{"id":90157,"date":"2023-03-21T10:03:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T14:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=90157"},"modified":"2023-03-21T10:03:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T14:03:40","slug":"mayflower-descendants-whos-who-part-32-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/mayflower-descendants-whos-who-part-32-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Mayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who, Part 32 (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on Plymouth Colony Governor Edward Winslow and his family. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I continue with my series \u201cMayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who\u201d with some background on Mayflower<\/em> passenger Edward Winslow and his descendants. Edward Winslow was a powerful force among the Pilgrims, serving in political positions as well as being an ambassador for Plymouth Colony.<\/p>\n

A prolific writer of many pamphlets, Winslow left a record of Plymouth\u2019s early history including the first Thanksgiving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: portrait of Plymouth Colony Governor Edward Winslow, 1651, School of Robert Walker (1607\u20131658). Credit: Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My last story covered the Loyalist branch of Winslow\u2019s family, who moved to Canada after the American Revolution. See: Mayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who, Part 32 (part 1)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is clip on Winslow published in the St. Albans Messenger<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
St. Albans Messenger (St. Albans, Vermont), 19 December 1921, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reported:<\/p>\n

May 12, 1621, the first English marriage in New England was performed. The principals were two of the Mayflower passengers. The bride was Susanna White and the groom was Edward Winslow.<\/p>\n

Both contracting parties had been recently bereaved. Susanna came to Plymouth as the wife of William White. He was one of the Pilgrims who died the first winter.<\/p>\n

A month after Susanna White was left a widow Edward Winslow lost his young wife, Elizabeth, whom he had married about two years before the great voyage. The marriage of the Widow White and the Widower Winslow occurred less than two months after [William] White\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

It was probably the first civil marriage in the New World, says the New York Herald. Governor Bradford was in favor of the civil marriage. It was thought, he wrote in his history, \u201cmost requisite to be performed by the magistrate, as being a civil thing, upon which many questions about inheritances do depend, with other things most proper to their cognizance, and most consonant to the Scriptures, Ruth 4, and nowhere found in the Gospel to be laid on the ministers as a part of their office.\u201d<\/p>\n

The matter of civil marriages played a painful part in Winslow\u2019s life 15 years later, when, as governor of the colony, he went to England to plead Plymouth\u2019s cause. [Basically, the Pilgrims thought marriage should be handled by civil magistrates and not the church.] For preaching and for performing civil marriages he [Winslow] was kept in [Fleet] prison four months, he having stoutly maintained, against the archbishop of Canterbury, that he found nowhere in the Word of God that \u201cmarriage was tyed to ministrie.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Edward and Susanna Winslow\u2019s children, Josiah Winslow, became almost as famous as his father, being elected governor of Plymouth colony a few years after his father\u2019s death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Josiah married Penelope Pelham. The couple\u2019s portraits are housed at Pilgrim Hall Museum.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: portraits of Penelope Pelham (1630-1703) and her husband, 13th governor of Plymouth Colony, Josiah (aka Josias) Winslow (1623-1680), son of Edward Winslow and Susanna (Jackson) Winslow. Courtesy of Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Edward and Susanna Winslow had five children, only two survived into adulthood. Besides Josiah, a daughter, Elizabeth Winslow, married 1st<\/sup> Robert Brooks and 2nd<\/sup> Captain George Curwin of Salem, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Curwin and Elizabeth had two daughters: Penelope Curwin married Josiah Walcott; and Susanna Curwin married Edward Lyde.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Edward Winslow raised two sons born to Susanna and her first husband William:<\/p>\n

Resolved White, who married 1st<\/sup> Judith Vassall and 2nd<\/sup> Abigail Lord, a widow, of Salem, Massachusetts; and Peregrine White, who was the first baby boy born on the Mayflower<\/em> while docked in Plymouth Harbor. His name in Latin means \u201cPilgrim.\u201d<\/p>\n

At age 16, Peregrine joined the militia and rose to the rank of captain. He also served as a selectman and helped survey unchartered land to the west.<\/p>\n

He married Sarah Bassett, although they apparently engaged in early lovemaking and were charged with fornication upon the arrival of their first son Daniel White \u2013 his birth was all the evidence the church authorities needed.<\/p>\n

In 1921 the Elbert County Tribune<\/em> published an article, \u201cNew Pilgrim Treasures,\u201d which highlighted the rare remnants that remain from the Mayflower<\/em> passengers.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Elbert County Tribune (Elizabeth, Colorado), 18 November 1921, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among them is a copy of \u201cMourt\u2019s Relation<\/a>,\u201d the only account of the Mayflower<\/em> voyage, believed to be written by Edward Winslow and Gov. William Bradford.<\/p>\n

Also noted is the portrait of Winslow. This article reported:<\/p>\n

The portrait of Edward Winslow is the only authentic likeness of any of the Mayflower Pilgrims. It was painted in 1651. It has been several times engraved, the original, once owned by Isaac Winslow, is now deposited in the gallery of the Pilgrim Society at Plymouth. Today you can view it at Pilgrim Hall Museum.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Mayflower<\/em> historian Caleb Johnson, in the portrait Winslow is holding a letter which reads \u201cyour loving wife, Susanna.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1821 a Winslow descendant, Elkanah Watson, Esq., attended a jubilee at the Mansion House of Nathaniel S. Skinner in Albany, New York, to commemorate the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: portrait of Elkanah Watson, 1782, by John Singleton Copley. Credit: Princeton University Art Museum; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the New Bedford Mercury<\/em>, Mr. Watson presented two relics: a wedding slipper of Governor Winslow\u2019s wife; and a piece of his sea chest.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
New Bedford Mercury (New Bedford, Massachusetts), 12 January 1821, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wedding slipper, believed to have been worn by Penelope Pelham at her wedding to Josiah Winslow in 1651, is now at Pilgrim Hall Museum.<\/p>\n

The wedding slipper and the chest are documented in John Lee Watson\u2019s book Memoirs of the Marstons of Salem: With a Brief Genealogy of Some of Their Descendants<\/a>, on page 30.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for more\u2026<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Penelope Pelham Winslow\u2019s embroidered silk shoe, thought to have been worn by Penelope Pelham at her wedding to Josiah Winslow in 1651. Courtesy of Pilgrim Hall Museum\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Article:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n