The Standish Family

Myles Standish was accompanied on the Mayflower by his wife Rose. She did not survive the first winter, dying 29 January 1620/21.

Myles, was born prob. on the Isle of Man, circa 1584; he died at Duxbury, 3 October 1656. He married first, Rose (     ), and they had no known children. He married second, at Plymouth, between July 1623 and March 1623/24, Barbara (     ) whose identity is unknown; she was called “Mrs. Standish” in the 1623 land division where she received one acre.

Standish was a signer of the Mayflower Compact, signed on 11 November 1620, when the ship was anchored at Provincetown. He received two acres in the 1623 land division. In the 1627 cattle division he is listed with his second wife Barbara and sons Charles, Alexander and John Standish.

Standish’s experience proved valuable during the three exploration parties on Cape Cod during the cold and wet days of November and early December 1620, as they searched for the best place to begin their settlement. It’s quite astonishing that while most of the other men who were also on these expeditions became very ill and succumbed to their ailments, that Standish was one of the few who did not.

On 17 February 1620/21, Standish was chosen their Captain; he never balked when it came to dealing with the Native Americans, but as their Captain, he always led the way, sometimes a little too forcefully. He was described by his contemporaries as “a man of very little stature, yet of a very hot and angry temper.” He served in other capacities as well, such as treasurer, and as Assistant to the Governor almost continually from about 1635 until his death. He died at Duxbury 3 October 1656.

In 1645, the Commissioners of the United Colonies were raising an army for the expected war with the Narragansetts. Forty armed men from Plymouth were under the command of Captain Standish. In 1646, Standish was chosen with six others for the Council of War, and in 1654 was appointed the Commander in Chief of 50 men from ten towns, for the expedition against the Dutch, saying his “approved fidelitie and abillitie wee have had long experience…whose wisdom and discretion…”