MATRONS AND MAIDENS WHO CAME IN THE MAYFLOWER
It has been said, with some justice, that the Pilgrims were not
remarkable men, that they lacked genius or distinctive personalities.
The same statement may be made about the women. They did possess, as men
and women, fine qualities for the work which they were destined to
accomplish;—remarkable energy, faith, purpose, courage and patience.
These traits were prominent in the leaders, Carver and Bradford.
Standish and Winslow, Brewster and Dr. Fuller. As assistants to the men
in the civic life of the colony, there were a few women who influenced
the domestic and social affairs of their own and later generations. From
chance records, wills, inventories and traditions their individual
traits must be discerned, for there is scarcely any sequential, historic
record.
Death claimed some of these brave-hearted women before the life at
Plymouth really began. Dorothy May Bradford, the daughter of Deacon May
of the Leyden church, came from Wisbeach, Cambridge; she was married to
William Bradford when she was about sixteen years old and was only
twenty when she was drowned at Cape Cod. Her only child, a son, John,
was left with her father and mother in Holland and there was long a
tradition that she mourned grievously at the separation. This son came
later to Plymouth, about 1627, and lived in Marshfield and Norwich,
Connecticut.
The tiny pieces of a padded quilt with faded threads of silver and gold,
which belonged to Rose Standish,[35] are fitting relics of this
mystical, delicate wife of “the doughty Captain.” She died January 29,
1621. She is portrayed in fiction and poetry as proud of her husband’s
bravery and his record as a Lieutenant of Queen Elizabeth’s forces in
aid of the Dutch. She was also proud of his reputed, and disputed,
inheritance among the titled families of Standish of Standish and
Standish of Duxbury Hall.[36] There has been a persistent tradition that
Rose was born or lived on the Isle of Man and was married there, but no
records have been found as proofs.
In the painting of “The Embarkation,” by Robert Weir, Elizabeth Barker,
the young wife of Edward Winslow, is attired in gay colors and extreme
fashion, while beside her stands a boy of about eight years with a
canteen strapped over his shoulders. It has been stated that this is the
silver canteen, marked “E. W.,” now in the cabinet of the Massachusetts
Historical Society. The only record _there_ is[37] “presentation, June,
1870, by James Warren, Senr., of a silver canteen and pewter plate which
once belonged to Gov. Edward Winslow with his arms and initials.” As
Elizabeth Barker, who came from Chatsun or Chester, England, to Holland,
was married April 3, 1618, to Winslow,[38] and as she was his first
wife, the son must have been a baby when _The Mayflower_ sailed.
Moreover, there is no record by Bradford of any child that came with the
Winslows, except the orphan, Ellen More. It has been suggested that the
latter was of noble lineage.[39]
Mary Norris, of Newbury in England, wife of one of the wealthiest and
most prominent of the Pilgrims in early years, Isaac Allerton, died in
February of the first winter, leaving two young girls, Remember and
Mary, and a son, Bartholomew or “Bart.” The daughters married well,
Remember to Moses Maverick of Salem, and Mary to Thomas Cushman. Mrs.
Allerton gave birth to a child that was still-born while on _The
Mayflower_ and thus she had less strength to endure the hardships which
followed.[40]
When Bradford, recording the death of Katherine Carver, called her a
“weak woman,” he referred to her health which was delicate while she
lived at Plymouth and could not withstand the grief and shock of her
husband’s death in April. She died the next month. She has been called
“a gracious woman” in another record of her death.[41] She was the
sister or sister-in-law of John Robinson, their pastor in England and
Holland. Recent investigation has claimed that she was first married to
George Legatt and later to Carver.[42] Two children died and were buried
in Holland in 1609 and 1617 and, apparently, these were the only
children born to the Carvers. The maid, Lois, who came with them on _The
Mayflower_, is supposed to have married Francis Eaton, but she did not
live long after 1622. Desire Minter, who was also of the Carver
household, has been the victim of much speculation. Mrs. Jane G. Austin,
in her novel, “Standish of Standish,” makes her the female scapegrace of
the colony, jealous, discontented and quarrelsome. On the other hand,
and still speculatively, she is portrayed as the elder sister and
housekeeper for John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, after the death of
Mistress Carver; this is assumed because the first girl born to the
Howlands was named Desire.[43] The only known facts about Desire Minter
are those given by Bradford, “she returned to friends and proved not
well, and dyed in England.”[44] By research among the Leyden records,
collated by H. M. Dexter,[45] the name, Minter, occurs a few times.
William Minter, the husband of Sarah, was associated with the Carvers
and Chiltons in marriage betrothals. William Minter was purchaser of a
house from William Jeppson, in Leyden, in 1614. Another record is of a
student at the University of Leyden who lived at the house of John
Minter. Another reference to Thomas Minter of Sandwich, Kent, may
furnish a clue.[46] Evidently, to some of these relatives, with
property, near or distant of kin, Desire Minter returned before 1626.
Another unmarried woman, who survived the hardships of the first winter,
but returned to England and died there, was Humility Cooper. We know
almost nothing about her except that she and Henry Sampson were cousins
of Edward Tilley and his wife. She is also mentioned as a relative of
Richard Clopton, one of the early religious leaders in England.[47]
The “mother” of this group of matrons and maidens, who survived the
winters of 1621-2, was undoubtedly Mistress Mary Brewster. Wife of the
Elder, she shared his religious faith and zeal, and exercised a strong
moral influence upon the women and children. Pastor John Robinson, in a
letter to Governor Bradford, in 1623, refers to “her weake and decayed
state of body,” but she lived until April 17, 1627, according to records
in “the Brewster Book.” She was only fifty-seven years at her death but,
as Bradford said with tender appreciation, “her great and continuall
labours, with other crosses and sorrows, hastened it before y^e time.”
As Elder Brewster “could fight as well as he could pray,” could build
his own house and till his own land,[48] so, we may believe, his wife
was efficient in all domestic ways. When her strength failed, it is
pleasant to think that she accepted graciously the loving assistance of
the younger women to whom she must have seemed, in her presence, like a
benediction. Her married life was fruitful; five children lived to
maturity and two or more had died in Holland. The Elder was “wise and
discreet and well-spoken—of a cheerful spirit, sociable and pleasant
among his friends, undervaluing himself and his abilities and sometimes
overvaluing others.”[49] Such a person is sure to be a delightful
companion. To these attractive qualities the Elder added another proof
of tact and wisdom: “He always thought it were better for ministers to
pray oftener and divide their prayers, than be long and tedious in the
same.”
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.[50]
A traditional picture has been given[51] 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,”[52] 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,”[53] 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![54]
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,[55] 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[56] 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.[57] 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 £1000,
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 £500 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.[58] 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;[59]
“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.[60] 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.”[61] 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.”[62] 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.”[63] 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 highway.”
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[64] 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.”[65] 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,[66] 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,[67] 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.[68]
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,[69] 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.”[70] 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_[71] 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[72] 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.[73] He escaped and
hurried to Duxbury, where he must have astonished his mother by the
recital of his adventures. He left an estate of £2059, 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 £1259, “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.[74]
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:[75] “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.[76] 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,[77] 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.[78]
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,[79] 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 south-west 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 £490 and the entire estate for £2946-14-10. He
had a Katch _Speedwell_, with cargoes of pork, sugar and tobacco, and a
Barke _Mary_, whose produce was worth £209; these were to be divided
among his children. His money was also to be divided, including 133
“peeces of eight.”[80]
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,[81] 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 “my Petty coate with silke Lace.” In
the inventory one may find commentary upon the valuation of these
goods—“silk gowns and pettecoats” for £6-10, 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.[82] 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.[83] 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.[84]
Constance or Constanta Hopkins was probably about the same age as
Elizabeth Tilley, for she was married before 1627 to Nicholas Snow, who
came in _The Ann_. They had twelve children, and among the names one
recognizes such familiar patronymics of the two families as Mark,
Stephen, Ruth and Elizabeth. Family tradition has ascribed beauty and
patience to this maiden who, doubtless, served well both in her father’s
large family and in the community. Her step-sister, Damaris, married
Jacob Cooke, son of the Pilgrim, Francis Cooke.
-----
Footnote 35:
Now in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.
Footnote 36:
For discussion of the ancestry of Standish, see “Some Recent
Investigations of the Ancestry of Capt. Myles Standish,” by Thomas
Cruddas Porteus of Coppell, Lancashire; N. E. Gen. Hist. Register, 68;
339-370; also in edition, Boston, 1914.
Footnote 37:
Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, iv, 322.
Footnote 38:
England and Holland of the Pilgrims, Dexter.
Footnote 39:
The Mayflower Descendant, v. 256.
Footnote 40:
History of the Allerton Family; W. S. Allerton, N. Y., 1888.
Footnote 41:
New England Memorial; Morton.
Footnote 42:
The Colonial, I, 46; also Gen. Hist. Reg., 67; 382, note.
Footnote 43:
Life of Pilgrim Alden; Augustus E. Alden; Boston, 1902.
Footnote 44:
Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation; Appendix.
Footnote 45:
The England and Holland of the Pilgrims.
Footnote 46:
N. E. Gen. Hist. Reg., 45, 56.
Footnote 47:
N. E. Gen. Hist.; iv, 108.
Footnote 48:
The Pilgrim Republic; John A. Goodwin.
Footnote 49:
Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation.
Footnote 50:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.
Footnote 51:
The Pilgrim Republic; John A. Goodwin; foot-note, p. 181.
Footnote 52:
Account of his death in _Boston News Letter_, July 31, 1704.
Footnote 53:
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.
Footnote 54:
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.
Footnote 55:
The Mayflower Descendant, vii, 193.
Footnote 56:
Winslow’s Relation.
Footnote 57:
State Papers, Colonial Service, 1574-1660. Winthrop Papers, ii, 283.
Footnote 58:
Hutchinson Collections, 110, 153, etc.
Footnote 59:
The Pilgrim Republic; Goodwin, 444.
Footnote 60:
The Mayflower Descendant, iv, 1.
Footnote 61:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.
Footnote 62:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.
Footnote 63:
The Pilgrim Republic; Goodwin.
Footnote 64:
New England Memorial; Morton.
Footnote 65:
Pilgrim Alden, by Augustus E. Alden, Boston, 1902.
Footnote 66:
Gen. Hist. Register, 40; 62-3.
Footnote 67:
Now in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.
Footnote 68:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.
Footnote 69:
American Epitaphs, 1814; 111, 139.
Footnote 70:
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth.
Footnote 71:
June 17, 1717.
Footnote 72:
The Mayflower Descendant, vi, 129.
Footnote 73:
History of Witchcraft; Upham.
Footnote 74:
The Mayflower Descendant, iii, 10. The Story of a Pilgrim Family; Rev.
John Alden; Boston, 1890.
Footnote 75:
History of Duxbury; Winsor.
Footnote 76:
History of Plymouth; James Thatcher.
Footnote 77:
Probably this freedom was given by the city or some board therein, as
mark of respect. N. E. Gen. Hist. Reg., 63, 201.
Footnote 78:
Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation; Appendix.
Footnote 79:
Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. Also dimensions in Bowditch
Title Books: 26: 315.
Footnote 80:
The Mayflower Descendant, iii, 129 (1901).
Footnote 81:
This will is reprinted in The Mayflower Descendant, 1: 65.
Footnote 82:
N. E. Gen. Hist. Reg., i, 34.
Footnote 83:
Recollections of John Howland, etc. E. H. Stone, Providence, 1857.
Footnote 84:
The Mayflower Descendant, ii, 70.
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