Part 7

[3] EDWARD WINSLOW was, according to Hutchinson, “of a very reputable family and of a very active genius”--“a gentleman of the best family of any of the Plymouth planters, his father, Edward Winslow, Esq., being a person of some figure at Droitwich, in Worcestershire,” a town seven miles from Worcester, celebrated for its salt springs. Edward was the eldest of eight children, and was born at Droitwich Oct. 19, 1595, as appears from the following extract from the records of St. Peter’s church in that place: “1595, Oct. 20, baptized Edward, son of Edward Winslow, born the previous Friday,” which was the 19th. His mother’s name was Magdalen; her surname is unknown; she was married Nov. 3, 1594. He was not one of the original band of Pilgrims who escaped to Holland in 1608, but being on his travels, fell in with them at Leyden, in 1617, as we learn from his Brief Narration, where he speaks of “living three years under Mr. Robinson’s ministry before we began the work of plantation in New England.” His name stands the third among the signers of the Compact on board the Mayflower; and his family consisted at that time of his wife, Elizabeth, George Soule, and two others, perhaps his children, Edward and John, who died young. As has already been seen, and will hereafter appear, he was one of the most energetic and trusted men in the Colony. He went to England in 1623, 1624, 1635 and 1646, as agent of the Plymouth or Massachusetts colonies; and in 1633 he was chosen governor, to which office he was reëlected in 1636 and 1644. He did not return to New England after 1646. In 1655 he was sent by Cromwell as one of three commissioners to superintend the expedition against the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, and died at sea, near Hispaniola, on the 8th of May of that year, in his 60th year. An interesting letter, written by him at Barbadoes, March 16, and addressed to Secretary Thurloe, is preserved in Thurloe’s State Papers, iii. 250. Three letters of his to Gov. Winthrop, one to the Commissioners of the United Colonies, and another to Thurloe from Barbadoes, March 30, are contained in Hutchinson’s Collection of Papers, pp. 60, 110, 153, 228, 268.

In 1637 he obtained a grant of a valuable tract of land at Green’s harbour, now Marshfield, to which he gave the name of Careswell. This estate continued in the family till a few years since, when it came into possession of Daniel Webster, the late Secretary of State.

Edward Winslow’s son, (2) Josiah, born at Plymouth in 1628, was governor of the Colony, from 1673 to his death in 1680, and commanded the New-England forces in Philip’s war. (3) Isaac, his only surviving son, sustained the chief civil and military offices in the county of Plymouth after its incorporation with Massachusetts, and was President of the Provincial Council. He died in 1738, aged 68. (4) John, his son, was a captain in the expedition against Cuba in 1740, a colonel at Louisburgh in 1744, and afterwards a major-general in the British service. He died in 1774, aged 71. His son, (5) Isaac, was a physician in Marshfield, and died in 1819, aged 80. His only son, (6) John, was an attorney, and died in 1822, aged 48. His only surviving son, (7) Isaac, and the last surviving male descendant of Gov. Edward, of the name of Winslow, born in 1813, resides in Boston, and possesses original portraits of these his illustrious ancestors. See Mass. Hist. Coll. xxvii. 286.

Edward Winslow had four brothers, all of whom came over to New England. Their names were, John, born in April, 1597; Kenelm, born, April 29, 1599; Gilbert, born in Oct. 1600; and Josiah, born in Feb. 1605.--John came in the Fortune in 1621, married Mary Chilton, who came in the Mayflower, and removed to Boston, in 1655, where he died in 1674, aged 77. He left a numerous posterity, one of whom is Isaac Winslow, Esq., of Roxbury, formerly a merchant in Boston.--Gilbert came in the Mayflower, and soon left the Colony, and it is thought went to Portsmouth, N. H. and died before 1660.--Kenelm and Josiah arrived at Plymouth before 1632, and both settled at Marshfield. The former died whilst on a visit at Salem in 1672, aged 73, and the latter in 1674, aged 69.--Edward Winslow’s sisters were Eleanor, born in April, 1598, Elizabeth, born in March, 1601, and Magdalen, born Dec. 26, 1604. Elizabeth died in Jan. 1604, and neither of the other two ever came to New England.

For the copy of the record of St. Peter’s Church, Droitwich, containing the births and baptisms of Edward Winslow and his sisters and brothers, excepting Josiah, I am indebted to Isaac Winslow, Esq., of Roxbury, whose son, Isaac, of New York, visited that place for this purpose in Aug. 1839. I am also indebted to Mr. Isaac Winslow, of Boston, for the loan of the family bible of the Winslows, containing on one of its covers an ancient register, corresponding nearly with the Droitwich records, with the addition of the birth and baptism of Josiah, the youngest child. See Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 187, ii. 457-460; Belknap’s Am. Biog. ii. 281-309; Mitchell’s Bridgewater, p. 387-390; Deane’s Scituate, p. 388-390; Thatcher’s Plymouth, p. 90-103; 139-144; Morton’s Memorial, pp. 178, 235, 259-261, 382, 415; Hazard’s Hist. Coll. i. 326.

_To the Reader_ (_p. 6_)

[4] At Wessagusset, or Weymouth, of which an ample account will be found in the ensuing Narrative.

[5] Thomas Weston.

[6] Winslow returned in the ship Charity, in March, 1624. He had been absent six months, having sailed from Plymouth in the Anne, on the 10th of Sept. previous. See Bradford, in Prince, p. 221, 225.

[7] This serves to confirm the statement of numerous typographical errors in the previous Narrative.

_Chapter 1_ (_p. 7_)

[8] West had a commission as admiral of New England, to restrain such ships as came to fish and trade without license from the New England Council; but finding the fishermen stubborn fellows, and too strong for him, he sails for Virginia; and their owners complaining to Parliament, procured an order that fishing should be free. Bradford, in Prince, p. 218, and in Morton, p. 97.

[9] The Damariscove islands, five or six in number, lying west by north from Monhegan, were early resorted to and occupied as fishing-stages. See Williamson’s Maine, i. 56.

[10] On the 22d of March, 1622, at mid-day, the Indians, by a preconcerted plan, fell upon the English settlements in Virginia, and massacred 347 persons. A war of extermination immediately ensued. See Smith’s Virginia, ii. 64-79, and Stith, p. 208-213.

[11] Opechancanough, as the name is commonly spelt.

_Chapter 2_ (_pp. 8-18_)

[12] The Narragansetts were a numerous and powerful tribe that occupied nearly the whole of the present territory of the State of Rhode Island, including the islands in Narragansett Bay. They had escaped the pestilence which had depopulated other parts of New England, and their population at this time was estimated at thirty thousand, of whom five thousand were warriors. Roger Williams says they were so populous that a traveller would meet with a dozen Indian towns in twenty miles. They were a martial and formidable race, and were frequently at war with the Pokanokets on the east, the Pequots on the west, and the Massachusetts on the north. See Gookin in Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 147; Callender in R. I. Hist. Coll. iv. 123; Potter’s Early History of Narragansett, ibid. iii. 1, and Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 457.

[13] “Since the death of so many Indians, they thought to lord it over the rest, conceive we are a bar in their way, and see Massasoit already take shelter under our wings.” Bradford’s Hist. quoted by Prince, p. 200.

[14] Canonicus, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, though hostile to the Plymouth colonists, probably on account of their league with his enemy, Massasoit, showed himself friendly to the first settlers of Rhode Island, who planted themselves within his territory. Roger Williams says that “when the hearts of my countrymen and friends failed me, the Most High stirred up the barbarous heart of Connonicus to love me as his son to the last gasp. Were it not for the favor that God gave me with him, none of these parts, no, not Rhode Island had been purchased or obtained; for I never gat any thing of Connonicus but by gift.” In 1636 the Massachusetts Colony sent to him “a solemn embassage,” who “observed in the sachem much state, great command over his men, and marvellous wisdom in his answers.” Edward Johnson, who probably accompanied the ambassadors, has given in his “Wonderworking Providence,” b. ii. ch. vi. a very minute account of their reception and entertainment. He says that “Canonicus was very discreet in his answers.” He died June 4th, 1647, according to Winthrop, “a very old man.” See his Life in Thatcher’s Indian Biography, i. 177-209, and in Drake’s Book of the Indians, b. ii. 54-57.

[15] Probably Stephen Hopkins.

[16] Isaac Allerton.

[17] “There is a remarkable coincidence in the form of this challenge with that of the challenge given by the Scythian prince to Darius. Five arrows made a part of the present sent by his herald to the Persian king. The manner of declaring war by the Aracaunian Indians of South America, was by sending from town to town an arrow clenched in a dead man’s hand.” Holmes, Annals, i. 177. See Rollin, Anc. Hist. b. vi. s. 4; and Mass. Hist. Coll. xv. 69.

[18] Bradford adds, “Which are locked every night; a watch and ward kept in the day.” Prince, p. 200.

[19] This was the first general muster in New England, and the embryo of our present militia system.

[20] This indicates that the writer himself, Winslow, was one of the party.

[21] So early was the name of Gurnet given to this remarkable feature of Plymouth harbour. It is a peninsula or promontory, connected with Marshfield by a beach about six miles long, called Salthouse beach. It contains about twenty-seven acres of excellent soil. On its southern extremity, or nose, are two light-houses. It probably received its name from some headland known to the Pilgrims in the mother country. The late Samuel Davis, of Plymouth, the accurate topographer, and faithful chronicler of the Old Colony, says, “Gurnet is the name of several places on the coast of England; in the Channel we believe there are at least two.” Connected with the Gurnet by a narrow neck, and contiguous to Clark’s island, is another headland, called Saquish, containing ten or fourteen acres. See note 2 on page 164, Mass. Hist. Coll. xiii. 182, 204, and Thatcher’s Plymouth, p. 330.

[22] The sachem of the Wampanoags.

[23] The same as Coubatant or Corbitant.

[24] What is now called a _brave_.

[25] We should like to have known more about this second voyage to Boston harbour.

[26] On the part of.

[27] This headland is Hither Manomet Point, forming the southern boundary of Plymouth bay. Manomet is the most prominent landmark in Barnstable bay, being visible from all points of its circling shore, from Sandwich to Provincetown.

[28] Brabbles, clamors.

[29] The passengers in the Fortune.

[30] Winslow himself had sent home too flattering an account of their condition.

[31] “She brings a letter to Mr. Carver from Mr. Weston, of Jan. 17. By his letter we find he has quite deserted us, and is going to settle a plantation of his own. The boat brings us a kind letter from Mr. John Huddleston, a captain of a ship fishing at the eastward, whose name we never heard before, to inform us of a massacre of 400 English by the Indians in Virginia, whence he came. By this boat the Governor returns a grateful answer, and with them sends Mr. Winslow in a boat of ours to get provisions of the fishing ships; whom Captain Huddleston receives kindly, and not only spares what he can, but writes to others to do the like; by which means he gets as much bread as amounts to a quarter of a pound a person per day till harvest; the Governor causing their portion to be daily given them, or some had starved. And by this voyage we not only got a present supply, but also learn the way to those parts for our future benefit.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 202. Huddleston’s letter, (or Hudston’s, as Morton calls him,) may be found in New England’s Memorial, p. 80. See note [10] on page 7.

[32] See note [9] on page 7.

[33] The burying-hill. The intelligence of the massacre in Virginia reached Plymouth in May, and was the immediate incitement to the erection of this fort. See page 7.

“Some traces of the fort are still visible on the eminence called the burying-hill, directly above the meeting-house of the first church in Plymouth. After the fort was used as a place of worship, it is probable they began to bury their dead around it. Before that time the burial-place was on the bank, above the rock on which the landing was made.” Judge Davis’s note in Morton’s Memorial, p. 82.

_Chapter 3_ (_pp. 19-30_)

[34] “By Mr. Weston’s ship comes a letter from Mr. John Pierce, in whose name the Plymouth patent is taken, signifying that whom the governor admits into the association, he will approve.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 204.

[35] They came upon no religious design, as did the planters of Plymouth; so they were far from being Puritans. Mr. Weston in a letter owns that many of them are rude and profane fellows. Mr. Cushman in another writes, “They are no men for us, and I fear they will hardly deal so well with the savages as they should. I pray you therefore signify to Squanto that they are a distinct body from us, and we have nothing to do with them, nor must be blamed for their faults, much less can warrant their fidelity.” And Mr. John Pierce in another writes, “As for Mr. Weston’s company they are so base in condition for the most part, as in all appearance not fit for an honest man’s company. I wish they prove otherwise.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 203.

[36] Boston harbour.

[37] Or Wessagusset, now called Weymouth.

[38] Dr. Fuller.

[39] That is, the same Indians.

[40] This is supposed to be the same Jones who was captain of the Mayflower.

[41] Prince says, p. 205, that “Mr. Winslow seems to mistake in thinking Captain Jones was now bound for Virginia;” and Bradford states that “she was on her way from Virginia homeward, being sent out by some merchants to discover the shoals about Cape Cod, and harbours between this and Virginia.”

[42] “Of her we buy knives and beads, which is now good trade, though at cent. per cent. or more, and yet pay away coat beaver at 3s. a pound, (which a few years after yields 20s.); by which means we are fitted to trade both for corn and beaver.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 205, and in Morton’s Memorial, p. 83.

[43] Isaac Allerton.

[44] Chatham.

[45] His disorder was a fever, accompanied with “a bleeding at the nose, which the Indians reckon a fatal symptom.” Before his death “he desired the Governor (Bradford) to pray that he might go to the Englishman’s God in heaven, bequeathing divers of his things to sundry of his English friends, as remembrances of his love; of whom we had great loss.” Bradford, in Prince, p. 206, and in Morton, p. 85. Judge Davis adds in his note, that “Governor Bradford’s pen was worthily employed in the tender notice taken of the death of this child of nature. With some aberrations, his conduct was generally irreproachable, and his useful services to the infant settlement entitle him to grateful remembrance.”

[46] Aspinet.

[47] The country between Barnstable and Yarmouth harbours.

[48] The distance from Eastham to Plymouth by land is about fifty miles.

[49] With galled feet.

[50] The Swan. See page 20.

[51] Nauset, or Eastham, abounds with creeks. See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 155, 188.

[52] In the original, _saluting_; probably a typographical error.

[53] The part of Sandwich, which lies on Manomet river.

[54] “It is almost incredible”, says Roger Williams, “what burthens the poor women carry of corn, of fish, of beans, of mats, and a child besides.” Gookin says, “In their removals from place to place, for their fishing and hunting, the women carry the greatest burthen.” And Wood says, “In the summer they trudge home two or three miles with a hundred weight of lobsters at their backs; in winter they are their husbands’ porters to lug home their venison.” See Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 149, iii. 212, and Wood’s New England’s Prospect, part ii. ch. 20.

[55] This is called Manomet or Buzzard’s bay, though Winslow seems to mistake it for Narragansett bay, which is near twenty leagues to the westward. Prince, p. 208.

[56] “This creek runs out easterly into Cape Cod bay at Scussett harbour; and this river runs out westerly into Manomet bay. The distance overland from bay to bay is but six miles. The creek and river nearly meet in a low ground; and this is the place, through which there has been a talk of making a canal, this forty years; which would be a vast advantage to all these countries, by saving the long and dangerous navigation round the Cape, and through the shoals adjoining.” Prince, p. 208, (A.D. 1736.) Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 122.

[57] Oysters are still found in great excellence and plenty in Sandwich, on the shores of Buzzard’s bay. See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 122.

[58] The common clam, (_mya arenaria_,) or perhaps the quahaug, (_venus mercenaria_). The English call the former the sand-gaper, the word _clam_ not being in use among them, and not to be found in their dictionaries. And yet it is mentioned by Captain Smith, in his Description of New England, printed in 1616. Johnson, whose Wonderworking Providence was published in 1654, speaks of “_clambanks_, a fish as big as horse-muscles.” Morton too, in his New English Canaan, (1637) mentions them, and Josselyn, (1672) in his Rarities, p. 96, speaks of “clam, or clamp, a kind of shell-fish, a white muscle.” Wood says, ch. ix. “clams or clamps is a shellfish not much unlike a cockle; it lieth under the sand. These fishes be in great plenty. In some places of the country there be clams as big as a penny white-loaf.” See Mass. Hist. Col. iii. 224, viii. 193, xiii. 125, xxvi. 121, and Dr. Gould’s Report on the Mollusca of Mass. pp. 40-42, and 85,86.

[59] The razor-shell, (_solen_,) which very much resembles a bean pod, or the haft of a razor, both in size and shape. See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 192. Josselyn calls them “_sheath fish_, which are very plentiful, a delicate fish, as good as a prawn, covered with a thin shell like the sheath of a knife, and of the color of a muscle.” And Morton says, “_razor fishes_ there are.”

“The animal is cylindrical, and is often used as an article of food under the name of long-clam, razor-fish, knife-handle, &c.” See Dr. Gould’s Report on the Mollusca of Massachusetts, p. 29.

[60] In Manomet river, as well as in Buzzard’s and Buttermilk bays, are found fish of various kinds, such as bass, sheep’s head, tautaug, scuppaug, &c. See Mass. Hist. Coll. viii. 122.

[61] He was the same as Cawnacome.

[62] “In their gamings,” says Roger Williams, “they will sometimes stake and lose their money, clothes, house, corn, and themselves, if single persons.” Gookin says, “They are addicted to gaming, and will, in that vein, play away all they have.” And Wood adds, “They are so bewitched with these two games, that they will lose sometimes all they have, beaver, moose skins, kettles, wampompeage, mowhackies, hatchets, knives, all is confiscate by these two games.” See Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 153, iii. 234, and Wood’s New England’s Prospect, part ii. ch. 14.

[63] Powow, a priest and medicine man.

[64] It seems as if the Captain went into Scussett harbour, which goes up westward towards Manomet. Prince, p. 210.

[65] In the Indian dialects.

[66] Or Iyanough.

[67] See note [54] on page 78.

[68] Or Pamet, now called Truro.

_Chapter 4_ (_pp. 31-39_)

[69] “All their refreshing in their sickness is the visit of friends and neighbours, a poor empty visit and presence; and yet indeed this is very solemn, unless it be in infectious diseases, and then all forsake them and fly.” Roger Williams, in Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 236.

[70] It was conjectured by Belknap, Am. Biog. ii. 229, and has since been repeatedly asserted as a fact by other writers, that this person was the celebrated English patriot of the same name. But this is highly improbable. Hampden, who was born in 1594, and married in 1619, was a member of the parliament which assembled in January, 1621, and was dissolved by James in 1622, under circumstances and in a juncture of affairs which rendered it certain that a new parliament must soon be called. It is not at all likely that a person in Hampden’s circumstances, a man of family, wealth and consideration, would, merely for the sake of gratifying his curiosity, have left England at this critical period, on a long voyage to another hemisphere, and run the risk of not being at home at the issuing of the writs for a new parliament. For the passage to America was at that time precarious; the vessels were few, and the voyage a long one; so that a person who undertook it could not reasonably calculate upon getting back in much less than a year. Winslow’s companion, whoever he was, must have come in the Charity, which brought Weston’s colony, unless we adopt the improbable supposition that this “gentleman of London” embarked in one of the fishing vessels that visited the Grand Bank, and took his chance of getting to Plymouth as he could. Now the Charity left London the last of April, 1622, and arrived at Plymouth the last of June. The visit to Massasoit took place in March, 1623, and after this no vessel sailed for England till the Anne, September 10, in which Winslow went home. Of course this “gentleman of London,” must have been absent at least eighteen months, which it is altogether improbable that Hampden would have done, running the risk of not being at home to stand for the next parliament, to which he undoubtedly expected to be returned, as we know he actually was.

Besides, had this companion of Winslow been the great English patriot, the silence of the early Plymouth writers on the point is unaccountable. On publishing his “Good News from New England” immediately on his arrival in London, in 1624, one object of which was to recommend the new colony, how gladly would Winslow have appealed for the correctness of his statements to this member of parliament who had passed more than a year in their Plantation. How natural too would it have been for him to have mentioned the fact in his “Brief Narration,” published in 1646, only three years after the death of the illustrious patriot. Bradford, also, whose sympathies were all with the popular party in England, in writing an elaborate history of the Colony, would not have failed to record the long residence among them of one who, at the time he wrote, had become so distinguished as the leader of that party in the House of Commons. That his lost history contained no such passage we may be certain; for had it been there, it must have been quoted either by Prince or Morton, who make so free use of it, both of whom too mention this visit to Massasoit, and who would not have omitted a circumstance so honorable to the Colony.

Again, Winslow’s companion was “a gentleman of _London_.” Now although John Hampden happened to be born in London, when his father was in parliament in 1594, he was properly of Buckinghamshire. Winslow, who was himself of Worcestershire, if he knew who Hampden was, would not have called him “a gentleman of _London_;” and we cannot suppose that this English gentleman would have spent so many months in the Colony without making himself known to its two leading men, Winslow and Bradford.