Winslow Heritage Society

27/11/2025

Happy Thanksgiving!

THE ORGANISERS of an event celebrating Droitwich’s New World pioneer Edward Winslow have received thanks from across the pond. Edward Winslow Day, which will take place this weekend in Droitwich, has caught the eye of the Winslow Heritage Society over in the United States. Following the success of...

26/11/2025

Happy Thanksgiving Winslow family!!

What was on the menu at the first Thanksgiving? Two primary sources—the only surviving documents that reference the meal—confirm what staples were part of the harvest celebration shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Along with wildfowl and deer, the colonists and Wampanoag probably ate eels and shellfish, such as lobster, clams and mussels.

The colonists did not have butter and wheat flour to make crusts for pies and tarts. That’s right: No pumpkin pie! Turkey was not the centerpiece of the meal!!!

Two primary sources—the only surviving documents that reference the meal—confirm that these dietary staples were part of the harvest celebration shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Edward Winslow, an English leader who attended, wrote home to a friend:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some 90 men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others.”

William Bradford, the governor Winslow mentions, also described the autumn of 1621, adding, “And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.”

Turkey was not the centerpiece of the meal, as it is today, explains Wall. Though it is possible the colonists and American Indians cooked wild turkey, she suspects that goose or duck was the wildfowl of choice.

Turkey will be on my menu tomorrow, but you won't find eels at my house.

Winslow Heritage Society

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23/11/2025

10/11/2025

Interested in joining the Winslow Heritage Society? Whether your last name is Winslow or something other than Winslow, those of us who are proven decedents of Edward Winslow Sr., or his children, especially the five Winslow brothers, two of whom immigrated on the Mayflower and three others during the Great Migration, are Winslow. This Society welcomes all descendants of the Winslow family. We also welcome anyone who is a proven descendant of a Mayflower pilgrim or anyone who has an interest in the Winslow family.

Please check out our website www.winslowheritagesociety.org to learn more.

Winslow Heritage Society

08/11/2025

A documentary film by award-winning director Ric Burns, The Pilgrims chronicles the deep history, origins, and critical first decade of the first permanent English colony in New England.

08/11/2025

This week sees the next instalment in this new series of Wayback Wednesday articles from our Canadian Society of Mayflower Descendants' Surgeon General, Dr. Carol Martin !

Three Visits to Early Plymouth:

The letters provide unique details about New Plymouth that complement other sources and preserve information that might have been lost. For instance, John Pory records the dimensions of the town’s 1622 palisade (2,700 feet in circumference) and its superior strength compared to Virginia’s fortifications. Emmanuel Altham adds that the pales (palisades) were about eight feet high and notes that the Wampanoag advisor Hobbamock had multiple wives and a family of over ten people. This information was valuable for interpreting the Hobbamock Homesite exhibit at Plimoth Plantation.

The letters also reveal that Native participation in Plymouth events extended beyond the 1621 “First Thanksgiving”. Emmanuel Altham notes that some Massasoit people attended Governor Bradford’s 1623 wedding with one of his wives and 60 men, bringing gifts of deer and a turkey. Isaack de Rasieres’ detailed account of the pilgrim settlement in 1627 inspired the annual march in Plymouth, Massachusetts known as “The Pilgrim Progress” and significantly influenced the design of Plimoth Plantation’s Pilgrim Village re-creation.

08/11/2025

The fall edition of the American Ancestors magazine is now available! This issue explores Revolutionary War topics, with a focus on Loyalists. Other articles discuss the Hard Winter of 1779–1780, the life and service of a Black Revolutionary soldier from Westborough, Massachusetts, and the new second edition of The Great Migration Directory. https://hubs.ly/Q03RzM-p0

08/11/2025

On November 5th 1623 a large fire broke out in Plymouth Colony.

According to William Bradford "This fire was occasioned by some of the seamen that were roistering in a house where it first began, making a great fire in very cold weather, which broke out of the chimney into the thatch and burnt down three or four houses and consumed all the goods and provisions in them."

Thankfully, the fire was contained before it could spread further. Even still, Bradford wrote that some decided to return to England afterwards, as they had lost their homes and possessions in the fire.

Image: Fire by Night in a Village, Adam Colonia, 1650-1685 courtesy of the Rijksmuseum

04/07/2025

Happy 4th of July from WHS! Have a fun and safe holiday!

15/06/2025

Happy Father's Day to all who celebrate!!

10/06/2025

Short, but nice visit in Plymouth this week..
Craig Failor, WHS Governor.