Mary (Chilton) Winslow (bef. 1607 - bef. 1679)

Born before 1 May 1607 in St. Peter's Parish, Sandwich, Kent, England

Ancestors

Wife of John Winslow — married before 22 May 1627 in Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died before 1 May 1679 at about age 72 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Mary (Chilton) Winslow was a passenger on the Mayflower. Join: Mayflower Project Discuss: mayflower

Biography

"Mary Chilton's Title to Celebrity", by Charles Thornton Libby reports that there is a tradition that she was the first to land. She is buried with her husband in King's Chapel Burying Ground next to the later grave of Paul Revere.^[1]

Birth

Mary Chilton was baptized 31 May 1607 in St. Peter, Sandwich, Kent, England.^[2][3]

Event

Arrival 1620, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay on the Mayflower.^[3]

Marriage

Mary Chilton married John Winslow in Plymouth between July 1623 and 22 May 1627.^[3]

Burial

Date: May 1669/1679

Place: Kings Chapel Bur, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts^[3][4]

Will

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 heresoever 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

Francis 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.^[5]

Mary Chilton^[6][7]

Note

In the early 1600s, many English men and women began to question some of the teachings of the Church of England that had been founded by Henry VIII in the previous century. Some of these individuals remained members of the church but tried to "purify" it from within, and were called "Puritans". One group of Puritans founded MA Bay Colony at Boston in 1630.

More radical individuals believed that the church was too contaminated by "error" to be salvaged, and these individuals separated from the church. The so-called "Separatists" were persecuted by the monarchy and to a lesser degree by the Puritans, and a few congregations of Separatists fled to Holland, where the Separatists' religious views were tolerated. Although James Chilton in the past was not thought to be a Separatist, later research discovered a record of James and his daughter Mary being attacked by a group of rock throwing boys in Leyden, Holland in 1619, and it therefore appears that he was a member of that group.

Although the Separatists were able to worship freely in Holland, they found that it was very difficult to make a living there. (Most of the Separatists had been farmers in England, and they had to learn new but lower paying job skills in urban Holland.) The Separatists also discovered that their children were slowly slipping away from the Separatist faith in easy going Holland, and in fact were becoming more Dutch than English.

Accordingly, the Separatists in Leyden entered into an agreement with a group of "Adventurers" (venture capitalists, really) in England pursuant to which the Adventurers would pay for the passage of some of the Separatists to America in return for a certain percentage of the fruits of their labors. The Adventurers also financed the passage of a number of passengers who came to America for purely economic reasons and who were called the "Strangers" by the Separatists. James, Susanna and Mary Chilton came to America with the first group of Separatists on the Mayflower in 1620. Congregationalist churches evolved from the Separatist congregations that came to America.

Either by accident or design, the Mayflower did not land as intended at Jamestown, VA Colony but instead arrived at Cape Cod in November. James Chilton was one of the oldest of the Mayflower passengers, and he died on 18 December 1620 while the Mayflower was still in Provincetown harbor and shortly after he signed the Mayflower Compact. There is no record regarding whether he was buried on land or at sea.

The Mayflower crossed Cape Cod Bay, and the passengers founded a new colony at Plymouth. According to tradition, Mary Chilton raced John Alden to the front of the launch bringing the Mayflower passengers to the shore and was the first woman to set foot on Plymouth Rock. The painting "The Landing of the Pilgrims" by Henry Bacon and exhibited in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, MA reflects this tradition.

During the first winter in America, almost half of the Mayflower passengers died during the First Sickness, including Susanna Furner on 21 January 1620/1621 (Old Style calendar). The thirteen year old Mary Chilton was left an orphan, and based upon a later division of land it is believed that she lived for the next few years with the family of either John Alden or Myles Standish.

Mary's husband John Winslow came to Plymouth on the Fortune in 1621. John was the brother of Edward Winslow, a Mayflower passenger and a Governor of Plymouth Colony.

Mary and John moved to Boston about 1655, where John became a successful merchant and shipowner. John died after 12 March 1673. Mary left the only will of a female passenger on the Mayflower, which is preserved at the Suffolk County Registry of Probate in Boston. They were buried in King's Chapel Burying Ground in Boston, where their tombstones still stand. ^[8][9]

"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. ^[10]

Grandchildren mentioned in her will:

William Paine

Ann Gray

Mary Winslow (Edward's daughter)

Sarah Winslow (Edward's daughter)

Parnell Winslow

Mercy Harris

Mary Pollard

Susanna Latham

Mary Winslow (Joseph's daughter)

Children:

i. John Winslow

ii. Edward Winslow

iii. Joseph Winslow

iv. Samuel Winslow

v. Susanna Winslow

vi. Sarah Winslow

Research Notes

DNA

mtDNA Results T2b+16288C^[11] Three matrilineal (all female line) descendants of Mary (Chilton) Winslow have taken a full mtDNA test and have their results posted in various Family Tree DNA Projects such as the Mayflower DNA Project.^[12][13] The three identified descendants descend from two different daughters [Mary (Winslow) Gray and Susanna (Winslow) Latham]. While it is not known whether any of these individuals have joined the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), the fact they are exact mtDNA matches from two different daughters of Mary Chilton (wife of John Winslow) does provide an adequate level of "proof."^[14]

The Haplogroup assigned to the full mtDNA results is T2b, but all three results include an additional HVR1 mutation at: 16288C.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ Per "John Walker Family Newsletter 1982 No. 1", the book "Mary Chilton's Title to Celebrity", by Charles Thornton Libby (privately printed, Boston, 1926)
2. ↑ "England, Kent, Canterbury Parish Registers, 1538-1986," database with images, FamilySearch [1] : 19 April 2019), Mary Chillton, 31 May 1607; from " Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry Parish Registers Browse, 1538-1913," database and images, findmypast.com : n.d; citing Baptism, Sandwich St Peter, Kent, England, United Kingdom, Citing Canterbury Cathedral Archives, England.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol. 15, p. 5-6 #3, "MARY CHILTON² (James¹) bp. St. Peter's Parish, Sandwich, Kent Co., England 31 May 1607; d. Boston bef. 1 May 1679. She m. Plymouth bet. July 1623 and 22 May 1627 JOHN WINSOW, b. Droitwich, Worcestershire, England 16 April 1597; d. Boston bef. 21 May 1674; son of Edward and Magdalen (Ollyver) Winslow, and brother of Pilgrim Edward Winslow."
4. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #6076 for Mary Chilton Winslow
5. ↑ Caleb Johnson, “Will of Mary Winslow,” MayflowerHistory.com, accessed November 13, 2020.
6. ↑ The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, Charles Edward Banks, Genealogical Publishing Co., Balt., 1989 (on my bookshelf), p45.
7. ↑ Ancestral File: Conflicts with p45 above on birthplace (says St. Peter's Parish, Sandwich whereas Banks' book states "...in another parish".
8. ↑ The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, Charles Edward Banks, Genealogical Publishing Co., Balt., 1989 (on my bookshelf), p45.
9. ↑ Ancestral File: Conflicts with p45 above on birthplace (says St. Peter's Parish, Sandwich whereas Banks' book states "...in another parish".
10. ↑ History of Plymouth and Mayflower Families - Chilton.
11. ↑ MayflowerDNA.org mtDNA profile for the wife of James Chilton
12. ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/public/mayflowersociety?iframe=mtresults under Mary Chilton
13. ↑ In addition, there are a total of five individuals who are exact full mtDNA matches
14. ↑ due to the rare nature of the T2b+16288C haplogroup
15. ↑ It is hoped this additional mutation would form a new subclade of T2b at some time in the future.

• "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21S-Q8ZB : 26 September 2018), Chilton in entry for John Winslow, 1674; citing Lewiston, Androscoggin, Maine, United States, multiple sources, Maine; FHL microfilm.

See also:

• Caleb Johnson, “Chilton-Mary,” MayflowerHistory.com, accessed November 13, 2020.
• Sherman, Robert M, Verle D. Vincent, Robert S. Wakefield, and Lydia D. Finlay. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Volume fifteen, Family of James Chilton and Family of Richard More : descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass. December 1620. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1997. Print. Pages 3, 5-6.
• Libby, C.T. Mary Chilton's Title to Celebrity, Investigated in Behalf of a Descendant of John Howard Minimus, Boston, MA: Fort Hill Press, Samuel Usher, 1926.
• Wikipedia James Chilton
• Wikipedia article on John Winslow.
• History and genealogy of the Mayflower planters and first comers to ye olde colonie Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Hills, Leon Clark,. History and genealogy of the Mayflower planters and first comers to ye olde colonie. Washington, D.C.: Hills Pub. Co., c1936-c1941.Original data: Hills, Note: Includes bibliographical references and indexes. APID: 1,19618::0
• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012
• Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013
• “James Chilton” at Mayflower.AmericanAncestors.org website. (NEHGS, accessed 6/15/2019, free).
• Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856) p. 449"3 [persons] James Chilton, and his wife, and Mary, their dougter. They had an other doughter, yt was maried, came afterward." pp 453, 454 "James Chilton and his wife also dyed in the first infection. But their daughter Mary is still living, and hath 9. children; and one daughter is maried, & hath a child; so their increase is 10."
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.
• "Mary Childton, Boston's Connection to the Mayflower." American Ancestors Magazine 19.1 (2018) p. 22 Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
• MayflowerDNA.org and mtDNA profile for the wife of James Chilton