, Pilgrim soldier; born in
Lancashire, England, about 1584.
He had served as a soldier in the Netherlands; was chosen captain of the New Plymouth settlers, though not a member of the church; small in person, of
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great energy, activity, and courage; and rendered important service to the early settlers by inspiring
Indians, disposed to
be hostile, with awe for the
English.
One of the Indians, Wituamit, had already killed two white men, and was planning to massacre the settlements at
Plymouth and
Weymouth.
Governor Bradford ordered
Captain Standish to settle matters.
The
Indians, having grown defiant, sent a challenge to
Captain Standish through a friendly Indian who lived with the Pilgrims.
Standish accepted the challenge and, with the help of a score of sturdy fighters, put the Indians to rout.
In all, seven Indians were killed, and their conspiracy was nipped in the bud.
Standish visited
England in 1625 as agent for the colony, and brought supplies the next year.
The captain's wife, Rose
Standish, was one of the victims of the famine and fever of 1621.
In 1626
Standish settled at
Duxbury, Mass., where he lived the remainder of his days administering the office of magistrate, or assistant, during the whole term.
He also took part in the settlement of
Bridgewater (1649). He died Oct. 3, 1656.
A monument to his memory has
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Kitchen of Standish's House. |
been erected on
Captain's Hill,
Duxbury.
Standish has been immortalized by
Longfellow in his celebrated poem,
The courtship of miles Standish, which recounts the romance of the masterful little captain in his relations with
John Alden and
Priscilla Mullins.
Standish lives in literature and tradition as one of the most virile and picturesque figures in early American history.
In Pilgrim Hall,
Plymouth, is preserved, among other relics of the Pilgrims,
Standish's sword and the barrel of his musket.
