James Chilton

James Chilton (B 1556 D December,1620) was born in England and lived in Canterbury. He was the son of Lyonell Chylton and his first wife whose name was unknown. [1] However, Chylton’s second wife, Isabell Furner, had two children. He married before 1587 and his first seven children were born in Canterbury. The last three children were born in Sandwich where the family had moved about 1600. It was here that James and his family became part of the Separatist movement. [2] English Christians in the 16th and 17th centuries who wished to separate from the Church of England and form independent local churches were influential politically under Oliver Cromwell, who was himself a Separatist. They were eventually called Congregationalists. The Pilgrims who established the first successful colony in New England were separatists. [3] James Chilton was a tailor. He was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower. Chilton also signed the Mayflower Compact. In 1650, Governor Bradford recorded that James Chilton and his wife also died during the first infection in 1620. However, his youngest daughter, Mary, survived and married John Winslow. She had nine children. In a popular legend, Mary, James' daughter, was the first person to step out of the ship onto Plymouth Rock.

References

[1] Chilton’s Children. (n.d.). Available: http://www.chiltonschildren.org/ [2] Avalon Project at Yale Law School, (n,d.). Mayflowe Compact, Yale University Law School, Available: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/amerdoc/mayflower.htm [3] Separatism

Source

Morrison, S.E. (1976). Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford, New York: Alfred Knopf.