Isaac Winslow ( – December 14, 1738) was an American politician and military officer who lived in

Marshfield, Massachusetts Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census. It includes the census-designated places (CDPs) of Marshfield, Marshfield Hills, Ocean Bluf ...

. A member of the prominent Winslow family of the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

, he served as a civil and military official in a period marked by political transition.

Early life and ancestry

Isaac Winslow was born ca. 1671 on the family estate in the village of Marshfield,

Josiah Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...

and Penelope (Pelham) Winslow. He and his sister Elizabeth were the only children of four to survive to adulthood. Winslow's grandfather was Mayflower passenger

Edward Winslow Edward Winslow (18 October 15958 May 1655) was a Separatist and New England political leader who traveled on the ''Mayflower'' in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both Edward Winslow and ...

, a

governor of Plymouth Colony The territory of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the fifty United States, was settled in the 17th century by several different English colonies. The territories claimed or administered by these colonies encompassed a much ...

and one of that colony's near-mythical " Pilgrims." Josiah also served as governor, as well as commander-in-chief of the colonial militia during

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

Career

Winslow was appointed to the Plymouth County Inferior Court of Common Pleas in 1712 and served until 1738, for the last nine years as its chief justice. In 1715, he was commissioned a colonel in the

Massachusetts militia This is a list of militia units of the Colony and later Commonwealth of Massachusetts. *Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (1638) *Cogswell's Regiment of Militia (April 19, 1775) *Woodbridge's Regiment of Militia (April 20, ...

and given charge of a regiment drawn from Plymouth County, and was a judge of the Court of Probate for Plymouth from 1718 to 1738. A decade after Plymouth's incorporation into Massachusetts, Winslow became prominent at a wider colonial level. In 1703, he was appointed for the first time to the Council for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. As a representative in the legislature's upper house, he and his fellow councilors were to serve as advisors to the Royal Governor in Boston, as well as pass laws and approve government expenditures. Winslow's term in council was marked by a period of war and turbulent politics; Massachusetts was almost constantly fighting

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

natives and French colonists in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and several successive governors would clash with the lower House of Representatives on issues of finance and legislative appointments. With the exception of 1715, Winslow served as a member of the council until 1736, for a time as its president.

Personal life

Around the turn of the 17th century, Winslow built a house at the current intersection of Careswell Street and Webster Street in Marshfield. The

Isaac Winslow House The Isaac Winslow House, also known as the Winslow House Museum, is a mansion located in Marshfield, Massachusetts built around 1700. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History of the Isaac Winslow House The Is ...

still stands today as a museum. He married Sarah Wensley of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on July 11, 1700 in a ceremony presided over by the Reverend

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...

. The couple had six children: Josiah (born 1701),

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

(born 1703), Penelope (born 1704), Elizabeth (born 1707), Anna (born 1709 or 1710), and

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

(born 1714).Kellogg. p. 11 Winslow died in Marshfield on December 14, 1738 and is buried in the nearby Winslow Cemetery. His wife Sarah, sons John and Edward, and daughters Penelope and Elizabeth were named heirs.

References

* Krusell, Cynthia Hagar; Bates, Betty Magoun. ''Marshfield: A Town of Villages 1640-1990''. Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts: Historical Research Associates, 1990. * Taylor, Alan. ''American Colonies: The Settling of North America''. Vol. 1. The Penguin History of the United States. United States:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.James R. Osgood and Company, 1881. {{DEFAULTSORT:Winslow, Isaac 1671 births 1738 deaths 18th-century American politicians American judges American militia officers Burials in Massachusetts Chief justices Massachusetts county councillors People of the Plymouth Colony People from Marshfield, Massachusetts Leaders of organizations Military personnel from Massachusetts