The White Family
Passenger Profile

William White traveled on the Mayflower with his wife, Susanna (Jackson) White and five-year-old son Resolved; they were accompanied by two servants, William Holbeck and Edward Thomson who died soon after landing. Susanna gave birth to son, Peregrine, while still on board the Mayflower. William did not survive the first winter, dying on 21 February 1620/21 in the general sickness that took half their numbers away.

William signed the Mayflower Compact on 11 November 1620 while the ship was anchored at Provincetown. He was credited with receiving five acres for his family of five in the 1623 land division. In the 1627 Cattle Division, Susanna is found in the family of her second husband, Edward Winslow and their two children, Edward and John Winslow, as well as her two children, Resolved and Peregrine White.

Susanna remarried that spring, 12 May 1621, fellow Mayflower passenger, Edward Winslow. Edward lost his wife Elizabeth on 24 March 1620/21.

Susanna Jackson was born possibly at Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England, circa 1594, the daughter of Richard and Mary (Pettinger) Jackson. Susanna died probably at Marshfield, between 18 December 1654 and 2 July 1675.

Children of William White and Susanna:

    1. Resolved White, born circa 1615, also a passenger on the Mayflower; died after 19 September 1687; married 1) at Scituate, 5 November 1640, Judith Vassall; they had eight children: William, John, Samuel, Resolved, Anna, Elizabeth, Josiah and Susanna White; he married 2) at Salem, 5 October 1674, Abigail ( ) Lord.
    2. Peregrine White, born at the end of November 1620, aboard the Mayflower; died at Marshfield, 20 July 1704; married before 6 March 1648/49, Sarah Bassett; they had seven children: Daniel, child, Jonathan, Peregrine, Sarah, Sylvanus and Mercy White.

Sources:

    1. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Edward Winslow, vol. 25, by Marston Watson. Plymouth, 2019; and Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, William White, vol. 13, by Ruth W. Sherman, FASG and Robert M. Sherman, FASG; ed. by Robert S. Wakefield, FASG.

      “The Origin of Mayflower passenger Susanna (Jackson) (White) Winslow,” by Sue Allan, Caleb Johnson and Simon Neal,” The American Genealogist 89 [Oct. 2017]: 241-264.

      Mayflower Passenger References, (from contemporary records and scholarly journals), by Susan E. Roser. 2011. pp. 401-418.

Descendants of William White are invited to join The Pilgrim William White Society.

Peregrine White Cradle
Photo credit: Pilgrim Hall Museum

Tradition holds that Susanna and William White brought this cradle from Holland. Peregrine (“traveler” or “Pilgrim”) was born in Provincetown while Susanna was still onboard the Mayflower, November 1620.