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- MAYFLOWER INDEX # 37,837
MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS section on William White family by Ruth and
Robert Sherman, officers of Mayflower Society and descendants of
William. - - "Little is know about Pilgrim William White. Governor
Bradford says that among the Mayflower passengers were 'Mr. William
White and Susanna his wife and one son called Resolved, and one born
a-shipboard called Peregrine, and two servants named William Holbeck
and Edward Thompson.' In 1651, he added that 'Mr. White and his two
servants died soon after their landing. His wife married with Mr.
Winslow.... His two sons are married and Resolved hath five children,
Peregrine two, all living. So their increase are seven."
"William and Susanna White left England with son Resolved. At Cape
Cod, on November 11, 1620 according to the old calendar, William was
one of the forty-one signers of the Mayflower Compact. Two to three
weeks later son Peregrine was born, the first English birth in Plymouth
Colony. Susanna was widowed in February. She became the first colony
bride in May, marrying Edward Winslow, a Mayflower passenger who had
lost his wife a few weeks before. At least four children were born to
Susanna and Edward."
"About 1638, the Winslows with young Peregrine and Resolved White,
moved to Green Harbor, now called Marshfield. Edward Winslow rose to
prominence as Governor of Plymouth Colony, became Colony
representative to England, and at last was persuaded to use his
diplomatic skills for Oliver Cromwell, heading up a joint commission
with the Dutch to award reparations for damage caused to Danish ships.
Interesting though it may be to imagine Susanna sharing those years in
London with him, hostess to officials from various governments, no
evidence has been found to indicate that she accompanied her husband on
any of his trips to England. One of the few extant documents mentioning
her by name is a "bill of sale" in which 'Susanna Winslow wife of Mr.
Edward Winslow of Marshfield and his Agent in this tyme of is Absence
in England' sold for ten years the services of an Indian man. The
agreement was dated 12 (11) 1647, that is 22 Jan. 1648 by our
calendar."
"Edward spent the last six years of is life in England. His will in 1654
as a resident of London, leaves his land in New England to son Josiah "hee
allowing to my wife a full third parte thereof for her life also." If
Susanna were living in London at that time, it would have been natural to
provide for her there as well."
No further record of Susanna has been found. She must have died before
1675 when her son Josiah Winslow made no proviso for her in his will,
although he made bequests to numerous relatives and friends....Susanna
(----)(White) Winslow was not the sister of Dr. Samuel Fuller as is often
claimed. Samuel and Edward Fuller who came on the Mayflower were
sons of Robert of Redenhall, England. Robert had no daughter Susanna."
"For many years genealogists have assumed that Pilgrim William White
spent his early married years in Holland, marrying at Leiden in 1612 and
burying children there in 1615 and 1616. A critical examination of Leiden
sources casts heavy doubt on this assumption.
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