USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > The truth about the Pilgrims > Part 13
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Elizabeth Tilley came in the "Mayflower" with her father, John Tilley, and later married John Howland. The date
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of her marriage is unknown but her son John2 Howland, born February 24, 1626/27 (Judge Sewall's Diary) and her daughter Desire2 Howland whose birth date is unknown, were both living in 22 May 1627. Unless these children were twins, which seems unlikely from the meager data obtainable, Desire must have been born as early as Feb- ruary 1625/6. Whether or not they were twins, it is certain that on 24 February 1626/7, Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland was the mother of two children. In her will dated 17 December 1686, she called herself "Seventy-nine years of age but of good and perfect memory," thus fixing her own birth date as about 1607 or 1608. As the statement of the will is supported by the known facts regarding her children, and nothing has been found which casts any doubt upon it, we must accept it as correct. But even if we did not have the statement of the will by which to fix the age of Eliza- beth Tilley, it is evident that she must have been born before March 3, 1615, otherwise she would have become the mother of two children before she was twelve years of age. Since Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland was born before March 3rd, 1615, she could not have been a daughter either of "Jan Tellij" or of "Prijntgen Van der Velde" who were married on that date neither having been married before.
The only known contemporary references to the parent- age of Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland are found in Bradford's "History." In the list of "Mayflower" passengers he men- tions her three times as follows:
"John Tillie, and his wife, and Elizabeth their daughter," (B 408).
"John Howland married the daughter of John Tillie, Elizabeth, and they are both now living," (B 410).
"John Tillie and his wife both dyed a little after they came ashore; and their daughter, Elizabeth married with John Howland," (B 412).
These statements were written by Governor Bradford while John Howland and his wife were still living in
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Plymouth, where all three had lived for more than thirty years and Bradford must then have had his own manuscript "register ... recording some of the first deaths, marriages and punishments," which Rev. Thomas Prince obtained from the Governor's Grandson, Major John Bradford, and referred to so frequently in his "New England Chronology," published in 1736. Governor Bradford was in a position to know the facts. Therefore, as no evidence has yet been produced to contradict his statements, we must accept them as they have come down to us in his own handwriting.
It has been shown that Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland was not the daughter of "Jan Tellij," the Leyden bridegroom of 1615, and on the other hand it has been shown that she was the daughter of John Tilley of the "Mayflower." It is evident therefore, that "Jan Tellij" and John Tilley were not identical, but were two entirely distinct indi- viduals. (M.D. X 65-67) (M.D. XXIII 76).
86-Elizabeth (Comyngs) Tilley has been tentatively iden- tified as the wife of John Tilley. She came with her husband and daughter (B 408). For many years her daughter Elizabeth, wife of John Howland, was supposed to be a daughter of Governor Carver until Governor Bradford's "History" showed this was untrue. John Tilley and his wife were the parents of Elizabeth (B 87) (MD I 10) (MD X 65) (MD XXIII 76), whose name immediately follows.
87-Elizabeth % Tilley came with her parents (B 408). For many years because of family tradition she was thought to be a daughter of Governor Carver until Governor Brad- ford's history was discovered (T 129). The tradition arose because she was treated by Carver as a daughter. She mar- ried John Howland. After his death she went to live with her daughter, Lydia, who had married James Brown and was living in Rehoboth. When she made her will, she was of Swansea. She died December 31, 1687, and was buried in the Brown lot in the Little Neck .Cemetery now: River- side, Rhode Island. Her will is published (MD III 54).
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(Bristol County Probate Records, Vol. I, pg. 13-14). She and John have had many descendants (MI).
88-Thomas Tinker came with his wife and son (B 408). He was the nineteenth signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was born in 1581, at Thurne, County Norfolk, England, and became a carpenter at Neatishead, County Norfolk, England. He is credited to the Leyden contingent. (BK 89). The name of his wife is unknown. He died at Plymouth between January 11 and April 10, 1621, in the first general sickness (MD II 119). He left no known descendants.
89-Mrs. Tinker came with her husband and son (B 408). She died at Plymouth after January 11, early in 1621, in the first general sickness (MD II 119). She left no known descendants.
90- Tinker, son of Thomas and wife, came with his parents (B 408). This son died at Plymouth in the first general sickness after January 11, early in 1621 (MD II 119). His first name is unknown.
91-William Trevore was a seaman who was hired to stay a year in the New World. He was undoubtedly employ- ed because of his previous experience and knowledge of the New England coast obtained as one of the crew of Captain Dermer's ship the year previously (BK 90). He did not sign the Mayflower Compact, probably because he did not in- tend to remain. After his time had expired, he returned to England. He came over thereafter as master of a ship. His previous voyages are described in a deposition made by him (BK 90). A letter written by Robert Cushman in England to Governor William Bradford in Plymouth mentions a proposed plantation, to be made by Thomas Weston, as follows: "It is like he will plant to the south- ward of the Cape, for William Trevore hath lavishly tould but what he knew or imagined of Capewack, Mohiggen, and the Narigansets." (B 136). He died without known descendants after May 7, 1650 (MD II 119).
92-John Turner came with two sons. A daughter came
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later to Salem and married there (B 408). He is mentioned by Robert Cushman in a letter dated June 11, 1620, to the bretheren in Leyden (B 74). He was the twenty-second signer of the Mayflower Compact and is classed with the Leyden contingent. He was probably the one who in 1592 sold a messuage in Doncaster, England, and may be the one who was married at Whitechapel in 1615 (BK 91). He died at Plymouth during the first general sickness between January 11 and April 10, 1621. (MD II 119). He left no known descendants.
93- Turner came with his father and brother (B 408). His first name is unknown. He died at Plymouth in the first general sickness after January 11, early in 1621 (MD II 119).
94- Turner came with his father and brother (B 408). His first name also is unknown. He died at Ply- mouth after January 11, early in 1621, in the first general sickness (MD II 120).
95-Mr. Richard Warren came alone. His wife and five daughters were left behind and came afterwards on the "Anne" (B 408). He was the twelfth signer of the Mayflower Compact. He married before 1611, Elizabeth, whose last name is unknown and who was born. about 1583. He was from London. He was a member of the third expedition which left the "Mayflower" in the shallop on December 16 and was in the First Encounter with the Indians on Decem- ber 18. This party eventually landed on the rock and selected Plymouth as their new home (MR 43), (B 9). He was among the "Purchasers" of 1627 to buy from the London adventurers all their rights to the colony. (MD III 45). He stood at the head of the ninth share in the division of cattle in 1627. His location of lands was near Eel River, and the land remained in the possession of his descendants for many years (T 70-71). He died at Plymouth in 1628. His wife died at Plymouth October 12, 1673 (MD II 120) (MD III 50). They have had many descendants (N.E., Vol.
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55, pp. 70-78, 161-170) (MI), including two Presidents of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The latter is descended from him in five lines. Other descendants have been Colonel Benjamin Church, the Indian fighter; the Reverend Josiah Cotton, Harvard, 1698; James Warren, President of the Continental Congress; Dr. Charles Thomas Jackson, scientist; Dr. Cyrus Briggs, Harvard, 1821, famous surgeon; Charlemagne Tower, former Ambassador to Germany; John Bartlett, author of Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations"; Major General Frederick Dent Grant, distinguished soldier and his son, Major General Ulysses S. Grant, 3rd; Major General Leonard Wood, com- mander of the "Rough Riders" and later of the American Army in Cuba; George W. Baker, the philanthropist; and Governor Robert Bradford of Massachusetts. Among the women descended from him is Louise Dutton Fillmore, the authoress, who comes from him in two lines, and also Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
96-Mr. William White came with his wife and one son Resolved. Another son Peregrine was born on the "May- flower." He brought two servants, William Holbeck and Edward Thomson (B 408). He was the eleventh signer of the Mayflower Compact and was one of the Leyden con- tingent (BK 94-95). He married at Leyden, Holland, Feb- ruary 11, 1612, Susanna Fuller (MD VII 193-194). He died at Plymouth March 3, 1621, during the first general sick- ness. His widow married Edward Winslow (MD II 120). He has left many descendants. (Thomas and Samuel White's "Descendants of William White") (MI).
97-Susanna (Fuller) White came with her husband and son, and had another son Peregrine born on the "May- flower" (B 408). She had married William White at Leyden, Holland, on February 11, 1612 (MD VII 193-194). After his death at Plymouth on March 3, 1621, she married Edward Winslow at Plymouth on May 22, 1621 (MD II 120).
98-Resolved ? White came with his parents (B 408). He
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married first, November 15, 1640, Judith Vassall, daughter of William Vassall. She was buried at Marshfield, April 13, 1670. He married, second, at Salem Massachusetts, October 15, 1674, Abigail ( ) Lord, widow of William Lord. She died at Salem, between June 25 and July 7, 1682. He died between 1690 and 1694. (MD II 120). He has had many descendants. .
99-Peregrine & White was born on the "Mayflower" at Cape Cod Harbor between December 7 and 10, 1620 (HX I 27). He volunteered for the Pequot War in 1636 and was an ensign during the Narragansett troubles in 1642. He was later a captain and a member of the Council of War in 1675. He married before March 16, 1649, Sarah Bassett, daughter of William Bassett. He died at Marshfield July 31, 1704. His will has been published (MD I 129). The inven- tory has also been published (MD VIII 119) (Plymouth Probate Records Book, Vol. 2, pg. 48). His widow died at Marshfield, February 2, 1712 (MD II 120). He left many descendants.
100-Roger Wilder came as a servant of John Carver (B 407). He did not sign the Mayflower Compact. He died at Plymouth between January 11 and April 12, 1621, during the first general sickness (MD II 120). He left no known descendants.
101-Thomas Williams came alone (B 409). He came from Yarmouth, County Norfolk, and had lived in Leyden with his sister (BK 97). He was the thirtieth signer of the Mayflower Compact. He died at Plymouth between Janu- ary 11, and April 10, 1621 (MD II 120), during the first general sickness. Bradford states that he died soon after landing, (B 413) yet attempts have been made to prove that he did not die. The Society of Mayflower Descendants has accepted no alleged descendants from him.
102-Mr. Edward Winslow came with his wife and two servants George Soule and Elias Story (B 407). He was the third signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was born at
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Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, on October 28, 1595. He married, first, at Leyden, May 16, 1618, Elizabeth Barker of Chester, England (MD VIII 100) (R 213). She came with him on the "Mayflower" but died during the first general sickness in Plymouth on April 3, 1621. He married, second, at Plymouth, on May 22, 1621, Susanna, widow of William White, who had also died during the first sickness. This was the first marriage ever solemnized in New England. He was one of the company which, in the shallop, first explored the shores of Cape Cod, engaged in the First Encounter at Eastham and which proceeded thence to Plymouth harbor and reached Clark's Island in great dis- tress (M 31). He was one of those who first landed and selected Plymouth as the place of settlement (MR 43). When: Massasoit made his first appearance on Strawberry Hill, inviting an interview with the settlers, "Winslow was deputed to meet him and he voluntarily placed himself as hostage in the hands of the Indians while their chief, Massasoit, held his interview with Governor Carver." In July, 1621, he and Stephen Hopkins (M 48) "were ap- pointed to visit Massasoit, at his cabin at Pokanoket, for the purpose of exploring the country, and ascertaining the situation, character, and strength of the tribe, and to cultivate their friendship." In the month of March, 1623, with John Hampden, he was again dispatched to visit Massasoit when the latter was dangerously sick, and Win- slow was the fortunate means of restoring him to health" when " apparently about expiring. In September, 1623, Winslow was dispatched to England on the "Ann," as an . agent; to transact business for the Colony, and, in the short space of six months, he returned in March, 1624, on the ship "Charity," bringing provisions, clothing, and the first stock of cattle ever in New England. While in England he published a narrative; entitled "Good News from New England, or A Relation of Things Remarkable in That Plantation.". During 1630, he was again sent to England
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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 continued until 1633. In the latter year, Governor Bradford having served about twelve years asked that some- one take his place, and as a result Edward Winslow was that year chosen third Governor of the Colony. At a gen- eral court held October 28, 1633, it was agreed that the chief government should be held in the town of Plymouth, and that the governor live there and keep his residence and dwelling there and also hold meetings of the court there. (T 74). This meant that Winslow was obliged to live in Plymouth rather than in Marshfield, where he had lived since 1638 on his pretentious estate "Careswell." The next year he was again chosen one of the assistants, which office he filled for eleven years. In 1635, he accepted another mission to England, jointly for the Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts. It was during this mission that he was persecuted by Archbishop Laud for speaking in Church and for solemnizing marriages as a magistrate and was committed to Fleet Prison, where he remained seventeen weeks before he was released. When he returned to Ply- mouth in 1636, he was again elected Governor but the year following became one of the magistrates. In 1643, he was Plymouth commissioner in the newly formed confed- erated New England Colonies and held the office for three years. In 1644, he served again as Governor. In 1646, he went to England for the fourth time and did not return. At that visit through his influence the Society of the Propa- gation of the Gospel among the Indians was established in 1649, and it is still in existence. He published "Hypocrisie Unmasked" (London 1646), and the next year published "New England's Salamander." He was in high favor with Oliver Cromwell and his officers and was invited to accept employment in Cromwell's service. In 1654, he received the appointment of first commissioner to arbitrate and determine the value of the English ships seized and detained
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by the King of Denmark in 1652. His last public service was when in 1655 he received from Cromwell the appoint- ment of commissioner, with Admiral Penn and General Venable, to capture the Spanish West Indies and to govern Hispaniola. On the passage to attack Jamaica, he became ill of fever and died. His remains were buried at sea on May 8, 1655, with the honors of war and a forty-two gun salute. (T 88-94) (B 117 note) (MD V 224-233). He left a will (MD IV 1) (Somerset House Records, London). He has had descendants (WT) (N.E., Vol. 17, pp. 159-162) (MI), many of whom have been described herein at length.
103-Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow came with her husband (B 407). She was from Chester, Suffolk, England. She died at Plymouth in the first general sickness on April 3, 1621. (MD II 120).
104-Gilbert Winslow was born on November 5, 1600, at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England. He was a younger brother of Edward Winslow. He came alone and was the thirty-first signer of the Mayflower Compact. Bradford says of him "after diverse years aboad here, returned to Eng- land, and dyed ther" (B 413). He returned to England about 1626 and died in 1650. (HX II 30) (MD II 120). He left no known descendants.
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APPENDIX B
COMPACT SIGNED IN THE CABIN OF THE "MAYFLOWER"
IN YE NAME OF GOD, AMEN .- WE whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland King, Defender of ye Faith, &c.
Haveing under-taken, for ye glorie of God, and advance- mente of ye Christian faith and honour of our King & Countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant, & com- bine our selves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering, preservation, & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame shuch just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitu- tions & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunder subscribed our name at Cap-codd ye 11 of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our soveraigne Lord King James of England, France & Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth, Anº Dom. 1620 (B 107).
The foregoing has been copied from Bradford's "His- tory." What follows has been copied from Morton's "New
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England Memorial," 1669 edition, in which there are three columns of seven names each at the bottom of a page:
John Carver Samuel Fuller
Edward Tilley
William Bradford Christopher Martin
John Tilley
Edward Winslow William Mullins
Francis Cooke
William Brewster William White
Thomas Rogers
Isaac Allerton Richard Warren
Thomas Tinker
John Alden
John Howland
John Ridgdale
Myles Standish Stephen Hopkins
Edward Fuller
At the top of the following page the names appear as follows:
John Turner Degory Priest
Richard Gardiner®
Francis Eaton
Thomas Williams
Richard Clarke
James Chilton
Gilbert Winslow
John Allerton
John Crackston Edmund Margeson
Thomas English
John Billington
Peter Brown
Edward Doty
Moses Fletcher
Richard Britteridge
Edward Leister
John Goodman
George Soule (MD I 79).
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APPENDIX C
What Later Generations Have Said Concerning the Pilgrims
"HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COLONY"
Francis Baylies, 1830, Page 30:
"On the bleak shore of a barren wilderness, in the midst of desolation, with the blasts of winter howling around them, and surrounded with dangers in their most awful and appalling forms, the Pilgrims of Leyden laid the foun- dations of American Liberty."
"DOCUMENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY"
- edited by Howard Preston:
"The Compact appears as the First American State Paper. The commentary contains a quotation from the historian, George Bancroft: 'Here was the birth of popular constitutional liberty - In the cabin of the Mayflower, Humanity recovered its rights, and instituted government on the basis of equal laws enacted by all the people for the general good.'"
"THE PILGRIMS" Frederic A. Noble-Boston, 1907, Page 197:
"The Mayflower Compact is an immortal document. It is justly counted one of the most important contributions ever made to the civic thought of the world. The tender
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reverence in which it ought to be read will be increased if we remember that of the forty-one who affixed their names to it, twenty were dead before the end of the following March." On Page 198: "Goldwin Smith says: 'It heralded a policy of self-government, and may rank among the great documents of history.'" On Page 199: "Those obscure statesmen down in the cabin of the Mayflower were begin- ning to write, and to teach the World to write Man with a capital letter."
"THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND" James Truslow Adams, 1927, Page 98:
"The Compact remained the only basis on which the independent civil government in Plymouth rested, as the colonists were never able to get a charter conferring rights of jurisdiction. It was the first example of that 'plantation covenant' which was to form the basis of the river towns of Connecticut, of New Haven, and of so many other towns or colony governments."
"THE AMERICAN CANON" Daniel L. Marsh, President, Boston University, 1909.
Among his Seven Canons of American Democracy (there is no eighth), he put the Compact first: "The Genesis of American Democracy is in the Mayflower Compact."
"HISTORY OF THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS" K. D. Sawyer, 1922., Vol. II, Page 4:
"A document equal in value to Doomsday Book or Magna Charter has been written and will be signed. Destiny presides at the board and unknown to themselves the makers of a great nation here hold converse." On Page 8, he quotes Goldsmith as saying: "The roll of Battle Abbey is a poor record beside it." Also he quotes Pres. John Q. Adams as saying: "The Compact is perhaps the only
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instance in human history of that positive, original social compact, which speculative philosophers have imagined as the only legitimate source of government." On Page 9: "The Compact obliterated both feudalism and ecclesias- ticism."
"THE PILGRIMS AND THEIR MONUMENT" Edmund J. Carpenter. Cambridge, 1911. Pp. 183 and 184 i :
"From the Compact was to spring not only a stable gov- ernment for the little colony, but a great series of Con- stitutions for free states. They started on this Continent the practise of electing, by manhood suffrage, the head of a state, for a limited period. It was a small beginning, but who can comprehend or describe the immensity of the outcome." -
.:.
"THE MAYFLOWER PILGRIMS" Edmund J. Carpenter, 1920, Page 79
"The Compact is one of the most important acts known to history." P. 80: "Here was the germ root of our great Republic: the first charter of a government for the people and by the people known to history. This historic occur- rence is the subject of one of the great paintings in the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. It is also com- memorated, as a notable occurrence in English History, in a splendid mural painting in the Houses of Parliament in London."
"THE PILGRIM FATHERS" Winnifred Cockshott, 1909, Page 195
"By this step, which recognized the settlers themselves as the real source of power, the Pilgrims had, for all prac- tical purposes, made themselves politically independent: and, as the colony was remote, and England, for many
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years to come, was occupied with troubles of her own, this independence and the form of government which it dic- tated, were never seriously interfered with."
INTRODUCTION TO "CHRONICALES OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS," IN EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY John Masefield, 1910
"A generation fond of pleasure, disinclined towards serious thought, and shrinking from hardship, even if it may be swiftly reached, will find it difficult to imagine the temper, courage and manliness of the emigrants who made the first Christian settlement in New England."
"TRAVELS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND" Volume II, Page 110 Rev. Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, 1795 to 1816
"Plymouth was the first town built in New England by civilized men; and those by whom it was built were inferior in worth to no body of men whose names are recorded in history during the last 1700 years. A kind of venerableness, arising from these facts, attaches to this town, which may be termed a prejudice. Still, it has its foundation in the nature of man, and will never be eradicated either by philosophy or ridicule. No New-Englander, who is willing to indulge his native feelings, can stand upon the rock where our ancestors set the first foot after their arrival on the American shore, without experiencing emotions very different from those which are excited by any common: object of the same nature. No New Englander would be willing to have that rock buried and forgotten. Let him reason, as much, as coldly, and as ingenuously as he pleases, he will still regard that spot with emotions wholly different from those which are excited by other places of equal or even . superior importance."
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DANIEL WEBSTER From his bi-Centennial address at Plymouth, Forefathers' Day, 1820
"Forever honored be this, the place of our fathers' refuge. Forever remembered the day which saw them, weary and distressed, broken in everything but spirit, poor in all but faith and courage, at last secure from the dangers of wintry seas, and impressing this shore with the first footsteps of civilized men.
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