Mary Chilton
Mary Chilton (1607—ca. April 1679) was a Pilgrim and purportedly the first European woman to step ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Biography
Mary Chilton was baptized on May 31, 1607 in Sandwich, Kent, England and was the daughter of the Mayflower passenger, James Chilton. Mary Chilton's mother's name has been listed as "Susannah, possibly Furner" in many places. She is listed by William Bradford as "Mrs. Chilton" or "James Chilton's wife." He may have never known her given name.[1] At the age of thirteen, Mary Chilton accompanied her parents on the voyage to Plymouth. Her father, age sixty-four, was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower.[2]
By legend, Mary Chilton was the first passenger to step ashore at Plymouth, seemingly so excited that she jumped out of the small boat and waded ashore onto "Plymouth Rock."[3]
Her father passed on December 18, 1620 while on the Mayflower and her mother passed six weeks later on January 21, 1621, also on the ship, both of "the first infection of the disease" reportedly by Governor William Bradford in 1650. Once orphaned, She may have 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.[4]
She was one of eleven minor girls on the Mayflower. Of these, she was one of the nine to survive the first year at Plymouth Rock and would have been present at the time of the famous First Thanksgiving in 1621. In contrast, only four of the 14 adult women survived the first year.[4]
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 unnamed 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.[4]
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 (one of two female passengers from the Mayflower who did so, Elizabeth Tilley being the other) and died before May 1, 1679 in Boston.
Notable Descendants
Notable descendants of Mary Chilton include First Lady Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, Kemosabe Lisaann VanBlarcom Permunian[5][citation needed] singer Pete Seeger,[citation needed] Ambassador Pamela Harriman,[citation needed] poet Robert Lowell,[citation needed] actress Jane Wyatt,[citation needed] Marjorie "Betty Crocker" Child,[citation needed] Attorney General Elliot Richardson,[citation needed] actor Vincent Price,[citation needed], Associate Account Representative and fantasy football silver medalist, Katherine Huber,[6] Herb Melendy,Capt USN, deceased, and former governor Howard Dean.[7]
References
- ↑ Biographical Summary of James Chilton at www.mayflowerhistory.com
- ↑ Pilgrim Hall Museum, Chilton information, accessed Oct. 2009
- ↑ Samuel Adams Drake, A book of New England legends and folk lore in prose and poetry. Illustrated by F. T. Merrill (Roberts Brothers, 1884) pg. 379
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony, its history & people, 1620-1691, (Ancestry Publishing, 1986) pg. 262
- ↑ http://www.geni.com/people/Lucretia-Rudolph-Garfield-First-Lady/293028651040005934?through=6000000000669484817
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KatieHuber19/status/286630821715124224
- ↑ Reitwiesner, William. "Ancestry of Howard Dean".
External links
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