Winslow, Edward
Winslow, Edward,
1595–1655, one of the founders of Plymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony,settlement made by the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1620. Founding
Previous attempts at colonization in America (1606, 1607–8) by the Plymouth Company, chartered in 1606 along with the London Company (see Virginia Company), were
..... Click the link for more information. in New England, b. England. One of the leaders of the PilgrimsPilgrims,
in American history, the group of separatists and other individuals who were the founders of Plymouth Colony. The name Pilgrim Fathers is given to those members who made the first crossing on the Mayflower.
..... Click the link for more information. who traveled to America on the Mayflower in 1620, Winslow negotiated (1621) the treaty of peace and friendship with the Native American chief MassasoitMassasoit
, c.1580–1661, chief of the Wampanoag. He was also known as Ousamequin (spelled in various ways). One of the most powerful native rulers of New England, he went to Plymouth in 1621 and signed a treaty with the Pilgrims, which he faithfully, if warily, observed
..... Click the link for more information. . Sent back to England (1623–24) as agent of the colony, he wrote Good Newes from New England, which Samuel Purchas published in 1625. On his return to Plymouth he was elected an assistant of the colony and was continuously reelected until 1647, except for the years he served as governor (1633–34, 1636–37, and 1644–45), years in which William BradfordBradford, William,
1590–1657, governor of Plymouth Colony, b. Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. As a young man he joined the separatist congregation at Scrooby and in 1609 emigrated with others to Holland, where, at Leiden, he acquired a wide acquaintance with theological
..... Click the link for more information. had declined to hold the governorship. Winslow was an active explorer and was apparently the first Englishman to visit (1632) Connecticut. He was also one of the Pilgrim leaders who successfully undertook to discharge the colony's debts to its English backers. In England again (1635) he was imprisoned for a short time for his religious beliefs and for performing the marriage ceremony in the colony. On still another journey to England, to answer charges made against Plymouth Colony, he issued a vigorous defense in Hypocrisie Unmasked (1646). With the Puritan cause triumphant in England, he decided to remain there. He was sent on several missions by Oliver Cromwell, dying on one to the West Indies. He was the father of Josiah Winslow.
Bibliography
See G. F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (rev. ed. 1965).