Edward Winslow - Leadership at Plymouth and With Cromwell in England

Leadership At Plymouth and With Cromwell in England

Winslow had established a friendship with native leader Massasoit, whose people were trading with the colonists. In January 1629 a new patent for land at Kennebec was approved which provided for a fishing and trading post at Pentagoet and a fortified trading post at Cushnoc on the Kennebec which opened the area to Plymouth colonists. At the same time, Isaac Allerton opened his own trading post on the Kenebec and thereby became a rival of Edward Winslow, setting a pattern for adverserial rivalry between them that would continue from that time on.

In 1632, he made an exploratory tour up the Connecticut River for colonization. It is suggested that he landed and selected the settlement which became Windsor.

Edward Winslow was an experienced diplomat acting for Plymouth in its relationaship with English officials. He later was Plymouth governor for one year terms from 1633-34, 1636-37 and 1644-45. Additionally, in 1643 Winslow was one of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, which was a military group uniting the various New England colonies against the natives.

By the early 1640s England was engaged in a great civil war. Some settlers returned to England to join the efforts to overthrow the reigning King. In 1646, Winslow began working for Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector. After King Charles was executed in 1649, Edward Winslow had plans to return to Plymouth but soon became involved in the problems of England. He would never return to Plymouth.

In 1654, Winslow was commissioner of a British naval mission against the Spanish in the West Indies. They were victorious but Winslow contracted yellow fever and died on May 7, 1655 near Jamaica.

Although Winslow is reported to have been buried at sea in the Caribbean somewhere between Hispanola and Jamaica, Winslow Cemetery in Marshfield, Massachusetts has a stone monument to "The Settlers of Green Harbor Marshfield" with the name of Edward Winslow and his wife Susannah (White) and many others. This includes the names of Susannah's sons Resolved and Peregrine White and their wives. Also in Winslow Cemetery is a memorial stone w/plaque stating "Edward Winslow, Founder of Marshfield". Edward Winslow's first wife Elizabeth Barker Winslow was buried in 1621 in the Cole's Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth, Massachusetts, with her remains later interred in The Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Plymouth.