Mary Chilton

Mary Chilton leaping onto Plymouth Rock before the other Pilgrims

Site of Mary Chilton Winslow's home on Spring Lane in Boston

Mary Chilton Winslow's burial site in the Winslow tomb at King's Chapel Burying Ground

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 born on May 31, 1607 in Sandwich, Kent, England and was the daughter of Mayflower passenger James Chilton. Mary Chilton's mother's name has been listed as "Susannah, possibly Furner" in many places. Ancestry.com shows several records listing Susannah Furner as James Chilton's wife. Susannah Furner was thought to be the daughter of Frances and Isabella Furner, but this was disproven by Michael Paulick in 1999 (it was proved that Susannah Furner was James Chilton's step-sister, and while this does not necessarily preclude her also being his wife, there is no solid evidence that they were married. She is listed by William Bradford as "Mrs. Chilton" or "James Chilton's wife." It is possible that he never knew her given name.^[1] At the age of thirteen, Mary accompanied her parents on the voyage to Plymouth. Her father, at age sixty-four, was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower.^[2]

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."^[3]

Her father died on December 18, 1620 aboard the Mayflower and her mother died six weeks later on January 21, 1621, also aboard ship, both of "the first infection of the disease" according to a report by Governor 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.^[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 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.^[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 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.^[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,^{[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]} and former governor Howard Dean.^{[citation needed]} Another descendant, Marcus Winslow, was the uncle by marriage of actor James Dean.^{[citation needed]} It has also been alleged, though not proven, the former Vice President Dan Quayle was also a descendant.^{[citation needed]}

Mary had a great-grandson, born on June 26, 1702, named Philip Doddridge.He was an English Nonconformist Leader.^{[citation needed]}

In 1858, rumors were spread^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Biographical Summary of James Chilton at www.mayflowerhistory.com[1]
2. ^ Pilgrim Hall Museum, Chilton information, accessed Oct. 2009
3. ^ 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[2]
4. ^ ^{a b c} Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony, its history & people, 1620-1691, (Ancestry Publishing, 1986) pg. 262[3]

External links

• The Chilton Society
• Last Will of Mary Chilton

Persondata
Name	Chilton, Mary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1607
Place of birth
Date of death	1679
Place of death