Voyages: 1828
Ship: Amulet
Jane Winsor was born in Duxbury to Thomas Winsor and Welthea Sprague. In 1827 she married her second cousin, Capt. Gershom Winsor (1801-1841). A year after their wedding, Jane sailed with her husband aboard the Amulet on a voyage from Richmond, Virginia to Bristol, England. The passage took 44 days, during which time Gershom was severely ill with fever and the ship encountered heavy squalls. Jane was also not well for much of the journey. They remained in Bristol for a number of weeks while waiting for their cargo to be discharged and new cargo taken aboard. During that time, Gershom wrote his brother, Daniel, and indicated that Jane may be pregnant, and indeed, their son Horace was born the following May:
“My wife Jane is very well and sends her respects to you and says you must go and see her mother as soon as you get in Boston and tell her she is as happy as a clam. I am going out shopping with her to day for the first time since here. She goes every day alone or get some-one to with her and knows the way all about Bristol. She begins to think she will want a few things in the House keeping line if they want Dolls let them have Dolls. Boys want barns let them build Barns. She enjoys herself very well and glad as yet that she came.”
Gershom and Jane Winsor settled in Duxbury and had five children. Tragedy struck the family in 1841 when Capt. Gershom Winsor was lost at sea. At the time of his death, the Winsor’s children ranged in age from eleven to one.
Jane Winsor died at age 82 in 1888. For much of her life, she was the focal point of a large extended family.
Sources:
Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of the Winsor Family (1820-1915), Duxbury Free Library
Frederick Winsor Collection, Drew Archival Library
Gifford Family Collection, Drew Archival Library
