Like so many women of that time, Mrs. James Chilton's name is sadly unknown. John Hunt suggested she was James Chilton's stepsister, Susanna Furner, but more recent research has proved this to be false. The idea that her name was Susanna apparently dates back to Nahum Mitchell's 1840 book "History of Bridgewater" but he does not document any source for this information. She was most likely married around 1586 based on the baptism of her first child. She had ten children; Isabella (1587), Jane (1589), Joel, Mary, Elizabeth, James, Ingle, Christina (1601), James (1603), and Mary (31 May 1607). On 12 June 1609, Mrs. Chilton was excommunicated from the Church of England for "privately burying a child of Andrew Sharp of St. Mary's parish...which they secretly conveyed to the earth without any notice given to me or my clerk...which act some of them seem now since to dissent calling into question the lawfulness of the king's constitutions in this and other behalfs, affirming these things to be popish ceremonies and of no other force". This incident seems to have prompted the family to immigrate to Leiden and join the Pilgrim Separatists. Mrs. Chilton, her husband James, and daughter Mary all came on the Mayflower. At this time James was about Sixty four years old and Mary was about thirteen. We can assume that Mrs. Chilton must have been much younger than her husband to have had a thirteen year old daughter. She and husband died shortly after arriving to Plymouth, most likely while the Mayflower was still anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. There is a tradition that states that their daughter Mary was the first female to step ashore at Plymouth, upon Plymouth Rock.
Like so many women of that time, Mrs. James Chilton's name is sadly unknown. John Hunt suggested she was James Chilton's stepsister, Susanna Furner, but more recent research has proved this to be false. The idea that her name was Susanna apparently dates back to Nahum Mitchell's 1840 book "History of Bridgewater" but he does not document any source for this information. She was most likely married around 1586 based on the baptism of her first child. She had ten children; Isabella (1587), Jane (1589), Joel, Mary, Elizabeth, James, Ingle, Christina (1601), James (1603), and Mary (31 May 1607). On 12 June 1609, Mrs. Chilton was excommunicated from the Church of England for "privately burying a child of Andrew Sharp of St. Mary's parish...which they secretly conveyed to the earth without any notice given to me or my clerk...which act some of them seem now since to dissent calling into question the lawfulness of the king's constitutions in this and other behalfs, affirming these things to be popish ceremonies and of no other force". This incident seems to have prompted the family to immigrate to Leiden and join the Pilgrim Separatists. Mrs. Chilton, her husband James, and daughter Mary all came on the Mayflower. At this time James was about Sixty four years old and Mary was about thirteen. We can assume that Mrs. Chilton must have been much younger than her husband to have had a thirteen year old daughter. She and husband died shortly after arriving to Plymouth, most likely while the Mayflower was still anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. There is a tradition that states that their daughter Mary was the first female to step ashore at Plymouth, upon Plymouth Rock.
