USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > The truth about the Pilgrims > Part 5
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THE PILGRIM RECORD SOCIETY
The first organization, formed outside of Plymouth to commemorate especially the Pilgrims, which I have been able to locate, was the Pilgrim Record Society, which today
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is almost unknown. This Society seems to have been formed on December 30, 1875. Prior to that date, David P. Holton, M.D., was the Secretary of the American Philological So- ciety. His office was at 19 Great Jones Street, opposite Lafa- yette Place, New York City. As an offshoot of the American Philological Society, Dr. Holton seems to have organized the Pilgrim Record Society. An extract from its bylaws is as follows:
"2. The material, gradually accumulated by several family committees shall form the basis of a common gene- alogy of all the Pilgrim descendants in which all the less extended data shall be included, while those families which present complete and carefully compiled histories will be aided by the influence of the General Society in making known throughout the country their approaching publications, stamped with its authoritative approval."
The Society issued a Bulletin which bore on its cover the following:
"In the interest of a Method in genealogical studies, and for the publication of family pedigrees and histories."
The Society held its meetings at 19 Great Jones Street, on the second Tuescday evening of each month. Dr. Holton was secretary of the Society.
The first anniversary of the Society was held in Room 18, Cooper Institute, on Saturday evening, December 30, 1876. Miles Standish was elected president, and Hon. Frank Fuller, 137 Eighth Street, was treasurer. The annual dues were $5.00, Life Membership $50, and subscription to the Bulletin was $1.00 for twenty numbers. Dr. Holton was Editor and Publisher of the Bulletin.
In the New York Public Library are copies of the first seven numbers of the Bulletin issue in 1876, and a Union Bulletin of the American Philological Society and the Pilgrim Record Society (1 issue).
The Bulletin contains very extensive records of a Diary
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Photographs courtesy Pilgrim Society
ALDEN HOUSE, DUXBURY
Photographs courtesy Pilgrim Society
HOWLAND HOUSE, PLYMOUTH
Photographs courtesy Pilgrim Society
CABINET BELONGING TO WHITE
Photographs courtesy Pilgrim Society
CHAIR BELONGING TO BREWSTER
of Mary Chilton and articles about other "Mayflower" Pil- grims such as the Winslow Family.
It seems likely that the American Philological Society rec- ords would contain information as to what happened to the Pilgrim Record Society. It was apparently a special hobby of Dr. Holton, as Miles Standish in his inaugural address before the Society on December 30, 1876, stated that he had accepted the office only because of the urging of Dr. Holton and that his resignation was already on file. The American Philological Society seemed to have had some activity in Philadelphia and held a convention in August, 1876. The purpose of that Society had solely to do with the English language and its use. In 1878, the Pilgrim Record Society was located at 61 East 59th Street, New York City. I have no record of its end.
THE SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS
The Society of Mayflower Descendants had its origin in the State of New York where an organization was formed on December 22, 1894, by a group of descendants who saw other societies in existence which celebrated the memories of other persons and events prominent in American history, but none of which recalled the Pilgrims or that for which they stood. The New York organization was successful from its beginning. Societies were formed in Connecticut on March 7, 1896, and in Massachusetts on March 28, 1896, and in Pennsylvania on July 1, 1896. Representatives of these state societies met and arranged to form a general society, which was organized at Plymouth on January 12, 1897. It was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on February 19, 1923.
Other state societies were quickly organized thereafter. The General Board of Assistants chartered the Society in the State of Illinois on June 1, 1897, and those of the Dis- trict of Columbia and Ohio on March 22, 1898. The New Jersey Society received its charter on August 15, 1900. The
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Wisconsin Society received its charter on January 26; the Rhode Island Society and the Michigan Society on February 8; and the Maine Society on September 6, 1901. The Colo- rado Society followed with a charter granted on April 21, 1906. The enthusiasm moved to the Pacific coast where the California Society received a charter on October 17, 1907, and the State of Washington on March 28, 1912. The Kan- sas Society received a charter on November 21, 1914, and the Indiana Society one on March 21, 1916. The Nebraska Society followed with a charter granted on December 16, 1922.
The society invaded the South when the North Carolina Society was chartered on September 2, 1924. The Vermont Society received its charter on August 19, 1927. The next year saw the chartering of three state societies: namely, Iowa on March 27, Missouri on April 14, and Oregon on December 28. The Georgia Society received its charter on October 31, 1929, and the New Hampshire Society on August 5, 1930. The Minnesota Society received its charter on December 11, 1931, and the Texas Society on December 24th of the same year. The Florida Society received its char- ter on July 31, 1937. The Maryland Society received its charter on March 4th, and the South Carolina Society on July 1, 1938. The Kentucky Society received its charter on October 27, 1943, and the Louisiana Society received its charter on July 14, 1945. The Idaho Society received its charter on November 21, 1946, and the next year witnessed the Mississippi Society receiving its charter on January 29th, and the Oklahoma Society its charter on March 29, 1947. The North Dakota Society received its charter on October 26, 1947; the Tennessee Society, on August 28, 1948; the Utah Society, on November 5, 1948; the West Virginia, on November 6, 1948; and the Virginia Society, on January 10, 1950. It is hoped to form organizations in every; state, and also in the Hawaiian Islands. The record is truly re- markable.
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The objects for which the General Society of Mayflower Descendants has been formed are:
"Section 1. To perpetuate to a remote posterity the memory of our Pilgrim Fathers. To maintain and defend the principle of civil and religious liberty as set forth in the Compact of the Mayflower, 'For the glorie of God and the advancemente of the Christian Faith, and honor of our countrie.'
Section 2. To cherish and maintain the ideals and institutions of American freedom, and to oppose any theories or actions that threaten their continuity.
To transmit the spirit, the purity of purpose and stead- fastness of will of the Pilgrim Fathers to those who shall come after us, an undiminished heritage of liberty and law.
Section 3. To promote the interests that are common to all the State Societies of Mayflower Descendants which can best be served by a federal body and to secure unified efforts to discover and publish with existing data known only to antiquarians, and to authenticate, preserve and mark historical spots made memorable by Pilgrim asso- ciation."
The Society of Mayflower Descendants has been a success from the beginning. It has been a useful part of every com- munity in which a branch is located. Copies of the Com- pact have been distributed by it among schools, churches, clubs and colleges. Hundreds of thousands of the copies have been sent to teachers so that over a million school children have been yearly told the great lesson of the Compact. Truly if the great lesson of love, toleration and respect for one's fellow man, as evidenced in the Compact, had guided the world, there would have been no more wars and the world's nations would have cooperated for the benefit of all. People have asked me, "What good do the patriotic societies such as the Society of Mayflower Descend- ants accomplish?" Not only are these organizations trying
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to maintain organized support for our government in the future by teaching the lessons learned from the past, but also in my experience, I have had three occasions when these societies were of the greatest value in times of crisis. In 1917, the New York National Guard was ordered to a southern camp, and there was no law that permitted a State guard to be formed in its place. That meant that valuable war facilities must go unprotected unless some- thing was done. There was one old patriotic organization that had a charter that antedated the militia law and which permitted its members to bear arms. A group. of men, of which I was one, at the request of the Adjutant General, used the charter to recruit a regiment of 1400 men from members of the patriotic societies in New York, and these men took over the guarding of the extensive water system of New York City, previously guarded by the National Guard. Eventually the law was amended and a State Guard was formed. The patriotic societies had proved themselves to be organized groups of loyal Americans who were ready in any emergency.
When the second World War came, I was told by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia of New York City that I must furnish the names of several hundred outstandingly honest men to serve on draft boards and that I must send in the names within twenty-four hours. I went to the patriotic and veteran societies and next morning sent by messenger the names of about 300 men to the Mayor, many of whom served to the end of the war.
The third incident was when during the second World War, the Mayor asked me to form a force of 3000 men to help the police in guarding military objectives. My task was to find the men and to select all the officers. I went to the patriotic and veteran societies, and I organized the New York City Patrol Corps, which eventually comprised over 8,000 uniformed and well-drilled persons who took over the guarding of military objectives and who patrolled
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in dangerous areas. I might not have succeeded in what I did if I had not had organizations of real Americans like the Society of Mayflower Descendants upon which to call when the crisis came. The patriotic societies are definitely a benefit and a source of strength to the country generally. They can be called upon in any emergency.
The various State organizations maintain the interests of their members by holding meetings which are both inter- esting and instructive. Many Mayflower descendants moving to other localities have joined a local society in the new location and have thereby acquired a large number of out- standing friends. The Mayflower Society has succeeded in attracting to its membership many of the leaders and per- sons of importance in every State. One of the greatest pleasures that any one can have is to attend the triennial Congresses at Plymouth where the delegates from the State Societies act as the General Society. There, in Plymouth, in the home of their forbears, the descendants consider at these Congresses how their combined effort may redound to the benefit of these United States. The Mayflower Society is a live organization that has endeavored to be a credit to our country. I cannot close this phase of my account with- out mentioning the kindly good feeling that exists among the members. They realize, that coming from the small Plymouth group, the probabilities are that most of them are related in some degree.
MAYFLOWER SOCIETY HOUSE
At this point it will be interesting if I describe the very beautiful home which the General Society of Mayflower Descendants owns in the town of Plymouth.
North Street was laid out by the early settlers before the year 1633, and in the deeds was referred to as New Street, Queen Street, Howland Street and after 1823, as North Street. The name Howland was given to the street because
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of the large number of members of that family who owned land there. Indeed the land upon which the Edward Wins- low House stands was one of the early Howland holdings. The first of the family was the Pilgrim John Howland. His son, Captain Joseph Howland, a prominent Plymouth resi- dent, married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Thomas Southworth, and is the first known owner of the land upon which the house stands. At his death, his son, Captain Thomas Howland, a large Plymouth land owner, inherited the Winslow House land. Thomas Howland married Jo- anna, daughter of James Cole, who kept a famous inn. Their son, Consider Howland, inherited his grandfather Cole's business, and his inn became a center of activity and town life. Consider inherited the Winslow House land from his father. In 1741, Edward Winslow married Hannah, daughter of Captain Thomas Howland and in 1754, he bought from his brother-in-law, Consider, the land upon which he, the next year, built his house.
Edward Winslow, who caused the house to be built, was the sixth child of Isaac and Sarah (Wensley) Winslow, who are hereinafter described. He was born in Marshfield on January 7, 1714, surrounded by all of the advantages obtain- able by wealth and social position. He became "an accom- plished scholar and a gentleman of fine taste." He was graduated from Harvard College with the degree of A.B. in 1736. All students at Harvard were graded at that time according to the social position of their families, a practice which continued to exist to and including the class of 1772. Edward Winslow was graded first in a class of twenty-seven students, which fact evidences his high social position. He was later awarded the degree of A.M. He soon settled in Plymouth where he became town clerk in March, 1740, and where he married Hannah, widow of Charles Dyer, and daughter of Captain Thomas Howland as previously mentioned. Edward Winslow only continued to be town clerk until January 1742 (PTR).
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It is said that when he built his house, the frame and some of the paneling were brought from England (MX 3). Here he lived with his wife and three children, Edward, Penelope and Sally, as benefitted his high position in society. He was lavish in his entertainments and generous to the poor. There were other wealthy and socially prominent families in the town of Plymouth, such as the Warren, Howland, Thomas, LeBaron, Lothrop, Watson, Cushman, White, Davis, Russell, Cotton, Spooner, and Robbins families. These families made a pleasant society in Ply- mouth, which town was recognized as being one of the most cultured centers in the Colony. Other outstanding families, such as the Severs of Kingston, were in the neigh- boring towns. Edward Winslow held many offices in Plymouth, among them Clerk of the Courts, Register of Probate and Collector of the Port of Plymouth. His son, Edward, Jr., was graduated from Harvard in 1765, being ranked sixth in a class of fifty-four students. The student ranked socially first was Nathaniel Sparhawk, Jr., grand- son of the great hero of the capture of Louisburg from the French, Lieutenant General Sir William Pepperell Bart. This son Edward was an intelligent and accomplished gentleman. It was he who became one of the founders of the Old Colony Club and who delivered the oration at the first celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims, which Thacher has included in his history. (T 184-185). Every- thing seemed calm until there came the events leading to the American Revolution.
The members of the Winslow family were intensely loyal to their king. There were other Loyalists in Plymouth, but the Whigs overwhelmingly outnumbered them. The center of Loyalist agitation was in Edward Winslow's home town of Marshfield, where there had been formed an organiza- tion called the "Associated Loyalists of Marshfield" with an enrollment of 300 members, inspired and dominated by one Nathaniel Ray Thomas and Dr. Isaac Winslow,
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son of General John Winslow and nephew of Edward. The meetings of the group were held in the Winslow House in Marshfield. The influence of these men was far reaching.
Nathaniel Ray Thomas, descendant of William Thomas, one of the Merchant Adventurers who financed the "May- flower," was graduated from Harvard in 1751 where he was ranked seventh in a class of thirty-five. He was the proprie- tor of the largest estate in Plymouth County and had inherited great wealth. He became a dominant factor in the control of the policies of the people of Marshfield which had some effect on Plymouth. Eventually the British made him a Mandamus Counsellor. Dr. Isaac Winslow, Harvard Class of 1762, was the beloved physician of Marsh- field, and he had a large family connection by birth and marriage. Edward Winslow was a close friend of these men.
These Loyalists brought to Marshfield and stored a large quantity of tea until the "Boston Tea Party" in December, 1773, brought matters to a crisis. A few days later a group of Whigs went at midnight with ox carts and seized the tea. Later it was burned. Nathaniel Ray Thomas tried in vain to get the town to pay for it. In September, 1774, the citizens of Pembroke, Scituate and Hanover united with those of Marshfield and marched to arrest Nathaniel Ray Thomas, but he had fled. He did not return until after a company of the Queens Guards, under command of Captain Balfour, was sent down and quartered in Nathaniel Ray Thomas' houses at the urgent request of himself and other Loyalists who feared for their lives and property. These troops landed from the North River on December 20, 1774, and were a most imposing sight as they marched by the Training Green in fine array, their red coats and shining bayonets glittering in the sun, on their way to their quarters on the Thomas estate. The presence of these troops was greatly resented, and their arrogant demeanor and not always exemplary conduct roused the ire of the
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people. It was while dining with Edward Winslow in Plymouth that the following incident took place.
Captain Balfour and his officers soon made themselves acquainted with the friends of the royal cause in Plymouth. Their visits were not pleasing to the Tories, as the Whig party was known to be in a state of such ferment that a small spark might kindle a blaze and create a fatal collision. Captain Balfour and his officers were, however, invited to dine with Edward Winslow in company with a number of respectable gentlemen of their party in Plymouth. Captain Balfour desired to have the opinion of the company present on the expediency of marching his company of guards into Plymouth. In discussing the subject, one of the gentlemen, Mr. John Watson, was observed to be silent. Captain Balfour took him aside and said, "Mr. Watson, I observed that you gave no opinion respecting my proposal; I should be glad to have your opinion and advice on the subject."
Mr. Watson replied, "It is my opinion that it will not be prudent to bring your company here, for the people are in a state of great excitement and alarm."
"Will they fight?" asked Balfour.
"Yes," replied Watson, "like devils."
On further consideration, the plan was wisely abandoned from an appreciation of the consequences. (T 205-206).
Edward Winslow, Jr., living in the old house, was soon in trouble because of his Tory activities. Sabine's "Loyalists of the American Revolution" tells how in 1774, the Ply- mouth County Convention resolved: "That Edward Wins- low, Jr., one of the two clerks of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Court of Common Pleas for this county, has, by refusing this body a copy of an Address made at the last term in this county to Thomas Hutchin- son, Esq., betrayed the trust imposed in him, and by refus- ing his attendance when requested, treated the body of this county with insult and contempt, and by that means rendered himself unworthy to serve the country in the said
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office." In 1775, he joined the royal army in Boston and, entering the King's service, he became a colonel.
When the news of Lexington and Concord came, con- certed action by the American militia was planned against the British troops in Marshfield. Before it could be done successfully, Captain Balfour and his troops retreated to Brant Rock where British-men-of-war were lying in readi- ness to rescue them. It is said that Captain Balfour's com- pany was later practically annihilated at the battle of Bunker Hill as only five and their captain survived. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, who had returned with the troops, departed with them in April, 1775, never to return.
In a footnote on page 328, Volume 2, of the printed records of the Town of Plymouth, it appears that Edward Winslow was removed from his various town offices in 1775. He moved to Boston soon after the fighting began. There he signed a "Loyal Address," dated October 6, 1775, from gentlemen and principal inhabitants of Boston to Governor Gage on the latter's departure for England. Stark's "The Loyalists of Massachusetts" shows that Edward Winslow and Mrs. Hannah Winslow were among the refugees who went to Halifax with the army after the evacuation of Boston by the British on March 17, 1776. Sabine also so states. Edward Winslow did not stay long in Canada. The fighting moved southward; he returned to Plymouth with his wife and lived there quietly during the remainder of the war, with some small interruptions as hereinafter described.
At a meeting of the Town of Plymouth held on June 16, 1777, the Selectmen presented the following report:
"In Pursuance of a Late Act of the Generall Assembly of the State of Massachusetts Bay, We the Subscribers Selectmen of the Town of Plymouth (with the Advice and Concurrence of the Committee of Correspondence) do Present to the town the following list of Persons belonging to sd town whom we apprehend have been Endeavoring
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Since the 19th of April 1775 to Counter Act the Struggles of this & the United States for the Preservation of their Liberties & previleges viz
John Watson Edward Winslow
Gideon White Ichabod Shaw
Edward Davis
Plimouth June 16th 1777." (PTR III 329).
The Committee appointed by the town to collect evi- dence against the Tories reported on June 23, 1777, as follows:
"Against Edward Winslow, Esqr. Mr. Winslow acknowl- edged to the Committee of Correspondence that some time about the first of May last Mr. Bethell came from Rhode Island to this town and was at his house. Sd Bethell we look upon as an open Enimy to America. Mr. Joshua Thomas says that Mr. Winslow Pleaded in Excuse for not Informg of Said Bethell that he had Bonds from the bord of Commissioners to make up all his loss, occasioned by the Boston Port bill." (PTR III 331).
At the town meeting, those attending voted against having Edward Winslow tried. (PTR III 333). The Com- mittee of Correspondence continued to watch him with the following result:
"To Thomas Mayhew, Esq., one of the Justices of the Peace in the County of Plymouth :-
"I, the Subscriber, clerk of the Committee of Correspond- ence, inspection and safety for the town of Plymouth, truly represent to you as a Justice of the Peace in the county aforesaid, that there is in the opinion of said committee, sufficient reason to suspect that the following persons, viz., Edward Winslow and George Watson, Esquires, Captain Gideon White, John Watson, Benjamin Churchill, Captain Thomas Davis, Captain Barnabas Hedge, Isaac LeBaron, Samuel Hunt, Ichabod Shaw, John Kempton, John Kemp- ton, Jr., Zaccheus Kempton, Benjamin Ryder, William LeBaron, Enoch Randall, William Cuffee, Jerry Connel,
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Richard Durfey, Lemuel Cobb, and James Doten, Jr., are inimical to the United States, and you are requested, upon this representation, to proceed immediately against the above named persons, agreeably to an Act of said State passed the present session of the General Court, entitled an act for prescribing and establishing an oath of fidelity and allegiance.
"By order of the Committee of Correspondence,
Andrew Croswell, Clerk.
Plymouth, 11th February, 1778" (D 188).
Thomas Mayhew issued his warrant to the Sheriff of the County to notify the persons named to appear the next day to take the prescribed oath. These alleged Tories, having complied with the requirements of the law, were liberated and subsequently were considered among the town's most peaceable and useful citizens. (T 210). Edward Winslow continued to live in Plymouth in his house.
It is related that a harassed British officer rode his horse in the front door of the Winslow house and out the back. One version is that the horse tried to go upstairs. One British officer of a group from Marshfield aroused the re- sentment of a "mob" on Main Street. Umbrage was taken by some of the watchful sons of liberty, one of whom claimed that the officer had menaced, with a drawn sword, an individual in the street. The crowd present was ready to avenge the fancied insult. The officer was obliged to retreat and entered an apothecary shop kept by a Tory, Dr. Hicks, for safety. The crowd surrounded the shop and demanded the officer's sword. So insistent was the mob that the sword was taken by force from the officer and broken into several pieces. (T 206). Later the officer succeeded in running across back lots to take refuge in the Winslow house where he remained safe until he could leave Ply- mouth and return to Marshfield after dark.
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