this place is uncertain. In the
in 1674, aged 78 years ; Mary Winslow, his wife, died in Boston in 1678. Two of their grand-daughters were Mercy Harris, and Desire Gray (born 1651); the latter of whom was married to Nathaniel Southworth 1671. Mr. Southworth bought the estate of " Plain Dealing " in 1677, but in after years removed to Middle- borough and there died, leaving three sons and several daughters.
John Winslow, by will, March 30, 1673, gives his brother Josiah £20; his ' kinsman,' meaning his nephew, Josiah, governor of New Plymouth, £20; his grand-child Susanna Latham £30; to the others of his daughter Latham's children £5 each ; to the children of Edward Gray, by his daughter Mary Gray, £20 a-piece ; to his grand-child Mercy Harris £5 ; to William Payne, son of his daugh- ter Sarah Middlecot, £50 ; to Parnell Winslow, daughter of his son Isaac, £50; to the children of his sons Edward and Joseph £5 each ; the bulk of his estate is devised to his wife Mary, and the house and gardens, at her death. to his eldest son John. The In- ventory of his estate was £2,946 14 0. Mary Winslow, by will, 31st July, 1676, recognises six children as then living ; viz. John, Edward, Joseph, Samuel, Susanna Latham, and Sarah ; and three grand-children-Mary Pollard, Mercy Harris, and Susanna Latham. From the eldest son John, (through John son of the latter,) it is sup- posed that the family of the late General John Winslow of Boston is descended.
Edward, the fourth son, it is thought, had a first wife in Plymouth before he left that place. His second wife was Elizabeth Hutchin- son, daughter of Ann Hutchinson, celebrated in the history of Mas- sachusetts for her religious zeal, persecution, banishment, and tragi- cal death in 1643, (being slain by the Indians with her family of 16 persons, except one daughter beyond New Haven). Edward Wins- low died in Boston in 1682, aged 48 years ; his wife Elizabeth, in 1728, aged 89. The deaths of the other children of John Winslow, except Samuel, who died in 1680, are not known. The children of Edward and Elizabeth were, Edward and four daughters, of whom Susanna married an Alden, supposed son of John Alden, command- er of the Province Sloop (who being accused of witchcraft during the witch mania of 1692, suffered imprisonment 15 weeks in Bos- ton). Another daughter, Mrs. Ann Taylor, died in Milton in 1773, aged 94-and was the last surviving grand-child of John Winslow and Mary Chilton.
Edward, son of Edward and grandson of John, was born in 1669 ; married Hannah Moody, daughter of Rev. Joshua Moody (minister of the old church in Boston, a zealous opponent of the witch mania, and who suffered for it by being obliged to leave his church). Ed- ward Winslow had a family of nine sons and two daughters. His eldest son Joshua, and youngest, Isaac, were two of the principal
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Winslow family the real estate was inherited by the sons, and the personal by the daughters, many of whom were from ne- cessity obliged to dispose of valuable articles out of the family, as diamond rings, silver salvers, silver skillets, and other arti- cles of plate. The following commission was presented to the
merchants in Boston, from 1730 to 1768. One of his sons, John, also lived in Boston till 1775 and moved to Dunstable, where he died in 1788, aged 88.
Two of his sons, William and Samuel, were in the commissariat department at the siege of Louisburg in 1745, and both died there : some of their descendants are now (1835) living in Boston. The . youngest daughter of Edward Winslow, by a 2d wife, Elizabeth, married Richard Clark, an eminent merchant of Boston ; and the daughter of the latter married John S. Copley, the celebrated paint- er ; their descendants are in England, Canada, and Boston. Edward Winslow was a gold-smith ; he was also Colonel of the Boston Re- giment, and Sheriff of the County of Suffolk; from about 1722 to 1742, his residence was in State street, the estate which is now the Tremont Bank. He died in Boston in 1753, aged 84.
Joshua Winslow, great-grand son of John and Mary Chilton, married Elizabeth Savage, and had a numerous family, (16 children.) Died October, 1767. Isaac Winslow, brother of the aforesaid, mar- ried Lucy Waldo, daughter of Brigadier Samuel Waldo ; had re- tired from business and lived at his seat in Roxbury : his second wife was Jemima Dubuc. He had by the first wife 11 children, and two by the last. He was a loyalist, having been appointed a mandamus counsellor in 1774. He died in New York in 1777 .- His descendants are principally in Boston, but many also in Eng- land.
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