One of the original pilgrims on Plymouth was Eleanor Newton Adams Winslow. She is found in many of the books and papers studying the colony at Plymouth, including The Women of the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony.
Was Eleanor a Newton of our family? Unlikely unless she was born a Newton in England or married into the family. Her English background is unclear.
On the Mayflower she is listed a Mrs. Eleanor Newton, indicating she was married, and therefore widowed. Eleanor's birth is at Clayton le Moors, Lancashire, England, which is on the west coast of England, a distance from Little Ilford, the home of the Newtons.
Some say her father was Peter Wordon, which makes little sense. Wordon was also an immigrant to Plymouth. Furthermore, her birth is then listed as occurring in Plymouth which is inaccurate.
Eleanor, as a widow survived the Anne's journey. As with all Pilgrims she was given one acre and a cow in Plymouth, the very definition of 1600s hot. It is recorded she married John Adams, who lived for a couple years in the colony, dying in about 1623.
Eleanor then married Kenelm Winslow, brother to Massachusetts Governor Edward Winslow. She is buried in the Winslow compound in Marshfield, Plymouth, Mass.
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