Mary Winslow, "Mayflower" Passenger

Please see Sue Allan: In Search of Mayflower Pilgrim James Chilton of Canterbury, p.127. (Steven Ferry, December 11, 2024.)

Mary Chilton, "Mayflower" Passenger

Mary Chilton (Mayflower passenger), who with her future brother-in-law, Edward Winslow (Mayflower passenger), sailed from Worcestershire, England and arrived with Miles Standish in America aboard the Mayflower. Miss Chilton was the first female passenger from the Mayflower to set foot on American soil.

They had 10 children only: John, Susanna; Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Isaac, Joseph, Child, Benjamin

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/MaryChilton.php

MARY CHILTON WINSLOW IN 17TH CENTURY RECORDS

Mary Chilton Winslow : Mayflower passenger. At the age of 13, Mary was the first European woman to step ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

"The names of those which came over first, in the year 1620, and were by the blessing of God the first beginners and in a sort the foundation of all the Plantations and Colonies in New England; and their families...

"James Chilton and his wife, and Mary their daughter; they had another daughter that was married, came afterward."

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647,

ed. Samuel Eliot Morison (New York : Knopf, 1991), p. 441-3.

Death of James Chilton and his Wife

Governor William Bradford, writing in 1650 :

"And seeing it hath pleased Him to give me [William Bradford] to see thirty years completed since these beginnings, and that the great works of His providence are to be observed, I have thought it not unworthy my pains to take a view of the decreasings and increasings of these persons and such changes as hath passed over them and theirs in this thirty years ....

"James Chilton and his wife also died in the first infection, but their daughter Mary is still living and hath nine children; and one daughter is married and hath a child. So their increase is ten."

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647,

ed. Samuel Eliot Morison (New York : Knopf, 1991), p. 443-7.

Mary Chilton Winslow and the 1623 Division of Land

The 1623 Division of Land marked the end of the Pilgrims’ earliest system of land held in common by all. Governor Bradford explains it in this way :

"And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some family This had bery good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled wuld have been thought great tyranny and oppression."

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647,

ed. Samuel Eliot Morison (New York : Knopf, 1991), p. 120.

Plymouth Colony Records, Deeds &c, Vol I 1627-1651 is the oldest record book of the Plymouth settlement. It begins with the 1623 Division of Land, recorded in the handwriting of Governor William Bradford. The lands of "Marie Chilton" were among those designated as "their rounds which came first over in the May Floure, according as thier lotes were case" and described in this way "these lye one the north side of the towne nexte adjoyning to their gardens which came in the Fortune."

The lands of John Winslow are listed in the 1623 Division of Land among those designated as "their grounds which came in the Fortune according as their Lots were cast 1623 ... these lye to the sea, eastward."

John & Mary Chilton WInslow and the 1627 Division of Cattle

Plymouth Colony Records, Deeds &c, Vol I 1627-1651 also tells of the 1627 Division of Cattle :

"At a publique court held the 22th of May it was concluded by the whole Companie, that the cattell wch were the Companies, to wit, the Cowes & the Goates should be equally devided to all the psonts of the same company ... & so the lotts fell as followeth, thirteene psonts being pportioned to one lot ...

"The sixt lott fell to John Shaw & his companie Joyned (1) to him (2) John Adams (3) Eliner Adams (4) James Adams (5) John Winslow (6) Mary Winslow (7) Willm Basset (8) Elizabeth Bassett (9) Willyam Basset Junor (10) Elizabeth Basset Juno (11) ffrancis Sprage (12) Anna Sprage (13) Mercye Sprage.

"To this lot fell the lesser of the black Cowes Came at first in the Ann wth which they must keepe the bigest of the 2 steers. Also to this lott was two shee goats."

Mary Chilton Winslow in the Records of Plymouth Colony

3 March 1644-45 : "Kenelme Winslow complns agst Willm Hoskine, in an action of trespas vpon the case, to the dm of xl. It is agreed that for tenn shillings worth of corne, to be payd to Mary, the wyfe of John Winslow, wthin xiij dayes next ensuing, all defferences, suits, and actions betwixt them shalbe discharged."

Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 7, p. 39.

8 June 1654 : "Memorand : That Mr John Winslow of the Towne of Plymouth in the Jurisdiction of New Plymouth Doth acknowlidge that for and in consideration of the summe of an hundred pounds to him in hand paied wherwith hee Doth acknowlidge himselfe fully satisfyed by Mr Stephen Payne of the towne of Rehoboth in the Jurisdiction of Plymouth aforsaid hee hath freely and absolutly barganed allianated and sold enfoefed and confeirmed; and by these prsents Doth bargaine sell enfeofe and confeirme from him the said John Winslow and his heires to him the said Stephen Payne and his heires and assignes for ever all that his pte portion or share of land both upland & meddow belonging unto him as Purchaser lying and being att Sowamsett Mattapoisett and places adjacent together with all and singulare the appurtenances privilidges and emunities therunto belonging with all the said John Winslow his Right title and enterest of and into the said prmises or any pte or pcell therof to have and to hold the said whole pte or share of upland and Meddow with all and singulare the timbers woods underwoods swamps waters and all other privilidges emunities in upon or in any way belonging unto the said whole share or portion of upland and meddow or any pte or pcell therof unto The said Stephen payne his heires and assignes for Ever The said prmises with all and singulare the privilidges and appurtenances therunto belonging; To appertaine unto the onely proper use and behoof of him the said Stephen payne his heires and assignes for ever with warrantice against all pson or psons whatsoever that by the said John Winslow his right or title might claime any Right title or enterest into the prmises or any pte or pcell therof

"This abovesaid sale of land was acknowlidged before mr Bradford Govr the seaventh of June 1654

"And the said John Winslow Doth heerby covenant prmise and graunt that his wife shall in Due and convenient time Resigne up all her Right in the above mencioned land and the appurtenances belonging therunto unto the said Stephen payne his heires and assignes for ever."

Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 6, p. 247.

10 October 1657 : "That Mr John Winslow somtimes of Plymouth in New England in America gent: Doth acknowlidge that for in Consideration of a valluable sume to him alreddy satisfyed and fully payed by Edward Gray of the towne of Plymouth aforsaid in the Jurisdiction of Plymouth aforsd planter; hee hath freely fully and absolutely bargained allianted and sold enfeofed and Confeirmed and by these prsents Doth bargain allianate sell enfeofe and confeirme unto the said Edward Gray all that his house and land lying and being att plain Dealing in the Township of Plymouth aforsaid The said tract or pcell of land containing acres or therabouts bee it more or lesse being bounded on the one side with the lands of Jonathan Shaw; and on the other side with the lands of Samuell Kinge with all and singulare the orchyards on the said land and all the fruit trees theron with all the outhouses woods trees ffences and all other the appurtenances and privilidges belonging to the said land or any pte or pcell therof with all and singulare the meddows or pcells of meddow belonging therunto To have and to hold the said house with all and singulare the boards shelves Dores lockes and glasse in and belonging unto the said house with all the out houses upon the said land with all the aditions att any time aded or graunted as enlargments therunto as namly an Inlargment att the uper end of the said tract of land which said Inlargment extendeth up unto a rid Swamp att the uper end therof; with all and singulare the appurtenances & privilidges belonging unto the said land or any pte or pcell therof with all the meddow belonging therunto unto the said Edward Gray his heires and assignes for ever; The said prmises with all the said John Winslow his right title and Interest of and into the same and every pte or pcell therof; to belonge and appertaine unto the onely use and behoofe of him the said Edward Gray hee his heires and assignes for ever;

Mis Mary Winslow wife unto the said Mr John Winslow thath given her free Concent unto the abovesaid sale according to order."

Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 11, p. 209-210.

1674 : [from the will of John Winslow] "Item I give and bequeath unto my Deare and well beloved wife Mary Winslow the use of my now dwelling house with the gardens and yards thereunto belonging for and during the tearme of her naturall life Item I give and bequeath unto my said wife the use of all myhousehould good for her to dispose of as she shall thinke meet Item I give unto my said wife the sume of ffoure hundred pounds in lawfull mony of New England to be paid unto her by my Executor or Overseers hereafter named in convenient time after my decease: Item after the death of my said wife I give and bequeath my said dwelling house with all the Land belonging to the same unto my sone John Winslow"

Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 3, p. 129-134.

www.pilgrimhall.org

Updated 14 July, 1998

Prior to her marriage, Mary Chilton came to Massachusetts with her father and mother in 1620 on the Mayflower. Her father, James Chilton, was one of the three men who died at sea during the crossing and her mother, Susanna, died that first winter in Massachusetts. Over half of the passengers died that first winter. Mary survived and celebrated the first Thanksgiving in November 1621.

Mary married John Winslow, the brother of Edward "Pilgrim" Winslow, one of the Mayflower's Pilgrim leaders, who became the first Govenor of the Plymouth Colony. See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Winslow

Details on the Mayflower, it's Passenger List, and those that died within the first year can be found at the following links:

Mayflower:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower

Passengers List:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_passengers_on_the_Mayflower#ci...

List of Mayflower Passengers who died the first winter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayflower_passengers_who_died_...

"This Mary Chilton is the Mary that accompanied her parents on the Mayflower and as reported was the first4 female to step ashore at Plymouth, MA in 1620. She married John Winslow in 1652 and had at least 6 children named in her will, John Winslow, Edward Winslow, Joseph Winslow, Samuel Winslow, Susannna Latham and Sarah Middlecott. Mary's baptism has been erroneously published as 30 May 1607 in numerous sources,., but has been verified with the original parish registers that the correct date is 31 May 1607." - James Chilton Web Page by Caleb Johnson, 1999 The names of Mary and John's children herin shown are based on the names mentioned in her will made 31 July 1676 in Boston, New England. In some instances of the grandchild mentioned, it is not clear as to which child the grandchild belonged.

Mary Chilton arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, and was the first woman to arrive ashore (at age 12). Mary was the daughter of James Chilton. Mary married John Winslow (b. 1597) in Droitwich, Worchestershire, England, on April 16, 1597. John died on May 21, 1674, in Boston, Massachusetts. John was the son of Edward Winslow and Magdalen Ollyver (Oliver). John came to Massachusetts on the Fortune in 1621. John's brothers Edward and Gilbert Winslow arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. Before his death, John Winslow was one of the wealthiest merchants in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mayflower Passenger.

Baptised St. Peters's, Sandwich, May 1607. Died at Boston, shortly before 1 May, 1679. She married, at Plymouth, by 1 June, 1627, John Winslow, who was bp. at Droitwich, England, 18 April, 1597, son of Edward and Magdalen (Oliver) Winslow.

Mary Chilton was the daughter of JAMES, prob. of Canterbury. James died in the Cape Cod Harbor, and his wife d. in Plymouth shortly after. Mary's sister Isabella who married Roger Chandler, and who came over later, is the only of his other children known to have come to the colony.

Mary died at Boston, shortly before 11 May, 1679. She married, at Plymouth, between July, 1623, and 1 June, 1627, John Winslow, who was bp. at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, 18 April, 1597, came on the Fortune, and died at Boston, between 12 March and 21 May, 1673/4. They removed to Boston before 1660.

Mary and John had ten children, and their last child was born at Plymouth in 1653. A few years later they removed to Boston.

(MD 27:1:4) On the 16th of July, 1671, John and Mary (Chilton) Winslow transferred their church membership from Plymouth to the Third Church, now the Old South Church in Boston, and we find by the Suffolk County Deeds that two months later, on the 19th of September, 1671, John Winslow bought, for the sum of £500 in New England silver money, "the Mansion or dwelling-house of the Late Antipas Boice with the gardens wood-yard and Backside as it is scituate lying and being in Boston aforesaid as it is nowe fenced in And is fronting & Facing to the Lane going to mr John Jolliffes".

Here John and Mary Winslow continued to reside until the death of John Winslow in 1673/4, and here died Mary (Chilton) Winslow five years later.

http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/wills/mary_chilton_winslow.htm

was born on 31 May 1607 in St Peters Parish, Sandwich, Kent, England. She died before 1 May 1679. MARY CHILTON. Daughter of JAMES. Died at Boston, shortly before 11 May, 1679. She married, at Plymouth, between July, 1623, and 1 June, 1627, John Winslow, who was born at Droitwich, England, 26 April, 1597, and died at Boston, between 22 March and 31 May, 1674. She was buried in King's Chapel, Boston, MA. Both John and Mary are buried in King's Chapel Burying Ground,

Boston."Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, VOL II, p.6.,

published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1978.. According to Savage: " In 1650, Bradford says, she had nine ch. of wh.

one was m. and had a ch. She d. 1679, ano. d. of C. was left by him

in Eng. where she m. and came to our country."

Chilton, Mary

—A daughter of James and Susanna Chilton, Mary sailed with them on the 1620 Mayflower, and she has been called the first woman to step on Plymouth Rock (see Charles T. Libby, Mary Chilton's Title to Celebrity, [reprint. Providence, R.I., 1978]). She was baptized at St. Peter's Parish, Sandwich, Kent on 31 May 1607. She married at Plymouth Edward Winslow's brother John Winslow, and they later moved to Boston, where she died before 1 May 1679.

She was married to John WINSLOW about 22 May 1627 in Plymouth, MA. Children were: John WINSLOW, Susanna WINSLOW, Mary WINSLOW, Edward(3) WINSLOW, Sarah WINSLOW, Samuel WINSLOW, Joseph WINSLOW, Isaac WINSLOW, Child WINSLOW, Benjamin WINSLOW.

Mary Chilton, perhaps the first pilgrim to step ashore, arrived as a young teen whose parents soon died. She was taken in by other pilgrims and later married a Winslow.

A well-known 1877 Henry Bacon oil painting depicts a young girl stepping ashore at what would become Plymouth. Was it, as many believe, the orphaned Mary Chilton? This Chilton family tradition was first recorded in 1744.

Experts at Pilgrim Hall, the Plymouth museum which preserves artifacts of the Mayflower Pilgrims and has carefully researched mentions of them in 17th century records, says there was no contemporary recording of the event and no competing claims.

The Chilton Family

Mary was the youngest child of James Chilton and his wife and the only one to accompany them on the Mayflower. James Chilton—in his 60s—was probably the oldest passenger. He died aboard the Mayflower shortly after signing the Mayflower Compact. His wife died within weeks.

James Chilton, a tailor from Canterbury, England, moved to Sandwich, England about 1600, became part of the separatist movement and later joined the pilgrim community in Leiden. Many of his children stayed behind in England.

Young Mary Chilton, one of eleven under-age girls on the voyage, was among the nine that survived. By contrast, only four of the fourteen adult women on the Mayflower survived the first winter.

Arrived on Mayflower

Mary Chilton Back to the Mayflower Passenger List

( Sometimes referred to as "Mayflower Mary" Chilton )

    http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/MaryChilton.php

Baptism: 31 May 1607, St. Peter's, Sandwich, Kent, England, daughter of James Chilton. Mayflower Families: James Chilton and Richard More for Five Generations, contains the best, most thorough and completely researched genealogy on James Chilton. It covers every descendant of his for the first five generations, to the birth of the sixth generation. It's packed full of well documented genealogical research.

Published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. ORDER NOW!

Marriage:

John Winslow, about 1626-1627, Plymouth.

Death: Before 1 May 1679, Boston.

Children:

John,

Susanna,

Mary,

Edward,

Sarah,

Samuel,

Joseph,

Isaac,

an unnamed child who died young, and

Benjamin.

Biographical Summary

Mary Chilton was born in 1607 in Sandwich, Kent, England, and was the daughter of James Chilton and his wife (whose name has not been discovered). When Mary was just two years old, excommunication proceedings began against her mother, who had attended the secret burial of a child of Andrew Sharpe. The child was buried in secret because they opposed the "popish" burial ceremonies required by the Church of England.

Mary and family then came to Leiden, Holland, and joined with the Pilgrims' church there. In 1619, when she was twelve, her father and oldest sister were caught in an anti-Arminian riot and her father was hit in the head with a stone--an injury for which he would have to seek out a surgeon.

In 1620, at the age of 13, Mary came with her parents on the Mayflower. Her father was one of the first who died after the ship had anchored off Provincetown Harbor. He died on December 8. Mary is traditionally given the honor of being the first female to step ashore at Plymouth Rock, but there is no historical documentation for this tradition. Her mother also died sometime later the first winter, orphaning her in the New World. Which family it was that raised her has not been determined, but in 1623, at the age of 16, Mary received her share in the Division of Land, and her property was apparently located between that of Myles Standish and John Alden, and was not too far from Edward and John Winslow. Edward Winslow's brother John had come to Plymouth on the ship Fortune in 1621. Sometime between 1623 and 1627, John Winslow married Mary Chilton, and in the 1627 Division of Cattle, where they received a share in the "lesser" black cow that had come in the ship Anne in 1623, along with two female goats. As they had not yet had any children by the Division of Cattle, it is likely their marriage was in 1626 or 1627.

Their first child John was born about 1627, and nine more children would follow. The family resided in Plymouth for many years, but eventually ended up in Boston, where her husband John died in 1674. Mary made out her will in 1676 and died about 1679.

Notable Descendants

Notable descendants of Mary Chilton include First Lady Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, singer Pete Seeger, Ambassador Pamela Harriman, poet Robert Lowell, actress Jane Wyatt, Marjorie "Betty Crocker" Child, Attorney General Elliot Richardson, actor Vincent Price, and former governor Howard Dean. Another descendant, Marcus Winslow, was the uncle by marriage of actor James Dean. It has also been alleged, though not proven, the former Vice President Dan Quayle was also a descendant.

Mary had a great-grandson, born on June 26,1702, named Philip Doddridge.He was an English Nonconformist Leader.

In 1858, rumors were spread that Abraham Lincoln was a descendant of Mary Chilton's daughter, but the claim has never been conclusively proven or disproven. It has been suggested that one of Mary's daughters could have married Abraham Lincoln's ancestor, Samuel Lincoln.

Will of Mary (Chilton) Winslow http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/PrimarySources/WillsAndProbates/Mar...

31 July 1676

In the name of God Amen the thirty first day of July in the yeare of our Lord one thousand Six hundred seventy and Six I Mary Winslow of Boston in New England Widdow being weake of Body but of Sound and perfect memory praysed be almighty God for the same Knowing the uncertainty of this present life and being desirous to settle that outward Estate the Lord hath Lent me. I doe make this my last Will and Testamt in manner and forme following (that is to say) First and principally I comend my Soule into the hands of Almighty God my Creator hopeing to receive full pardon and remission of all my sins; and Salvation through the alone merrits of Jesus Christ my redeemer: And my body to the Earth to be buried in Such Decent manner as to my Executor hereafter named shall be thought meet and convenient and as touching such worldly Estate as the Lord hath Lent me my Will and meaneing is the same shall be imployed and bestowed as hereafter in and by this my Will is Exprest.

Imps I doe hereby revoake renounce and make voide all Wills by me formerly made and declaire and apoint this my Last Will and Testamt Item I will that all the Debts that I Justly owe to any manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and truely paid or ordained to be paid in convenient time after my decease by my Executor hereafter named—Item I give and bequeath unto my Sone John Winslow my great Square table Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Middlecott my Best gowne and Pettecoat and my Silver beare bowle and to each of her children a Silver Cup with an handle: Also I give unto my grandchild William Paine my Great silver tankard: Item I give unto my Daughter Susanna Latham my long Table: Six Joyned Stooles and my great Cupboard: a beadstead Bedd and furniture there unto belonging that is in the Chamber over the roome where I now Lye; my small silver Tankard: Six Silver Spoones, a case of Bottles with all my wearing apparell: (except onely what I have hereby bequeathed unto my Daughter Meddlecott & my Grandchild Susanna Latham:) Item I give and bequeath unto my Grandchild Ann Gray that trunke of Linning that I have alreddy delivered to her and is in her possession and also one Bedstead, Bedd Boulster and Pillows that re in the Chamber over the Hall: Also the sume of ten pounds in mony to be paid unto her within Six months next after my decease: Also my will is that my Executor shall pay foure pounds in mony pr ann for three yeares unto Mrs Tappin out of the Intrest of my mony now in Goodman Cleares hands for and towards the maintenance of the said Ann Gray according to my agreemt with Mrs Tappin: Item I give and bequeath unto Mary Winslow Daughter of my sone Edward Winslow my largest Silver Cupp with two handles: and unto Sarah Daughter of the said Edward my lesser Silver cupp with two handles: Also I give unto my Said Sone Edwards Children Six Silver Spoones to be divided between them: Item I give and bequeath unto my grandchild Parnell Winslow the Sume of five pounds in mony to be improved by my Executor untill he come of age: and then paid to him with the improvemt. Item my will is that the rest of my spoones be divided among my grandchildren according to the discression of My Daughter Middlecott: Item I give unto my Grandchild Mercy Harris my White Rugg: Item I give unto my Grandchild Mary Pollard forty shillings in mony. Item I give unto my grandchild Susanna Latham my Petty Coate with the silke Lace: Item I give unto Mary Winslow Daughter of my Sone Joseph Winslow the Sume of twenty pounds in mony to be paid out of the sume of my said Sone Joseph now owes to be improved by my Executor for the said Mary and paid unto her when She Shall attaine the Age of eighteene yeares or day of Marriage which of them shall first happen Item I give and bequeath the full remainder of my Estate whatsoever it is or wheresoever it may be found unto my children Namely John Winslow Edward Winslow Joseph Winslow Samuel Winslow: Susanna Latham and Sarah Middlecott to be equally divided betweene them Item I doe hereby nominate constitute authorize and appoint my trusty friend Mr William Tailer of Boston aforesd merchant the Sole Executor of this my last Will and testamt: In Witness whereof I the said Mary Winslow have hereunto set my hand and Seale the daye and yeare first above written

Memorandum I do hereby also Give and bequeath unto Mr. Thomas Thacher paster of the third Church in Boston the Sume of five pounds in mony to be pd convenient time after my decease by my Executr.

Mary Winslow

      M 

her marke

Signed Sealed and Published by the above named Mary Winslow as her Last Will & testamt in the presence of us after the adding of foure lines as part of her will

John Ilands

Ffrancis Hacker

her H marke

John Hayward scr

Mr Wm Tailer nominatd. Execr appeard in Court pr May: 1679 and renounced his Executorship to this will.

attests. Jsa: Addington Cler.

Mary Chilton (1607-ca.1679) was a Pilgrim and purportedly the first European woman to step ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Mary Chilton was born on May 31, 1607 in Sandwich, Kent, England and was the daughter of Mayflower passenger James Chilton. At the age of thirteen, she accompanied her parents on the voyage to Plymouth. Her father, at age sixty-four, was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower.

It was once believed that Susannah Furner was her mother, but in 1999 researcher Michael Paulick proved that Susannah Furner was in fact James Chilton's step-sister. This, however, does not necessarily preclude the possibility that James and Susannah were husband and wife, but nor is there any solid evidence that they were married.

By legend, Mary Chilton was the first female passenger to step ashore at Plymouth, reportedly so excited that she jumped out of the small boat and waded ashore onto "Plymouth Rock." [1]

Her father died on December 8, 1620 aboard the Mayflower and her mother died six weeks later on January 21, 1621, also aboard ship, both on the first infection of the disease. This was proclaimed by the Governor of Plymouth, William Bradford in 1650. Once orphaned, it is believed she became the ward of Myles Standish or John Alden. Chilton was given three shares in the land division of 1623, one for herself and one each for her deceased parents. Her property was situated between those of Standish and John Howland.

She was one of eleven under-age girls on the Mayflower. Of these, she was one of the nine to survive the first year at Plymouth and would have been present at the time of the famous First Thanksgiving in 1621. In contrast, only four of the fourteen adult women survived the first year.

She married John Winslow (possibly on October 12, 1624) and thus became the sister-in-law of Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow. They had ten children: John, Susannah, Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, an un-named child who probably died in infancy, and Benjamin. All but Benjamin married, and Benjamin's birth is the only one listed in the records of Plymouth colony.

The family moved to Boston some time after the birth of Benjamin in 1653. There John Winslow is said to have prospered as a merchant.

She made out a will on July 31, 1676 (the only female passenger on the Mayflower to do so) and died before May 1, 1679 in Boston.

Mayflower Passenger

Mary's parents died the first winter, leaving her orphaned; she probably joined with the household of Myles Standish.

Mary Chilton arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620, accompanying her mother and father James Chilton. Mary’s father died while the Mayflower was anchored in Provincetown Harbor. Her mother died shortly thereafter. For more information on Mary Chilton’s parents, including information on their English and Dutch background, read the biography of James Chilton.

A Chilton family tradition, first recorded in 1744, has the 12-year-old Mary Chilton as the first woman ashore at Plymouth. There is no contemporary recording of the event, but there are also no competing claims. Mary Chilton’s landing on Plymouth Rock has been celebrated in story and in art. The Landing of the Pilgrims, painted in 1877 by Henry Bacon and showing Mary Chilton landing on Plymouth Rock, is on exhibit at Pilgrim Hall Museum (click HERE to view that painting).

Mary Chilton married John Winslow, a passenger on the Fortune (arrival in 1621). John Winslow’s brothers Edward and Gilbert had been passengers on the Mayflower. John Winslow was born in 1597. John Winslow and Mary Chilton were married sometime before 1627.

John and Mary Winslow had 10 children : John, Susanna, Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, an unnamed child who died young, and Benjamin.

The youngest of these, Benjamin, is the only child whose birth is listed in the Plymouth Colony Records :

"1653. Plymouth Regester of the Beirth of theire Children… Beniamine, the sonne of Mr John Winslow, born the 12th day of August."

Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 8, p. 15.

Sometime after the birth of Benjamin, James and Mary Chilton Winslow moved to Boston. The place of their first residence is not known. On the 16th of June, 1671, John and Mary Chilton Winslow transferred their church membership from Plymouth to the Third Church in Boston (Third Church is now called the Old South Church; the present Old South Meeting House was built about 50 years after Mary Chilton’s death).

On the 19th of September, 1671, John Winslow bought, for the sum of L500 in New England silver money, "the Mansion or dwelling-house of the Late Antipas Voice with the gardens wood-yard and Backside as it is scituate lying and being in Boston aforesaid as it is nowe fenced in And is fronting & Facing to the Lane going to mr John Jolliffes." The house, on today’s Spring Lane, no longer exists.

John Winslow died in 1674.

Will of Mary (Chilton) Winslow

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the name of God Amen the thirty first day of July in the yeare of our Lord one thousand Six hundred seventy and Six I Mary Winslow of Boston in New England Widdow being weake of Body but of Sound and perfect memory praysed be almighty God for the same Knowing the uncertainty of this present life and being desirous to settle that outward Estate the Lord hath Lent me. I doe make this my last Will and Testamt in manner and forme following (that is to say) First and principally I comend my Soule into the hands of Almighty God my Creator hopeing to receive full pardon and remission of all my sins; and Salvation through the alone merrits of Jesus Christ my redeemer: And my body to th eEArth to be buried in Such Decent manner as to my Executor hereafter named shall be thought meet and convenient and as touching such worldly Estate as the Lord hath Lent me my Will and meaneing is the same shall be imployed and bestowed as hereafter in and by this my Will is Exprest.

Imps I doe hereby revoake renounce and make voide all Wills by me formerly made and declaire and apoint this my Last Will and Testamt Item I will that all the Debts that I Justly owe to any manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and truely paid or ordained to be paid in convenient time after my decease by my Executor hereafter named--Item I give and bequeath unto my Sone John Winslow my great Square table Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Middlecott my Best gowne and Pettecoat and my Silver beare bowle and to each of her children a Silver Cup with an handle: Also I give unto my grandchild William Paine my Great silver tankard: Item I give unto my Daughter Susanna Latham my long Table: Six Joyned Stooles and my great Cupboard: a beadstead Bedd and furniture there unto belonging that is in the Chamber over the roome where I now Lye; my small silver Tankard: Six Silver Spoones, a case of Bottles with all my wearing apparell: (except onely what I have hereby bequeathed unto my Daughter Meddlecott & my Grandchild Susanna Latham:) Item I give and bequeath unto my Grandchild Ann Gray that trunke of Linning that I have alreddy delivered to her and is in her possession and also one Bedstead, Bedd Boulster and Pillows that re in the Chamber over the Hall: Also the sume of ten pounds in mony to be paid unto her within Six months next after my decease: Also my will is that my Executor shall pay foure pounds in mony pr ann for three yeares unto Mrs Tappin out of the Intrest of my mony now in Goodman Cleares hands for and towards the maintenance of the said Ann Gray according to my agreemt with Mrs Tappin: Item I give and bequeath unto Mary Winslow Daughter of my sone Edward Winslow my largest Silver Cupp with two handles: and unto Sarah Daughter of the said Edward my lesser Silver cupp with two handles: Also I give unto my Said Sone Edwards Children Six Silver Spoones to be divided between them: Item I give and bequeath unto my grandchild Parnell Winslow the Sume of five pounds in mony to be improved by my Executor untill he come of age: and then paid to him with the improvemt. Item my will is that the rest of my spoones be divided among my grandchildren according to the discression of My Daughter Middlecott: Item I give unto my Grandchild Mercy Harris my White Rugg: Item I give unto my Grandchild Mary Pollard forty shillings in mony. Item I give unto my grandchild Susanna Latham my Petty Coate with the silke Lace: Item I give unto Mary Winslow Daughter of my Sone Joseph Winslow the Sume of twenty pounds in mony to be paid out of the sume of my said Sone Joseph now owes to be improved by my Executor for the said Mary and paid unto her when She Shall attaine the Age of eighteene yeares or day of Marriage which of them shall first happen Item I give and bequeath the full remainder of my Estate whatsoever it is or wheresoever it may be found unto my children Namely John Winslow Edward Winslow Joseph Winslow Samuel Winslow: Susanna Latham and Sarah Middlecott to be equally divided betweene them Item I doe hereby nominate constitute authorize and appoint my trusty friend Mr William Tailer of Boston aforesd merchant the Sole Executor of this my last Will and testamt: In Witness whereof I the said Mary Winslow have hereunto set my hand and Seale the daye and yeare first above written

Memorandum I do hereby also Give and bequeath unto Mr. Thomas Thacher paster of the third Church in Boston the Sume of five pounds in mony to be pd convenient time after my decease by my Executr.

Mary Winslow

M

her marke

Signed Sealed and Published by the above named Mary Winslow as her Last Will & testamt in the presence of us after the adding of foure lines as part of her will

John Ilands

Ffrancis Hacker

her H marke

John Hayward scr

Mr Wm Tailer nominatd. Execr appeard in Court pr May: 1679 and renounced his Executorship to this will.

attests. Jsa: Addington Cler.

________

POPULAR LEGEND HAS IT THAT MARY CHILTON, AT ABOUT 13, WAS THE FIRST FEMALE TO STEP ASHORE AT PLYMOUTH.

SOME SOURCES SAY MARY (D) (PILGRIM) (SEE NOTES) CHILTON MARRIED THE JOHN WINSLOW WHO WAS BORN APRIL 16, 1597.

OTHER SOURCES SAY MARY (D) (PILGRIM) (SEE NOTES) CHILTON MARRIED A JOHN WINSLOW BORN ABT 1626.

THE FIRST OF THESE TWO WAS THE UNCLE OF THE SECOND.

Mary Chilton and Her Ancestry

by the Assistant Editor

Was twelve year old Mary Chilton of the Mayflower the

first of her sex to step foot on American soil? That is the story

that Mary, herself, told her grandchildren, and it has become a

part of our folklore. Her last surviving grandchild, as an old

lady of ninety-two, dictated the account of Mary's exploit to her

grandson who committed it to writing under the title, “Memoirs

of my Progenitors taken by Winslow Taylor as related by my

Grandmother, Madam Ann Winslow, September 1769.” Unfortunately,

the original manuscript is lost, but a copy made in

1790 by Col. Nathaniel Gilman, a cousin of the young author,

has survived and the opening sentences are here quoted:

“Mary Chilton was the first European Female that landed

on the American shore; she came over with her father & mother

and other adventurers to this new settlement. One thing worthy

of notice is that her curiosity of being first on the American

Strand, prompted her, like a young Heroine, to leap out of the

boat & wade ashore.”

Most printed versions carry some such qualifying phrase as

“said to have been” regarding Mary's claim and differ considerably

in details, but the account given above is considered to be

the most authentic. Note that the locale of the incident is not

recorded. Was it at Cape Cod on November 23rd (N.S.) when

the women went ashore to attack their long overdue laundry

chore or was it on a later date at Plymouth Rock, according to

art and literature, that Mary's wet feet made the first impression

on the sand? We shall never know.

Mary's father, James Chilton, had died on board the

Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor on Dec. 18, 1620, a victim of

the protracted voyage, poor diet and wretched living conditions

on the storm battered ship. Her mother succumbed to the

general sickness and did not survive that first heart breaking winter at

Plymouth.

The Chiltons were originally from Canterbury, England where

James was recorded as a citizen and tailor in 1583. The baptisms of

three of their ten children were recorded on the register of St. Paul’s.

Canterbury: Isabella, 15 Jan. 1586, Jane, 8 June 1589 and Ingle

(Angela?), 1599. Two were baptized at St. Martin’s, Canterbury: Elizabeth,

14 July 1594 and James, 22 Aug. 1596. Two other children, Mary

and Joel, died there in 1593. At St. Peter’s, Sandwich are recorded two

children of James Chilton: Christian, 26 July 1600 and James, 11 Sept.

1602. Mary (she of the famous leap) was probably born circa 1608 in

some other parish. Her baptismal record has not been found. She was

the only one of the children to accompany her parents on the Mayflower

voyage. Her sister Isabella had married Roger Chandler at Leyden 21

July 1613 and came to America circa 1630-1632. The Angela Chilton

who married Robert Nelson at Leyden in 1622 may have been the

“Ingle” of the Canterbury record, but there is nothing to indicate that

she came to this country.

The Chilton name appears in the records of Canterbury as early as

1339 when a Robert Chilton served as a representative from there to

Parliament. Two 16th century wills pertaining to the immediate ancestors

of James Chilton were copied in England by John Calder Pearson

and were printed in The Mayflower Quarterly of Nov. 1961 (27:5).

These were the wills of Lyonell and Richard Chilton, father and

grandfather of the Pilgrim.

Lyonell Chilton, referred to as a yeoman, owned extensive property

in the Parish of St. Paul's, Canterbury. His will, dated 7 Sept. 1582 and

proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury 13 Feb. 1582/3,

requested that his body be buried in St. Paul's Churchyard “as nigh ye

buryall, of my late Wyef as may be.” He made bequests to the poor; to

his servants; to each of his God children; to his son-in-law, Stephen

Morrys, husband of his daughter Alyce and to their daughter, Idythe

Morrys; to his daughters, Anne Chilton and Margaret Chilton; to

Isabelf, his wife; to his sons, John and James and lastly, to Thomas and

Susanne Furner, “my wyves children.” James also received a tenement

called the “Wull Sack” in the Parish of St. Paul's on condition that he

and his heirs permit “Isabel, my wyeff” to dwell there during her

lifetime or to allow her “fourtye shillings a yeare for lyef out of the

same Tenement . . .” Isabell was his second wife and not the mother of

his children. She had been the widow of Francis Furner and had been

Lyonell Chilton’s wife only a short time before his death.

The will of Richard Chilton, grandfather of James, was dated Sept.

1549 and proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury 30 Nov. 1549.

He asked to be buried in St. Paul's Churchyard beside the grave of his wife,

Isabell. Bequests were made to the poor of the parish and to his four

servants. The residue of the estate was left to his son, Lyonell Chilton,

whom he named Executor.

Mary Chilton married John Winslow who came on the Fortune in

November 1621. The date of their marriage is not known but it was probably

not later than 1627. They became the parents of ten children. For a

time they lived at Plymouth and then at Plain Dealing, North Plymouth,

but in 1657 they removed to Boston where they purchased a house on the

south west corner of what is now Devonshire Street and Spring Lane. A

tablet placed on the site in 1924 by the Massachusetts Mayflower Society

states that John Winslow died here in 1674 and Mary in 1679 [MQ 33:44].

Although no mention is made of the feat in which Mary took so much

pride, the tablet does accord her another honor: “As A Passenger On The

Mayflower In 1620 Mary Chilton Came To America Before Any Other

White Woman Who Settled In Boston.” The couple had prospered during

their married life for John left a substantial estate to his wife and children.

Mary (Chilton) Winslow's will is one of three original wills of Mayflower

Pilgrims and is preserved in th files of the Suffolk County Registry of Probates

at Boston — [MQ 33:43-5]. She made generous bequests of money

and personal items to her children and grandchildren, including a number

of silver cups, silver spoons, large and small silver tankards and a “silver

beare bowle.”

She is buried with her husband in the Winslow tomb in ancient King's

Chapel Burying Ground, Boston.

George Bancroft Griffith has paid a poetic tribute to Mary, from

which a few lines are quoted here:

“Fair beams that kiss the sparkling bay,

Rest warmest o'er her tranquil sleep,

Sweet exile! love enticed away,-

The first on Plymouth Rock to leap!

0 ye who round King's Chapel stray,

Forget the turmoil of the street;

Though loftier names are round her, lay

A wreath of flowers at Mary's feet!...”

RREFERENCES

The American Genealogist 38:244-5 (Oct. 1962)

Banks, Charles E. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers.

New York 1929 and

Baltimore 1962 etc.

Libby, Charles T, Mary Chilton's Title to Celebrity. Boston 1926, p. 6-7.

Marble, Annie R. The Women Who Came in the Mayflower. Boston,

1920, p. 80.

The Mayflower Quarterly 26:A:2 27:N:5-6 33:43-4.5

Shaw, Hubert K. Families of the Pilgrims. Massachusetts Mayflower Descendants.

Boston, 1956.

Stoddard, Francis R. The Truth About the Pilgrims. New York

Mayflower Descendants. NY, 1952, pp. 100, 124.

Vincent, Verle D. Introduction to the Chilton Five Generations. Ms.

A Chilton family tradition, first recorded in 1744, has the 12-year-old Mary Chilton as the first woman ashore at Plymouth. There is no contemporary recording of the event, but there are also no competing claims. Mary Chilton’s landing on Plymouth Rock has been celebrated in story and in art. The Landing of the Pilgrims, painted in 1877 by Henry Bacon and showing Mary Chilton landing on Plymouth Rock, is on exhibit at Pilgrim Hall Museum (click HERE to view that painting).

Mary Chilton married John Winslow, a passenger on the Fortune (arrival in 1621). John Winslow’s brothers Edward and Gilbert had been passengers on the Mayflower. John Winslow was born in 1597. John Winslow and Mary Chilton were married sometime before 1627.

John and Mary Winslow had 10 children : John, Susanna, Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, an unnamed child who died young, and Benjamin.

The youngest of these, Benjamin, is the only child whose birth is listed in the Plymouth Colony Records :

"1653. Plymouth Regester of the Beirth of theire Children… Beniamine, the sonne of Mr John Winslow, born the 12th day of August."

Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 8, p. 15.

Sometime after the birth of Benjamin, James and Mary Chilton Winslow moved to Boston. The place of their first residence is not known. On the 16th of June, 1671, John and Mary Chilton Winslow transferred their church membership from Plymouth to the Third Church in Boston (Third Church is now called the Old South Church; the present Old South Meeting House was built about 50 years after Mary Chilton’s death).

On the 19th of September, 1671, John Winslow bought, for the sum of L500 in New England silver money, "the Mansion or dwelling-house of the Late Antipas Voice with the gardens wood-yard and Backside as it is scituate lying and being in Boston aforesaid as it is nowe fenced in And is fronting & Facing to the Lane going to mr John Jolliffes." The house, on today’s Spring Lane, no longer exists.