Myles Standish
Myles Standish (c. 1584 - October 3, 1656), was an English-born professional soldier hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth colony. Arriving on the Mayflower, he worked on colonial defense. Later, he served as Plymouth's representative in England, and served as assistant to the governor and as the colony's treasurer. He was also one of the founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts in 1632. He is best remembered through Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Courtship of Miles Standish. On February 17, 1621 he was appointed the first commander of Plymouth colony.
Myles Standish is best remembered for his bravery in battle and his reputation as the military captain of the Pilgrims.
Standish was born in the year 1584 and to our best knowledge in Ellanbane, Lezayre, Isle of Man, rather than in Lancashire, England across from the Isle of Man. This is supported by Lawrence Hill's fine work cited below. He grew up in a well-known and wealthy family. The Standish name was well known through out Northern England and there are many buildings still standing there today named for the Standish family. His famous birth home of Standish Hall was auctioned at the Empress Hall, Wigan in March 1921, failing to make a reserve price of £4,800. It is reported that the Tudor wing and chapel were eventually dismantled and rebuilt in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The final remaining part of the Hall was left derelict and suffered vandalism, fires and general neglect. The remaining part of the Hall was finally demolished in 1982. The original ancestral home of the Standish’s was Duxbury Hall and is also still standing today. The township of Standish was of importance during the Roman occupation of Britain; and the Standish family is known to have been there since the Norman Conquest.
Present Day Duxbury Hall has been sold to strangers and is surrounded by the Wigan coal-field and with it the traffic of the Yorkshire Railways along with various factories that are busily in operation. The wealth of the territorial lords has largely increased while the male descendants of the Standishes of Standish Duxbury have died out. When Myles left for the Americas so did the Standish name.
In his family there was a conflict over religion starting about the time Myles was born. The Standishes of Standish, were the older party, and were strong Catholics. The side Myles grew up on were Duxburys who used to be Catholics but now were strong Protestants, and the strangest thing of all was that Myles, being on the side of Duxbury had been baptized in the Catholic Church. History is still not clear on this subject but believed he was Protestant.
When he was a young man he left England because he had been emotionally and deeply hurt by one of the family members who had not allowed Myles to take share in the family inheritance. History is unclear as the reason for Myles not receiving his portion of the family inheritance. This is when he left Duxbury and started his military career. Myles started his military career as a drummer, and eventually worked his way up and into the Low Countries (Holland), where English troops under Heratio Vere had been stationed to help the Dutch in their war with Spain. It was certainly here that he made acquaintance with the Pilgrims at Leyden, and came into good standing with the Pilgrims pastor John Robinson. Standish was eventually hired by them to be their Military Captain.
After the Pilgrims hired Standish as Military Captain for the voyage to America he was soon to be one of the members to sign the Mayflower Compact at Cape Cod November 11,1620. After the voyage, Standish was elected Military Captain of the colony by the leadership of the Pilgrims.
Soon after arriving at Plymouth the first illness struck the Pilgrims and this sickness took his wife Rose’s life, on January 29, 1659, Myles and Rose had no children together. In 1623 a woman named Barbara came to Plymouth on the Anne and Myles married Barbara that same year. Myles and Barbara had seven children together. They were Charles (died), Alexander, John, Myles, Lora, Josiah, and Charles.
Through all the continued sickness Standish was one of the seven that did not get sick; “William Bradford quoted, “ But that was most sad and lamentable was, that in two or three months’ time half of their company died, especially in January and February…So as their died some times two or three of a day in the foresaid time, that 100 and odd persons, scarce fifty remained. And of these, in the time of most distress, there was but six or seven sound persons who to their great commendation, be it spoken, spared no pains night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched them wood, made them fires, dressed their meat, made their beds, washed their clothes clothed and unclothed them… Two of these seven were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend Elder, and Myles Standish, their captain and military commander, unto whom myself and many others were much beholden in our low and sick condition.”
Standish was quick to make friends with the Indians, one that he befriended was named Hobomok, and they probably understood each other because they both were men of warfare.
One of Myles Standishes great achievements in history happened the second year at Plymouth when he led a force to save the settlement of Wessagusett that was under an Indian attack, hoping that doing so would prevent the same for their colony, he managed to kill some of the Indians who had led their plot of killing the white mans colony. This was the first time Plymouth had a killing of an Indian. Once the message of the victory reached the pastor of Leyden, John Robinson, he wrote Plymouths governor saying “To consider the disposition of their captain, who was of a warm temper…Oh how happy a thing had it been that you had converted some before you had killed any!”
In the year 1635 Standish had his first defeat being Military Captain of Plymouth Colony when he was to finish the surrendering of the French.
Edward Winslow quoted in Good News From New England about Standish saying: “Also Pecksuot, being a man of great stature than the Captain, told him, though he were a great Captain, yet he was but a little man; and said he, thought I be no sachem, yet I am a man of great strength and courage. These things the Captain observed, yet bare with patience for the present. . . On the next day he began himself with Pecksuot, and snatching his own knife from his neck, though with much struggling, killed him therewith. . . Hobbamock stood by all this as a spectator, and meddled not observing how our men demeaned themselves in this action.
All being here ended, smiling, he brake forth into these speeches to the Captain: Yesterday Pecksuot, bragging of his own strength and stature, said, though you were a great captain, yet you were but a little man; but today I see you are big enough to lay him on the ground.”
William Bradford referenced to Myles Standish praised Standish as being compared to the Harry Hotspur of the Pilgrim band, a man whom it was easy to make fun of, but one whom his friends knew how to value, and whom even they who scoffed at him would have been glad to call their own.
Myles Standish was also the treasurer of the Colony of Duxbary from the year 1644 to 1649, which was named after the original Standish estate in England named Duxbury Hall. Even though Myles had a falling out with his family he still loved them, this is shown by the fact that he named one of his eldest sons Alexander, that being the name of the possessors both of Standish Hall and of Duxbury Hall.
Standish had never joined a church, and to his death supposedly never did. This was probably because of the constant conflict over religious beliefs in his family.
“Myles Standish died in Duxbury Massachusetts on October 3,1656. Nathaniel Morton, wrote of Myles Standish’s death in 1656: This year Captain Miles Standish expired his mortal life. . . .In his younger time he went over into the low countries, and was a soldier there, and came acquainted with the church at Leynden, and came over into New England, with such of them as at the first set out the plantation of New Plymouth, and bare a deep share of their first difficulties, and was always very faithfull to their interest. He growing ancient, became sick of the stone, or stranguary, whereof, after his suffering of much solorous pain, he fell asleep in the Lord, and was Honorably buried at Duxbury.”
Myles Standish’s last will and testimony states even though leaving his family in England that he had land in various parts of England. His will states: “9 I give unto my son & heir apparent Allexander Standish all my land as heire apparent by lawful Decent in Ormistick Borsconge Wrightington Maudsley Newburrow Crawston and the Ile of man and given to me as right heire by lawful Decent but Surruptuously Detained from mee great G(ran) dfather being a 2cond or youngerbrother from the house of Standosh of Standish. March the 7th 1655 by me Standish.”
References
- Alexander Mackennal, Homes and Haunts of the Pilgrim Fathers, pg. 66-85, 1976.
- Russel Warner, Myles Standish of the Mayflower and his Descendents for Five Generations, 1996.
- Lawrence Hill, Gentlemen of Courage...Forward, pg. 175, 1987.