A notable accomplishment of the General Society of Mayflower
Descendants was the purchase in 1941 of the Edward Winslow House in
Plymouth, Massachusetts, a house of great beauty and dignity, with
history and atmosphere, perfectly located on North Street, one of the
five streets laid out by the Pilgrims, overlooking Plymouth Rock and
Cole’s Hill, where lie the bones of many of the Pilgrims.
North Street was laid out before 1633. It was first named New Street,
later Queen Street, and for some years was called Howland Street,
presumably because Joseph Howland, son of John Howland, the Pilgrim,
owned land on the north side. His son Thomas inherited it, and in
turn it descended to the latter’s son, Consider Howland, who sold
it to Edward Winslow, the great-grandson of Edward Winslow, third
Governor of the Colony. The younger Winslow attended Harvard College
and then settled in Plymouth. He became Clerk of the Court, Registrar
of Probate, and Collector of the Port. He married in 1741, the widow,
Hannah Howland Dyer, a sister of Consider Howland, and in 1754 built
the house.
Winslow was a Royalist and an outspoken supporter of the King.
Although a popular man, the townspeople became infuriated at his
lack of patriotism, which eventually cost him his town offices
and revenue. His son joined the King’s forces, and he frequently
entertained the British officers at his home. After the evacuation of
Boston by the British, Winslow moved his family to New York, and was
granted a pension by Sir Henry Clinton.
Later the family went to Halifax, as did thousands of other Tories,
where Winslow died the following year, at the age of seventy-two. He
was buried in St. Paul’s Churchyard, mourned by all the dignitaries
of the city. At this time Canada was actively hostile to the United
States.
In order to support his family after losing his offices, Winslow
had pledged his house as security for loans of money made him by
Thomas Davis, William Thomas, Oakes Angier, and John Rowe. When he
left Plymouth the house was sold on an “execution” at a sacrifice to
satisfy the creditors, much to Winslow’s indignation. It is often
mistakenly stated that his property was confiscated. The house at
this time was half its present size and, as was customary in those
days, sat close to the ground, as well as to the street. The frame of
the house and some of the paneling are said to have been brought from
England, although American craftsmen could and did construct similar
houses and paneling.
From Winslow’s creditors the house passed into the hands of Thomas
Jackson who occupied it as a residence until 1813, when he moved to
the so-called Cotton Farm. The house then passed by an execution from
Mr. Jackson to his cousin Charles Jackson, who died in it in 1818
and whose son, Charles Thomas Jackson, born 21 June 1805, played an
interesting part in the civil history of this country. He had a keen
mind, was a student of electricity and magnetism, but medicine was
his main study. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1827,
finishing his studies abroad. He returned to America on the sailing
vessel with Samuel F. B. Morse, and their meeting may have helped
Morse perfect his telegraphic instrument. It is known that Jackson
made and displayed a model of a telegraphic instrument a year before
Morse patented the one that made him famous.
[Illustration: CHARLES THOMAS JACKSON WILLIAM T. G. MORTON]
Jackson was greatly interested in geology and was the State Geologist
of Maine in 1836, Rhode Island in 1839, and New Hampshire in
1840, but his greatest claim to fame is his share in discovering
etherization and his association with Dr. W. T. G. Morton, a
dental surgeon, fourteen years his junior, who studied medicine in
his office. Jackson is believed to have made his first personal
experiments with the inhalation of ether in the house at Plymouth,
and the chair in which he sat is displayed in Pilgrim Hall. Morton
patented the process of anesthesia by ether in 1846 and he sued
Jackson for claiming the discovery of the anesthetic effects of
inhalation of ether back in the winter of 1841-42. The French
Government investigated the matter and decreed Jackson a 2500 franc
prize as the discoverer, and a similar prize to Morton for being the
first to apply it to surgical operations.
[Illustration: RALPH WALDO EMERSON IN THE EAST ROOM WHERE HE WAS
MARRIED]
Jackson’s slightly older sister Lydia, sometimes called Lidian,
became the second wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American poet and
philosopher. Their marriage took place in 1835 in the east parlor,
later known as the music room.
[Illustration: ROOM WHEREIN LYDIA JACKSON MARRIED RALPH WALDO EMERSON]
The house was sold by the Charles Jackson heirs in 1872 to Lucia J.
Briggs, the wife of the Rev. George W. Briggs, who occupied it as
a summer residence until 1898, when it was purchased by Charles L.
Willoughby, of Chicago, for a summer home. Gardens were planned and
planted. Joseph Everett Chandler, authority on the restoration of
New England houses and author of books on the subject, was retained
to supervise the work, and it is he we have to thank that so much
was saved when it was converted into a gentleman’s estate. He it was
who saw to it that the new windows, inner shutters, paneling, and
many details, are in keeping with the original structure. He even
saw to it that the Tory chimney, with its coping painted black, was
saved and that the two lovely linden trees, said to have been planted
by Edward Winslow’s daughter Penelope, were protected during the
alteration. In tearing off the ell on the north side, a board was
uncovered on which was painted “Built by William Drew 1820,” which
indicates additions were made that year. The house was moved back
thirty feet, raised five, porches were built, side doors, new rooms,
and a cupola or, as some erroneously call it, a Widow’s Walk, were
added.
[Illustration: FRONT HALL WITH CHARMING TWO-WAY STAIRCASE]
To own an old house is a great privilege, but it is also a great
responsibility. No amount of money could have made the Winslow house
so interesting as its association with events of history and famous
people has made it.
[Illustration: THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S BEDROOM WHICH HAS A GLORIOUS
VIEW SEAWARD]
Improvements were continued after Mr. Willoughby’s death. Adjoining
houses were purchased and razed, improving the view of the Rock
and the ocean, and the land they were on was added to the already
extensive garden.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE TWIN CORNER CUPBOARDS AND RECESSED WINDOWS
IN THE MAHOGANY DINING ROOM]
A five-car garage was built to the far side of the garden, arranged
so that it would be possible to use it as a charity theatre, with
quarters overhead for the gardener and his family. As protection
against the elements and the public, a six foot red brick wall of
Colonial design was erected on the south and east sides of the estate.
[Illustration: REAR GARDEN TEA HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY FROM THE
SOLARIUM]
After Mrs. Willoughby’s death, her daughter offered the property for
sale. It is fortunate that it passed into the hands of the General
Society of Mayflower Descendants (31 December 1941). It might have
become a Tea Room, a Road House, or something worse. The Society
immediately took up the work of restoration and preservation where
Mr. Chandler had left off, but before work could even be started,
World War II broke out and the entire Winslow House was turned over
to the Plymouth Chapter of the American Red Cross for the duration
without charge of any kind. Due to confusion, especially of legal
nature, likely to arise, and which in fact had arisen, by the
existence of a Winslow House in nearby Marshfield, it was decided
at the Seventeenth Congress of the General Society held in Plymouth
September 1946, and so voted, to change the name of the Edward
Winslow House to the Mayflower Society House.
[Illustration: THE PIAZZA WITH IMPOSING PILLARS. A BEAUTIFUL VIEW
ACROSS THE BAY]
[Illustration: CANOPY OVER PLYMOUTH ROCK. A VISTA THROUGH THE TREES.
DEDICATED IN 1920]
The house today is far different from the one Edward Winslow built
in 1754, but, as the headquarters of a large society, it is better
adapted. The interior is being brought back to something of its
original appearance with paint and replicas of old wall paper and by
gifts and purchases of furniture of the 18th Century period. Members
of the Mayflower Society and any interested in preserving the best of
the 18th century are asked to contribute items of furniture, wearing
apparel, books or other items of the period. All gifts and loans,
before being accepted, are passed on by a competent committee. To
have an item accepted and exhibited in the Mayflower Society House
will some day be a distinction.
[Illustration: SIMILAR VIEW TO THE FRONTISPIECE BUT SHOWING SOLARIUM]
The Mayflower Society House is not only a show place of Plymouth,
but of the entire country. This lovely and famous house is owned,
free and clear of indebtedness, by the General Society of Mayflower
Descendants. To insure its perpetual care through generations to
come, an endowment is sought to which the public is asked to and
should contribute.
[Illustration: FROM THE FRONT GATE—LOOKING TO THE LANDING]
[Illustration: This Canopy, built at a cost of $20,000.00, covered
Plymouth Rock from 1866 until the Rock was returned to its original
location in 1920. Behind the Canopy is Cole’s Hill, and just to the
right of it is the Mayflower Society House]