Stephen Hopkins May Possibly Have Had More Than One Wife Before
Elizabeth, Who Accompanied Him To New England And Was Mother Of The
Sea-Born Son Oceanus.
Hopkins's will indicates his affection for
this latest wife, in unusual degree for wills of that day.
With
singular carelessness, both of the writer and his proof-reader, Hon.
William T. Davis states that Damaris Hopkins was born "after the
arrival" in New England. The contrary is, of course, a well
established fact. Mr. Davis was probably led into this error by
following Bradford's "summary" as affecting the Hopkins family. He
states therein that Hopkins "had one son, who became a seaman and
died at Barbadoes probably Caleb, and four daugh ters born here."
To make up these "four" daughters "born here" Davis found it
necessary to include Damaris, unmindful that Bradford names her in
his list of MAY-FLOWER passengers. It is evident, either that
Bradford made a mistake in the number, or that there was some
daughter who died in infancy. It is evident that Dotey and Leister,
the "servants" of Hopkins, were of English origin and accompanied
their master from London.
Gilbert Winslow was a brother of Edward Winslow, a young man, said to
have been a carpenter, who returned to England after "divers years"
in New England. There is a possibility that he was at Leyden and
was a passenger on the SPEEDWELL. It has been suggested that he
spent the greater part of the time he was in New England, outside of
the Pilgrim Colony.
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