Peter T Young

February 18, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lord Mayor of London

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.

The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.

Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)

The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. It was said to be carrying a “cargo of liquors” and “became a total wreck.” (PCA, Nov. 16. 1905)

Well, maybe the liquor was lost, but the ship’s figurehead was saved …

“At first glance the figure-head presents a ludicrous picture, for upon the head has been nailed an old derby hat, entirely out of joint and time with the figure-head, which wears carved clothing of the kind prevailing in the latter part of the eighteenth century.”

“From between the wooden lips of this odd statue, once the proud monument of a time British ship’s prow, projects a cheap corn-cob pipe, placed there by a waterfront wag.”

“But a closer view shows that the figure-head must possess a history. No figure-head of this type has adorned a ship in the nineteenth century.”

“It belonged to century when the United States was young, when George Washington was the President, and the Hawaiian Islands little known, except that some years before Captain Cook had been slain on one of them.”

“The figurehead wears a long cape, caught over the breast with a buckle. Around the neck is a chain, hanging from this against the breast is what appears to be a large medal, but which really was the symbol of one of the highest offices in England – that of Lord Mayor of London.”

“Some time in the 20’s the British ship Alderman Wood was wrecked on the island of [Lanai]. The news was brought to Honolulu and James Robinson, father of Mark P Robinson, then head of the firm of James Robinson & Co, ship chandlers and carpenters went to Molokai to save what he could of the ship.”

“She was filled with beautiful mirrors, and was in those days reckoned a magnificent type of the merchant ships built by the British. The captain made a present of the figure-head to Mr. Robinson and he brought it to Honolulu.”

“When the new warehouse was built in the beginning of the ‘30’s, below what is now Queen street, Mr Robinson raised the figure-head up and placed it on the pulley beam as a pedestal, and there it has remained through all the vicissitudes of the elements for nearly three quarters of a century.”

“Often a workman is sent up on the building with putty, nails and pieces of wood to repair the figure-head.”

“The ship Alderman Wood was named after its owner, who was a London alderman in the latter part of the eighteenth century and Mark Robinson is of the opinion that he also became Lord Mayor of London.”

“The wooden statue evidently shows the owner in his mantle of office, either as alderman or Lord Mayor The old warehouse, too, has a history.”

“It is one of the oldest in Honolulu, and the loft was considered very large in the days when it was built and Honolulu was in its Infancy. It was a sail loft and used for general ship chandler work.”

“When Admiral Thomas, the British naval officer, restored the Hawaiian Kingdom its independence and flag in July, 1843, having been unlawfully deprived of both by the British some time previous …”

“… a grand ball was given to celebrate the event, and the sail loft of the Robinson warehouse was the place where the ball was given. It was grand affair, attended by the elite of the city, including royal personages.”

“The old figure-head was then in position. The doors immediately below the beam and figure-head … open out from this old time ball room, now used as a storage loft.” (PCA, Feb 8, 1903)

Thrum noted that in 1911 as a “Disappearing Landmark”, “The old Robinson warehouse with its seaward-end adornment of the figure-head of Alderman Wood, from an English ship of that name which was wrecked on the Island of Lanai in 1824 …”

“… and has, as it were, welcomed the incoming and sped the outgoing shipping of Honolulu ever since the erection of the building a few years later, has fallen in decay.”

“The appearance of our waterfront will seem unnatural to many frequenters of the port who will miss the old familiar figure and once prominent building.” (Thrum, 1912) It is not known where the figurehead is now.

February 17, 2022 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Hewahewa

“Kailua Harbor, April 5, 1820. In the dawn of the day, as we passed near shore, several chiefs were spending their idle hours in gambling, we were favored with an interview with Hewahewa, the late High Priest. He received us kindly and on his introduction to Brother Bingham he expressed much satisfaction in meeting with a brother priest from America, still pleasantly claiming that distinction for himself.” (Loomis)

“He assures us that he will be our friend. Who could have expected that such would have been our first interview with the man whose influence we had been accustomed to dread more than any other in the islands; whom we had regarded and could now hardly help regarding as a deceiver of his fellow men. But he seemed much pleased in speaking of the destruction of the heiau and idols.”

“About five months ago the young king consulted him with respect to the expediency of breaking taboo and asked him to tell him frankly and plainly whether it would be good or bad, assuring him at the same time that he would be guided by his view. Hewahewa speedily replied, maikai it would be good, adding that he knew there is but one “Akoohah” (Akua) who is in heaven, and that their wooden gods could not save them nor do them any good.” (Loomis)

“Hewahewa, the high priest, had ceased to believe in the power of the ancient deities, and his highest chiefs, especially the state queen Kaahumanu, resolved to abolish the oppressive “kapu” system. The king, ʻIolani Liholiho, had been carefully trained in the traditions of his ancestors and it was not an easy matter to foresake the beliefs of his fathers. He was slow to yield to the sentiments of the chiefs.” (Honolulu Star-bulletin, February 1, 1915)

“The ancient system consisted in the many tabus, restrictions or prohibitions, by which the high chiefs contrived, to throw about their persons a kind of sacredness, and to instil into the minds of the people a superstitious awe and peculiar dread.”

“If the shadow of a common man fell on a chief, it was death; if he put on a kapa or a malo of a chief, it was death; if he went into the chief’s yard, it was death; if he wore the chief’s consecrated mat, it was death; if he went upon the house of the chief, it was death.”

“If a man stood on those occasions when he should prostrate himself, (such as) when the king’s bathing water… (was) carried along, it was death. If a man walked in the shade of the house of a chief with his head besmeared with clay, or with a wreath around it, or with his head wet… it was death.”

“There were many other offenses of the people which were made capital by the chiefs, who magnified and exalted themselves over their subjects.” (Dibble)

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system. In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

“When the ruling aliʻi of the realm renounced the old religion in 1819, with the collaboration of no less a person than Hewahewa, the high priest of the whole kingdom, the foundation upon which the validity of the kahuna had for so long rested crumbled and fell away.” (Kanahele)

“By the time Liholiho made his fateful decision, many others, including the high priest Hewahewa, whose position in the religious hierarchy could be compared to that of a pope, evidently had concluded that the old gods were not competent to meet the challenges that were being hurled at them by the cannons, gadgets and ideas of the modern world.” (Kanahele)

“(Hewahewa) publicly renounced idolatry and with his own hand set fire to the heiau. The king no more observed their superstitious taboos. Thus the heads of the civil and religious departments of the nation agreed in demolishing that forbidding and tottering taboo system”. (Loomis)

“I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshiped them because it was a custom of our fathers. My thoughts has always been, there is only one great God, dwelling in the heavens.” (Ohana Church) Hewahewa also prophesied that a new God was coming and he went to Kawaihae to wait for the new God, at the very spot were the missionaries first landed.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, and effectively weakened the belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

“The tradition of the ships with white wings may have been the progenitor of the Hawaiians’ symbol for Lono during the Makahiki. … With so many ships with white sails coming to Hawaii at that time, how would he know which ship would bring the knowledge of the true God of Peace?”

“He could not have known that, although the missionaries set sail on October 23rd, one day before the Makahiki began, they would take six months to arrive. Therefore, it was quite prophetic that, when he saw the missionaries’ ship off in the distance, he announced ‘The new God is coming.’ One must wonder how Hewahewa knew that this was the ship.” (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa knew the prophesy given by Kalaikuahulu a generation before. This prophesy said that a communication would be made from heaven (the residence of Ke Akua Maoli, the God of the Hawaiians) by the real God. This communication would be entirely different from anything they had known. The prophecy also said that the kapus of the country would be overthrown.”

“Hewahewa also knew the prophesy of the prophet Kapihe, who announced near the end of Kamehameha’s conquests, ‘The islands will be united, the kapu of the gods will be brought low, and those of the earth (the common people) will be raised up.’ Kamehameha had already unified the islands, therefore, when the kapus were overthrown, Hewahewa knew a communication from God was imminent.” (Kikawa)

After the overthrow of the kapu system, Hewahewa retired to Kawaihae, to wait confidently for the coming of a “new and greater God.” (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa departed for Kailua Bay (formally Kaiakeakua—Seaside of God) ahead of the missionaries to await their arrival with the King. After Hewahewa’s departure, the missionaries’ ship entered Kawaihae. Hewahewa’s household told the Hawaiians accompanying the missionaries the astounding news that the kapus had been overthrown! The missionaries ship was then directed to Kailua Bay were the King was in residence.”

At Kailua, Hewahewa gave an even more astounding prophecy, he pointed to a rock on the shore and said to the new king, ‘O king, here the true God will come.’ When the missionaries arrived at Kailua, they landed their skiff on that very rock! This rock is commonly known as the ‘Plymouth Rock of Hawaiʻi.

In 1820, Hewahewa, the highest religious expert of the kingdom, participated in the first discussions between missionaries and chiefs. He welcomed the new god as a hopeful solution to the current problems of Hawaiians and understood the Christian message largely in traditional terms. He envisioned a Hawaiian Christian community led by the land’s own religious experts. (Charlot)

“Hewahewa … expressed most unexpectedly his gratification on meeting us … On our being introduced to (Liholiho,) he, with a smile, gave us the customary ‘Aloha.’”

“As ambassadors of the King of Heaven … we made to him the offer of the Gospel of eternal life, and proposed to teach him and his people the written, life-giving Word of the God of Heaven. … and asked permission to settle in his country, for the purpose of teaching the nation Christianity, literature and the arts.” (Bingham)

Hewahewa later retired to Oʻahu and became one of the first members of the church established there. This church is located in Haleiwa and is called the Liliʻuokalani Protestant Church. (Kikawa) “He lived in the valley of Waimea, a faithful, consistent follower of the new light.” (The Friend, March 1, 1914)

The image shows Hewahewa and the destruction of the heiau. (Artwork done by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker.)

February 16, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapa Moe

Hawaiian bark cloth was originally called kapa which literally translates to “the beaten thing.” Kapa was used for clothing, bed covers, items of trade and gift items, indicators of wealth and status and objects of ceremonial or religious events. (Romanchak)

Clothing consisted of three main items of apparel: the pāʻū or skirt for the women, the malo or loincloth for men and the Kihei or shawl for members of both sexes. (Romanchak)

Most kapa was made from the inner bark of the wauke plant (paper mulberry) because it made soft, white kapa. The bark is stripped, soaked, and then compressed into sheets with special patterned wooden beaters and finally dyed and decorated.

To make kapa, Hawaiian women used wooden mallets to pound the strips of bark together to form sheets of various sizes, textures, and thicknesses.

The kapa sheets were then decorated with stamps and painted with brushes made from the seed of the hala (pandanus) tree; kapa was colored by native dyes and decorated with block printing. (Arthur)

For bed covers, Hawaiian women made kapa moe consisting of five sheets of kapa. The top sheet was decorated, but the four sheets underneath were plain white kapa. The set of five sheets were sewn together on one side with thread made with strips of kapa. (Arthur)

The top layer was known as the kilohana, it was colored and decorated with pigments; the collective name for the inner kapa sheets was ‘iho.’ (Brigham) The loose-leaf design allowed the user to choose how many layers needed on a given night.

“(T)apa moe (sleeping cloth), made principally for the chiefs, who use it to wrap themselves in at night, while they sleep. It is generally three or four yards square, very thick, being formed of several layers of common tapa, cemented with gum, and beaten with a grooved mallet till they are closely interwoven. The colour is various, either white, yellow, brown or black according to the fancy of its owner.” (Brigham)

“During the ordinary summer weather along the coast the native use of the kapa moe in a close grass house would have been impossible to a white man, so warm is this covering. Sleeping in an open cave on the summit of Mauna Loa (13,675 ft) …”

“… I could not bear a kapa moe over my ordinary clothes, although water was freezing in the calabashes at my feet. In the morning the bedmaking in a native house consisted in carefully folding the kapa moe and putting it in a safe place.” (Brigham)

A notable kapa moe belonging to Princess Kaʻiulani was installed at the Art of the Pacific gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (not currently on public view.) it is described as an unusually large five-layer kapa moe.

Kaeppler noted that the design of Kaʻiulani’s kapa moe may metaphorically incorporate the saying, “He aliʻi ke aloha, he kilohana e paʻa ai,” “Love is like a chief, the best prize to hold fast to,” in honor of Kaʻiulani. One corner of an underside white layer of the kapa is signed “Kaiulani.”

Kapa moe were gradually replaced by blankets. Later, another bed cover, the Hawaiian quilt, came into regular use.

The wives of American missionaries introduced the patchwork quilts and their construction to Hawaiians. The first missionary women arrived in 1820, and were warmly welcomed by some of the highest-ranking Hawaiian men and women.

Lucy Thurston, the wife of Asa, one of the first missionaries, recorded in her journal: “Monday morning, April 3rd (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in his Hawaiian realm. Kalākua, queen-dowager was directress.”

“She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus. Mrs. Holman and Mrs. Ruggles were executive officers to ply the scissors and prepare the work….The four native women of distinction were furnished with calico patchwork to sew – a new employment to them.” (Thurston)

February 15, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1820 v. 1848

“Much has been published respecting the effects of Christianity and civilization upon the natives of these Islands. While the religious and philanthropic portion of the community see abundant cause of congratulation in the results produced by christian philanthropy …”

“… others there are who profess to believe that the Hawaiian race are at the present day in a worse physical and moral condition than they were previous to the introduction of Christianity.”

“If the Hawaiian race are in a worse physical and moral condition than they were twenty-eight years ago, the command ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature,’ is no longer binding upon mankind; for it would be absurd to suppose on all-wise Creator would require the promulgation of doctrines calculated to degrade his creatures.”

“We can hardly believe any candid man, at all acquainted with the condition of the natives or these islands, sincerely thinks their physical and moral state worse now than it was previous to the introduction of christianity.”

“Most of those who have espoused this side of the question, may be numbered among transient visitors, who have had but few opportunities for observation, and who possess no knowledge of the former condition of the people.”

“On the one hand, the friends of Christianity have, in some cases, over rated the advances made, on the other, sweeping assertions have been made which the least attention to the subject would have shown utterly groundless.”

“While it may be safely asserted that no nation or people have made so great progress in civilization during the same period of time as the Hawaiians during the last quarter of a century …”

“… it must be borne in mind that a wide difference still exists between the condition of this people and the inhabitants of those countries which have enjoyed the benefits of civilization and Christianity for centuries.”

“The proportion of those who read and write already exceeds that of many other countries, while the proportion of practical business knowledge and enterprise falls far short.” (Polynesian, August 5, 1848)

The following are portions of remarks from Asa Thurston (printed in the Polynesian) on the changes which have taken place in the Islands, looking back over 28-years from 1820, to 1848 – the first 28-years of the Hawaiian Mission.

“In regard to the changes which have taken place in these islands, since the arrival of the first Missionaries, many things might be said. Many things have been said and written, and various opinions entertained and expressed by different persons.”

“Some have regarded them as affording evidence of a better state of things than formerly existed here, and as indicating some advancement in civilization and general improvement …”

“… while others have stated that the people are in a worse condition in many respect now than they were formerly; or before the publication of the gospel, and before these was any written language, or any books printed, or schools established, and the people taught to read …”

“… in fact, that they are more degraded now than when they were worshipping idols. Many statements of the like nature have been made and are still circulated. We envy not the reputation of a man for soundness of intellect, or goodness of heart, who could give currency to such reports.”

“Could the generation of 1820 be placed side-by-side with the present generation (1848), the contrast in their outward appearance would be very striking, scarcely a feature of that generation would be discernable in this. They would not be recognised as belonging to the same race.”

“(Previously), none of the relations of domestic, or social life, were regarded as sacred or binding. A man might have as many wives as he could take care of or feed; or he could turn them all adrift, as best suited convenience or pleasure.”

“A woman also might have as many husbands as she could conveniently entertain, but she could turn them off and take others at pleasure; and they might leave her if they so desired. Poligamy was one the privileges and features of that age.”

“The king had only five wives; one of them was the widow, and two of them were the daughters of his deceased father. Each one had a particular day of service, when she followed her lord with a spittoon and fly-brush.”

“It is easy to see that in such circumstances, there could no such thing as conjugal affection, or domestic concord and there was no such thing as parental authority, and parental affection was rarely to be seen and filial affection and obedience were equally unknown.”

“There were no statute laws, which defined the duties of parents towards children and of children towards parents; children some times regarded parental commands, if they were quite at leisure, and only so far as suited their convenience.”

“No obligations were felt on the part of parents to take care of their children, nor on the part of children to obey their parents, especially mothers, often destroyed their children, before or after birth, in order to be released from the trouble of taking care of them. Such are a few of the facts which belonged to the generation of 1820.”

“The present generation stands in a very different position in these respects. The facts are altogether of a different character. There scarcely a feature of that generation discernible at present, in respect to their social habits and domestic arrangements.”

“Then there was no law, nothing to regulate society. Now, all the natural, social and domestic relations are respected, and the duties of each in some measure, defined and regulated by good and wholesome laws, and any neglect to perform the duties attached to these various relations, is punishable by fine, imprisonment, and other disabilities.”

“Parents and children, husbands and wives, masters and servants, and most of the relations of a civilized life are recognized in law; and for any delinquency in the performance of the respective duties of these relations, they are amenable to the laws of the land. Any breach of promise, any neglect of any does not pass unnoticed.”

“At that period also, there was but one ruler. His word was law. Life and death were at his disposal. The people had no voice in the government, they had no rights that were respected, and they could have no property that might not be seized.”

“A field of taro, or other food might be tabooed at any time, by the chief or landholder, by placing a stick of sugar cane in one corner, and no one would dare to take any of the food afterward, without liberty from the land-holder.”

“Every other kind of property was equally liable to seizure, and if a man refused to execute any of the orders; or neglected to perform any service required by a chief or head man, his house might be burned, with all its contents, and he and his family, left entirely destitute.”

“In short, the people were ruled with a rod of iron. The government was despotic, and the people were allowed no right, they had nothing which they could call their own. They were ignorant, degraded, miserable and destitute.”

“There was no written language – no books – no schools … Every foreign ship was fully freighted with females as she passed from island to island, and there was no want of a supply when in port.”

“From that period (1820) we date the commencement and progress of religious truth. For a few of the first years of missionary effort, the effects of their labor was hardly discernable, but as years rolled on, the onward march of light and truth became more distinctly marked, and now, all who are competent to judge, are ready to exclaim, ‘What hath God wrought?’”

“Many more facts might be stated in favor of the progress which the Hawaiian have made in civilized habit. They practise many of the arts and usages of civilized life.”

“But why should we multiply examples in proof of the advanced, civilized position in which the nation now stands. Every eye can see it, and the great and commanding facts which go to complete the proof of its advancement are not of difficult discovery.”

“They are distinctly marked upon the map of its progress from downright, naked heathenism to its present decently attired civilization. Why, may we ask, has the Hawaiian people been received into the community of nations?”

“Would the American, English and French government have acknowledged the independence of the Hawaiian people, had not its government, its laws, its institutions, civil and religious, commanded respect?” (Asa Thurston; Polynesian, August 5, 1848)

Na Mokupuni O Hawaii Nei-Kalama 1837

February 14, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Winslows and Whites

There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower including 37 members of the separatist Leiden congregation who would go on to be known as the Pilgrims, together with the non-separatist passengers. Almost half the people on-board the ship were fare paying passengers seeking a new life and not driven by religious convictions.

There were 74 men and 28 women – 18 were listed as servants, 13 of which were attached to separatist families. There are thought to have been 31 children (20 boys and 11 girls) on the Mayflower. The crew were led by Captain Christopher Jones, but it is unknown just how many crew there were.

In addition to the initial 102 passengers, one was born at sea on the way (Oceanus Hopkins) and another was born while they were at anchor (Peregrine White). One of the passengers (William Butten) died on the way to America.

While at anchor off Cape Cod between November 9 and December 8, 1620, four more died, Edward Thompson; Jasper More; Dorothy Bradford and James Chilton. In addition to the above, there were other crew members of the Mayflower (some estimate that there were 30-50 total crew members).

Two of the families on the Mayflower were the Winslows and the Whites.

Edward Winslow was born in Worcestershire, in the town of Droitwich Spa in 1595. His family were involved in the salt production trade and owned a salt. Between 1606 and April 1611 he studied at the King’s School at nearby Worcester Cathedral.

He was one of ten students championed for a scholarship by the Dean of the Cathedral. His admission is listed in the Cathedral Library. He would have studied Grammar, Latin and Greek. This education would mark Winslow out in the Pilgrims and be a factor in becoming a leader in their ranks.

He became an apprentice to a stationer but after a dispute, decided against fulfilling his contract and began to travel in Europe, meeting the exiled English Separatist church in Leiden, Holland, in 1617. These Separatists had fled persecution for their religious beliefs and had settled in Leiden, a kind of refuge at the time, and would go on to plan the Mayflower’s historic sailing in search of the New World and a new life.

Winslow helped the Separatists in their underground printing activities and soon became one of the leading members of the group. He married Elizabeth Barker in 1618, and is listed as a printer in the marriage records.

He became instrumental in organizing the journey to America, helping decide how they would finance the operation with John Carver and Robert Cushman, who we negotiating with merchants in London.

In the summer of 1620, Winslow was among the Pilgrims who sailed from Leiden on the Speedwell, arriving in Southampton to meet the Mayflower, with the intention of both ships sailing to America. It didn’t work out that way and after a stop in Dartmouth the passengers on the Speedwell transferred to the Mayflower at their last stop, Plymouth. It meant that with 102 passengers on board, the Atlantic crossing was extremely arduous and overcrowded.

Winslow travelled with his wife Elizabeth, his brother Gilbert plus a servant called George Soule and a youth named Elias Story. Also in their care was a girl called Elinor More – one of four children from the More family of Shipton in Shropshire who travelled with the Pilgrims.

William White was born in Wisbech and was the son of Edward and Thomasine (Cross)(May) White. He was the uncle of William Bradford’s first wife Dorothy May. Susanna White was the daughter of Richard and Mary (Pettinger) Jackson. Her father leased part of the Scrooby Manor and fled with Bradford to Amsterdam in 1608 to avoid arrest for their beliefs.

In the spring of 1608, William, identified as a shoemaker, was cited for nonconformity and excommunicated from Wisbech St Peters, along with his half siblings Henry May and Jacomine May. William left for Amsterdam in May 1608; his half-siblings joined him the following August.

The May and the White families, both from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, arrived in the Netherlands around 1608. The marriage of Gov. William Bradford to Dorothy May in 1613 states that she was 16 years old and that she had been living there for about 5 years.

Henry May the Elder stated in 1627 that he had been living in Amsterdam for about 15 years. In June 1608, “Willem Wit” was granted permission to reside within the city, and in August 1608 “Hendrick May” also received permission. In 1611, William White purchased a house in the “new city” of Amsterdam.

William White was a member of Henry Ainsworth’s congregation of Separatists in Amsterdam. His half-brother, Henry May was a leading elder of this congregation.

Susanna was likely born and raised in Scrooby, and her father held a lease for a portion of Scrooby Manor. She may have fled with her father to Amsterdam in 1608, and there married William White.

William and Susanna met in Amsterdam and married there. They were members of Henry Ainsworth’s congregation and were the only members to join the Mayflower group from Leiden. William and Susanna had their son Resolved about 1615.

Bradford notes about the household on the trip across the Atlantic, “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” (Bradford, 442).

The following is an listing of the White and Winslow households aboard the Mayflower: William White 30; Susanna White 25; Resolved White 5; Peregrine White Born at anchor; William Holbeck (Servant to William White); Edward Thompson <21 (Servant to William White); Edward Winslow 25; Elizabeth Winslow 23; Ellen More 8 (Servant to Edward Winslow); George Soule 21 – 25 (Servant to Edward Winslow); Elias Story <21 (Cared by Edward Winslow) and Gilbert Winslow 20 (Brother of Edward).

General Sickness

Then, after landing, disaster struck.

Within weeks, fifty-two of the 102 passengers who had reached Cape Cod were dead, including fourteen of the twenty-six heads of families. All but four families had lost at least one member. Of the eighteen married couples who had sailed from England, only three had survived intact.

Bradford tells us that “Mr. White and his two servants died soon after their landing.” (William White died February 21, 1621.) Likewise, Winslow’s “wife died the first winter,” (March 24, 1621) Bradford, p. 444 and 445.

On May 12, 1621, Susanna White, left a widow with two small sons, married Edward Winslow, whose wife Elizabeth had likewise died.

Edward Winslow eventually became a prominent member of the Plymouth Colony, being elected governor three times. Winslow served as a member of the governor’s council from 1624 to 1647, except for the three times he was governor of the colony (in 1633–34, 1636–37, and 1644–45).

He and Susanna had five more children together, although only two lived to adulthood.

Some Winslow and White ‘Firsts’:

Peregrine White was the first child born to the Pilgrims in the New World. (Oceanus Hopkins was born on board the Mayflower during the Atlantic crossing.) (The name Peregrine means ‘one from abroad’; a foreigner, traveler or pilgrim.)
Susanna, was the mother of the first English-born child in New England. “Before the End of November Susanna Wife of William White was delivered of a Son, who is called Peregrine being the first Born since their arrival and I conclude the first of the European Extract in New England.” Thomas Prince, New England Chronology, 1736.
The wedding of Edward Winslow and Susanna White was the first in Plymouth Colony. “May 12 [1621]. was ye first mariage in this place, which, according to ye laudable custome of ye Low-Cuntries, in which they had lived, was thought most requisite to be performed by the magistrate, as being a civill thing, upon which many questions aboute inheritances doe depende, with other things most proper to their cognizans, and most consonante to ye scripturs, Ruth 4. and no wher found in ye gospell to be layed on ye ministers as a part of their office. “This decree or law about mariage was published by ye Stats of ye Low-Cuntries Ano: 1590. That those of any religion, after lawfull and open publication, coming before ye magistrats, in ye Town or Stat-house, were to be orderly (by them) maried one to another.” (Bradford)
Susanna Winslow was one of only four adult women to have survived to see the ‘First Thanksgiving’ at Plymouth that autumn.
Susanna Winslow was the First Lady of Plymouth Colony (on three occasions).
Josiah Winslow, son of Edward and Susanna became governor of the Plymouth Colony in 1673 (the first native-born governor of any of the American colonies). In one of his early administrative actions, he established the first public school in the colony. Susanna became the mother of the first native-born governor of any of the American colonies.

Click the following link to a general summary about Winslows and Whites:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Winslows-and-Whites.pdf