Holbrook line: Captain Miles Standish, Immigrant,

I/m really surprised that I haven't written about Miles (Myles) Standish yet, so the timing of this, during Thanksgiving week, seems appropriate.  There is a lot of material about the Captain available, but there is still much to learn.  Robert Charles Anderson thinks it is possible or even likely, but not proven, that Miles is the son of John Standish, of the Isle of Man, son of John, son of Huan.  It has long been thought that Miles came from either the Isle of Man or Lancashire, and the two families seem to be somehow related, although the connection has not yet been found.  He seems to have been born about 1583 or 1584, 

Another mystery is when and under what circumstances he went to fight in the "Low Country".  The two options put forth most often are that he went as a mercenary, during the war between the Low Countries and Spain, or that he served under Sir Horatio Vere, who was sent by Queen Elizabeth I to fight in Holland. Vere is known to have recruited soldiers in both Lancashire and the Isle of Man.  It seems that there would be some sort of record if that were the case, but of course the English Civil War of the 1640s, as well as other causes of decay, confusion, and misplacing of records all mean that we may never find a roster with the name of Miles Standish on it.  In any case, it appears that he retired from military service and stayed in Holland, where he had ample opportunity to meet with the men who would soon be known as Pilgrims. 

Miles was hired by the Pilgrims to be their military advisor, so it appears that he wasn't one of the Pilgrims.  He was Protestant, though, and hIn 1620, whas been called Puritan.  If this is accurate, the difference in beliefs between his own and the Pilgrims would not have been large' primarily, the Separatists wanted to live separately, away from established religion as they knew it, and the Puritans were interested in reforming the Church of England, to make it a simpler and less ornate religion. 

In 1620, when the Pilgrims left Holland and then England for the New World, Miles and his wife Rose were on board the Mayflower,  Rose, however, died during that first winter, along with many of the other Pilgrims, due to exposure and disease as well as inadequate food.  His second wife, Barbara, arrived on the ship "Anne" in 1623.  This seems to be someone Miles already knew but Anderson is not willing to identify her further.  It has been suggested that she was the sister of Rose, 

Captain Myles' s occupation is listed only as "soldier", but he did much more than construct the defenses at Plymouth Plantation.  He led men on military expeditions, which were mainly again the native Americans but also against the Dutch in the war against the Dutch.  He is said to have had a violent temper, but he was working in difficult conditions with difficult men so I'll give him a pass on that.  He was a councilor, a free man, an assistant, deputy governor, treasurer of the colony, and on the Council of War.  He was also the commander of the military forces.  He was still listed os able to bear arms in 1643, when he would have been just about 60 years of age. 

While we don't know the extent of his education, he was the treasurer so he must have had at least rudimentary arithmetic skills, and perhaps more than that.  He had several dozen books in his inventory when he died, including three Bibles, Honer's Iliad and Caesar's Commentaries.  I think we can say he had an education, whether formal or not .

He and his wife had 7 children, and by 1643 had moved with his family to Duxbury, a new settlement in Plymouth Colony.  There he lived out his days, and died on October 3, 1656,  Barbara died sometime after October 6, 1659.  (She apparently did not remarry).  Myles's estate was valued at 358 pounds, 7 shillings, which was not too bad for a "soldier".  He must have had a good business sense, too. 

Although I certainly wish the situation with the native Americans could have been handled differently, in general Myles Standish is worth our respect and honor.  The situations that he lived through were remarkable and more difficult than we can imagine.  I'm glad we're part of his family.

The line of descent is:

Miles Standish-Barbara
Josiah Standish-Sarah Allen
Josiah Standish-Sarah Doty
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford (Lundsford)
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants