GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW.
Edward Winslow was born at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, 19 October, 1595. He appears to have been a well educated and accomplished man. In the course of his travels on the continent of Europe he went to Leyden and there became acquainted with Mr. John Robinson, and the church under his pastoral charge, which he joined in 1617. He married the 16th of May, 1618, and settled in that city till the church removed to America in 1620. In his "Brief Narration" he says: And when the ship was ready to carry us away the bretheren that stayed feasted us that were to go at our pastor's home. After tears and singing of psalms they accompanied us to Delph's Haven, where we were to embark, and there feasted us again. But we, going aboard ship lying at the quay ready to sail, the wind fair, we gave them a volley of small shot and three pieces of ordnance, and so lifting up our hands to each other and our hearts to the Lord we departed, etc.
Winslow's name is third on the list of those who subscribed to the Covenant, or compact, before the disembarkation at Cape Cod. He was one of the first who came on shore to seek out the most eligible place for founding a settlement in this wild and unknown land. He was a gentleman of the best family of any of the Pilgrims, his father, Edward Winslow, Esq., being a person of importance in Droitwich. In all the initiatory labor for establishing this little colony, the nucleus of a great nation, he was ever active and influential in promoting the welfare of the Pilgrims, who on account of the respectability of his family, and the excellent qualities of his mind and heart appear to have regarded him with more than ordinary respect and confidence, which was never misplaced.
At the annual election in 1624 Mr. Winslow was elected Assistant and in 1644 Governor of Plymouth Colony.
In 1655 Oliver Cromwell appointed three commissioners, of which number Winslow was the chief, to go with an expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies under Admiral Penn and General Venables. The three commissioners to direct their operations. After an unsuccessful attack on St. Domingo, the fleet sailed for Jamaica, which surrendered without any resistance. But Mr. Winslow, who partook of the chagrin of defeat, did not live to enjoy the pleasure of victory. In the passage between Hispaniola and Jamaica the heat of the climate threw him into a fever, which put an end to his life on May 8, 1655, in the sixty-first year of his age. His body was committed to the deep, with the honors of war, forty-two guns being fired by the fleet on that occasion.
After Bradford, Plymouth Colony owed to no man so much as to Edward Winslow. Always intelligent, generous, confident, and indefatigable, he was undoubtingly trusted for any service at home or abroad which the infant settlement required.
Josiah Winslow, the only surviving son of Governor Edward Winslow, was born at Plymouth in 1629 and died on the family estate, Careswell, Marshfield, Dec. 18, 1680, in the 52nd year of his age. He was buried at the expense of the colony "in testimony of the colony's endeared love and affection for him." He married Penelope, daughter of Herbert Pelham, Esq., who came to Boston in 1645.
He stood upon the uppermost heights of society, he reached every elevation that could be obtained, and there was nothing left for ambition to covet, because all had been gained. He was the first native-born general and the first native-born governor. The governor acquired the highest military rank and had engaged in active and successful warfare with the highest command in New England. He presided over the legislative, executive and judicial departments of the government. In addition to his military and civil distinction he acquired that of being the most delightful companion in the colony. He lived on his ample paternal domain and his hospitality was magnificent and the attractions of the festive board at Careswell were heightened by the charm of his beautiful wife. He was elected governor in 1673, which office he held until his death. He was succeeded by his only surviving son.
Isaac Winslow, born in 1670 and died Dec. 6, 1738. This eminently distinguished man sustained the chief places of power and honor in the colony, and was a worthy successor to his father in being its chief military commander, a member of the Council for more than 20 years and for some time its president, and for several years Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and Judge of Probate; the last office he held at his death. His eldest son, Josiah, graduated at Harvard College in 1721, was killed in battle with the French and Indians at Georges Island, May 1st, 1724. His second son, great grandson of the first governor of Plymouth, was the celebrated
John Winslow, born in Marshfield, May 27, 1702, and died in Hingham, 1774, in his 73rd year. No native of New England, probably, except Sir William Pepperell, was more distinguished as a military leader. In 1740-1 he was a captain in the unfortunate expedition to Cartagena under the command of Admiral Vernon, and subsequently endured much hard service in the several enterprises against Crown Point and Nova Scotia. He will be remembered in our annals principally in removing the Arcadians from Nova Scotia. The forces employed by the Colony at this period was composed almost entirely of Massachusetts troops, specially enlisted for the service to act as a distinct body. They formed into a regiment of two battalions, of which Governor Shirley was the Colonel, and of which Winslow, then a half-pay Captain in the British army and a Major-General in the Militia, was Lieutenant-Colonel. As Shirley could not leave his government to take command in person, Monckton, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, was appointed to conduct the first battalion and Winslow the second. The plan for abducting the Arcadians was kept a profound secret, both by those who formed it and by those who were sent to execute, the home government knew nothing about it and it appears to have been done solely by the Colonial government; Colonel Winslow was but the instrument and acted under the Governor's written and positive instructions.
In 1756 Major-General Winslow took the field with eight thousand men raised in New England and New York to repel the French invasion and marched against Montcalm, who to save Crown Point and Ticonderoga made a movement from Oswego by the St. Lawrence River. As soon as the French General returned to Canada, Winslow and his army returned to Massachusetts.
In 1762 he was appointed with William Brattle and James Otis to act as Commissioner "to repair to the river St. Croix, determine where the easterly line of Maine is to begin and extend the said line as far as should be thought necessary." In compliment to General Winslow, "the fourth of a family more eminent for their talents, learning and honors than any other in New England," one of the towns on the Kennebec River in 1771 was called by his name. Of this town he was one of the original grantees. He died at Hingham in 1774, aged seventy-one, leaving two sons and a widow, who embarked with the Royal Army from Boston in 1776. She was in England in 1783, and enjoyed a pension from the government.
Pelham Winslow, eldest son of General John, was born June 8th, 1737, graduated at Harvard College in 1753, and entered the office of James Otis to fit himself for the bar, was a staunch loyalist. In 1774 he abandoned his home to escape mob violence and took refuge in Boston. At the evacuation in 1776 he accompanied the Royal Army to Halifax, and thence went to New York, where he entered the military service of the Crown, and was Major. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. He died at Brooklyn, New York, in 1783, leaving a wife and an infant daughter.
Dr. Isaac Winslow, second son of General John, born April 7, 1739, graduated at Harvard College in 1762, died in 1819. He commenced the practice of physic, and though of the same principles as other members of his family, remained upon his estate during the war, and his life, thereby saving it from confiscation, for although he was a strong loyalist his medical services were of such great value to the revolutionists that they did not drive him forth and deprive him of his property. Sabine says: I find it said, and the authority good, that in 1778 he treated about three hundred patients inoculated with smallpox, and such was his remarkable success not one of them died. His son John, an eminent lawyer, deceased at Natchez in 1820. His widow, Frances, died at Hingham in 1846, aged eighty-four. The family tomb of the Winslows is at Marshfield, on the Careswell estate, of which Governor Winslow was the first owner. It was afterwards purchased by Daniel Webster, on which he resided until his death.
Edward Winslow, only brother of General John, born June 7, 1714, died at Halifax in 1784, aged seventy-two years. He graduated at Harvard College in 1765, resided at Plymouth, was Clerk of the Courts, Register of Probate, Collector of the Port. He was obliged to seek shelter in Boston from mob violence, at the evacuation in 1776 went with the Army to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died. The ceremonies at his funeral were of a style to confer the highest honors to himself, and his illustrious family. His estates in Massachusetts were confiscated, but every branch of his family was amply provided for by the generosity of the British Government.
Edward Winslow, Jr., only son of the aforesaid Edward. He was born in 1745, died at Fredericton, N. B., 1815, aged seventy years, graduated at Harvard College in 1765. In 1774, the Plymouth County Convention "Resolved, That Edward Winslow, Jr., one of the two clerks of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Court of Common Pleas for this County, has, by refusing this body a copy of an Address made at the last term in this County, to Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., betrayed the trust reposed in him, by refusing his attendance when requested, treated the body of this county with insult and contempt, and by that means rendered himself unworthy to serve the county in said office."
In 1775 he joined the Royal Army at Boston, and entering the service became a Colonel. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1782 he was Muster-Master-General of the Loyalist forces employed under the Crown. After the war he settled in New Brunswick, and was a member of the first Council formed in that Colony, Surrogate-General, Judge of the Supreme Court, and finally Administrator of the Government. The Royal Arms which for many years were displayed in the Council Chamber in the Old State House in Boston, still exist, and are carefully preserved in Trinity church, St. John, N. B. The story of their exit from Boston, and by what means they came to find a permanent home at St. John, were not known till recently, when documents were found, which leave no question or room for doubt.
In the winter of 1785 Edward Winslow was at Halifax and Ward Chipman, a fellow refugee from Boston, had taken up his residence at St. John. In a letter of Mr. Winslow to Mr. Chipman on the 16th January, 1785, he says, "Give my old Custom House seal to Mr. Leonard, and tell him I'll forward the famous carv'd Coat of Arms by the first conveyance from Halifax." A subsequent letter to Mr. Chipman, refers more fully to the subject which is in part as follows:
My Dear Fellow:
By the schooner Halifax I send a small assortment of stationery as per invoice.... In the box with your stationery is a venerable Coat of Arms, which I authorize you to present to the Council Chamber, or any other respectable public Room, which you shall think best entitled to it. They (Lyon & Unicorn) were constant members of the Council at Boston (by mandamus) ran away when the others did—have suffered—are of course Refugees and have a claim for residence at New Brunswick.
Cordially yours
ED. WINSLOW.[258]Ward Chipman, Esq.
Judge Winslow was one of the founders of the Old Colony Club, at Plymouth, and was one of its most active members. He delivered the first anniversary address of that association on the 22 of December or Forefathers' Day, in 1770.
Isaac Winslow was a Boston merchant, son of Col. Edward Winslow, born May 2, 1709. He was the third in descent from John Winslow who came from Droitwich to Boston in 1655, and died in 1674. He was a brother of Governor Edward of the Plymouth Colony. He was a gentleman highly esteemed for his benevolence and other virtues. He graduated at Harvard College in 1727, then entered the counting room of James Bowdoin, and subsequently with his brother Joshua carried on an extensive and profitable business in Boston. They also became considerable ship owners, and had one ship constantly in the London trade. Joshua was one of the consignees of the tea destroyed by the mob. Isaac retired from business in 1753, and became a resident of Roxbury. He was the last occupant of the Dudley mansion, which was razed to the ground a few days after the battle of Bunker Hill, to make way for the works erected here by the Americans. The Universalist church was built upon its site. In making the necessary excavation for the church, the wine cellar of the mansion was unearthed and strange to say, as it may seem, the liquors were, after a lapse of forty-five years, found intact.[259]
In June 1760 he received the thanks of the town for a gift of land near Meeting House Hill. His first wife, Lucy, daughter of Gen. Samuel Waldo, died in Roxbury in 1763, at the age of forty-three.
In 1774 he was an Addresser of Gov. Hutchinson, and 1775 of Gen. Gage. He was appointed Mandamus Councillor, and was qualified. This was an offence that could not be forgiven by the disunionists.
Though a loyalist, his moderation and his character made him less obnoxious to the revolutionists than his neighbors, Auchmuty, Hallowell, and Loring. His virtues, however, could not save him from the fury of the mob. Immediately after the Lexington affair, he took refuge in Boston.
In 1776, with his family of ten persons, he accompanied the Royal Army to Halifax, and in 1778 was proscribed and banished, and his estates confiscated. In his religious belief he was a Sandemanian. Jemima, his widow, died at London in 1790.
Rev. Edward Winslow was an Episcopal minister of Braintree, now Quincy, Mass. He was born in Boston in 1722. Graduated at Harvard College in 1741. His father Joshua was a brother of the aforesaid Isaac Winslow, and son of Colonel Edward Winslow.
The North Precinct of Braintree, now Quincy, had the reputation of being a "nest of Tories," owing to the presence of the Church of England people, connected with Christ Church. The mother English society was most liberal in dealing with its offshoot and until the Revolution, it annually sent over sixty pounds sterling for the support of the minister. In all, it is said to have spent over thirteen thousand dollars in building up this church. Naturally the society was inclined to a friendly feeling toward the hand which fed it. To it the Apthorpe's, the Vassall's, the Borland's, the Cleverly's and the Millers, indeed all the gentry of the neighborhood with the exception of the Quincy's, belonged, the Adam's not being in this class at that time. It was here the same as elsewhere throughout the colonies, the ministers of the Established Church of England stood condemned in the eyes of revolutionists, neither seclusion, insignificance nor high character was able to save the clergy from the fury of the mobs.
In June, 1777, a town meeting was called for the purpose of agreeing upon a list of those persons who were "esteemed inimical" to the popular cause. This was in the nature of a formal indictment of the whole society, for among the names of those recorded as "inimical" were its rector, its wardens, and all its leading members.
The Rev. Edward Winslow, the rector of Christ Church, found his situation uncomfortable in the extreme, nor was it any longer safe for him to read the prayer for the King. Yet he seems to have struggled on vainly hoping for better days, until his salary was stopped, and many of his people had moved away. Then in 1777, taking very properly the ground that his ordination oath compelled him to conform literally to the Prayer Book he "with sad and silent musings" resigned his charge. Going to New York, which was then in British occupation, Mr. Winslow died there in 1780 before the close of the war. He lies buried under the altar of St. George's Church in that city. Jane Isabella, his widow, died at Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1793, aged sixty-six.
Joseph Winslow of Boston was a merchant, he was born in 1724, and died in 1777, was the son of Kenelm, the great grandson of Kenelm of Droitwich, the brother of Governor Winslow, who died at Salem in 1672.
SIR ROGER HALE SHEAFFE, BARONET.
Born in Boston in 1763. Though reluctant to serve against his countrymen, yet at Queenstown's Heights he drove the American army over the heights into the Niagra river, for which he received the title of Baronet. Died at Edinburgh in 1851.
He was possibly the Joseph Winslow who took part at the Siege of Louisberg, and was amongst the number to volunteer under the command of Bacon to attack the island Battery, and was the Joseph Winslow referred to by the Committee of Newport, R. I., of which Jonathan Otis was chairman, who wrote to the Committee of Easthampton, New York, in June, 1775, that he was "an inveterate enemy of our country" and that "it was generally thought he had gone to a hospital to take the small pox for the purpose of spreading the disease in the Whig Camp at Cambridge." Sabine says the truth of this averment may be doubted.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO ISAAC WINSLOW IN SUFFOLK COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Ebenezer Crosbey, June 15, 1782; Lib. 135, fol. 20; Assignment of mortgage Joseph Crosby to Isaac Winslow, dated Aug. 5, 1768.