| Baptism: 31 May
1607, St. Peter's, Sandwich, Kent, England, daughter of James Chilton. |
 Mayflower
Families: James Chilton and Richard More for Five Generations, contains the best,
most thorough and completely researched genealogy on James Chilton.
It covers every descendant of his for the first five generations,
to the birth of the sixth generation. It's packed
full of well documented genealogical research. Published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
ORDER NOW! |
| Children:
John, Susanna, Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, an unnamed
child who died young, and Benjamin. |
Biographical Summary
Mary Chilton was born in 1607 in
Sandwich, Kent, England, and was the daughter of James Chilton and his
wife (whose name has not been discovered). When Mary was just two
years old, excommunication proceedings began against her mother, who had
attended the secret burial of a child of Andrew Sharpe. The child
was buried in secret because they opposed the "popish" burial ceremonies
required by the Church of England. Mary
and family then came to Leiden, Holland, and joined with the Pilgrims'
church there. In 1619, when she was twelve, her father and oldest
sister were caught in an anti-Arminian riot and her father was hit in
the head with a stone--an injury for which he would have to seek out a
surgeon. In 1620, at the age of 13, Mary
came with her parents on the Mayflower. Her father was one
of the first who died after the ship had anchored off Provincetown
Harbor. He died on December 8. Mary is traditionally given
the honor of being the first female to step ashore at Plymouth Rock, but
there is no historical documentation for this tradition. Her
mother also died sometime later the first winter, orphaning her in the
New World. Which family it was that raised her has not been
determined, but in 1623, at the age of 16, Mary received her share in
the Division of Land, and her property was apparently located between
that of Myles Standish and John Alden, and was not too far from Edward
and John Winslow. Edward Winslow's brother John had come to
Plymouth on the ship Fortune in 1621. Sometime between 1623
and 1627, John Winslow married Mary Chilton, and in the 1627 Division of
Cattle, where they received a share in the "lesser" black cow that had
come in the ship Anne in 1623, along with two female goats.
As they had not yet had any children by the Division of Cattle, it is
likely their marriage was in 1626 or 1627.
Their first child John was born about 1627, and nine more children would
follow. The family resided in Plymouth for many years, but
eventually ended up in Boston, where her husband John died in 1674.
Mary made out her will in 1676 and died about 1679. |
