John Gorham (1620 – 1675) is my 11th great grandfather. He is not the son of Ralph Gorham, who arrived in New England aboard the Phillip in 1635. The first record of John in New England is in 1643, just months before he married Desire Howland, the daughter of John Howland of the Mayflower. After marriage they lived in Marshfield, then Yarmouth where he ran a grist mill, wharf and was also a tanner.
Captain John Gorman served in King Philip’s war in the
winter of 1675, where he was injured when his powder horn, attached to his
belt, exploded. Then he was exposed to
harsh weather and developed a fever. He
was brought to Wannamoisett in Rhode Island to the farm of John Brown. He died there, and was buried on the Brown
farm in the burial plot on 7 March 1675.
His wife is also buried with him.
Their daughter, Desire Gorham (1644 – 1700) is my 10th
great grandmother. She married John
Hawes in 1661. He was a “cutler” by occupation,
and an ensign in the militia. They lived in Yarmouth, on Cape Cod. By 1700 John Hawes was appointed Captain of the militia. He served in the
legislature in Boston in 1698. John Hawes died after having his leg
amputated. I descend from their eldest
child, Elizabeth Hawes (1662 – about 1732), my 9th great grandmother,
who married Thomas Daggett of Martha’s Vineyard.
Some Gorham genealogy resources:
John Howland of the Mayflower:
Volume I: Documented Descendants Through His First Child Desire Howland and her
Husband Captain John Gorham, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990.
Capt. John Gorham of Barnstable,
Mass., compiled by Henry S. Gorham, 1931, 18 volumes
"Gorham Family," Boston Evening Transcript, (in their famous genealogy query column)
15 May 1916
Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, by Amos Otis,
Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1991
"Howland History Still Lives in Wannamoisett," by
Clinton W. Sellew, The Howland Quarterly,
Vol. 64, No. 1, pp 10-11, March 1999
My GORHAM lineage:
Generation 1: John Gorham, born about 1620 in England, died
5 February 1675 in Swansea (now East Providence, Rhode Island); married on 6
November 1644 in Barnstable, Massachusetts to Desire Howland, daughter of two
Mayflower passengers – John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley. She was born 13 October 1623 in Plymouth, and
died 13 October 1683 in Barnstable. Eleven children.
Generation 2: Desire Gorham, born 2 April 1644 in Plymouth,
died 30 June 1700 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts; married on 7 October 1661 in
Barnstable, Massachusetts to John Hawes, son of Edmund Hawes. He was born about 1635 in Duxbury,
Massachusetts, and died 11 November 1701 in Yarmouth. Eleven children.
Generation 3:
Elizabeth Hawes m. Thomas Daggett
Generation 4:
Elizabeth Daggett m. John Butler
Generation 5: Keziah
Butler m. Samuel Osborn
Generation 6: Samuel
Osborn m. Sarah Wass
Generation 7: Sarah Osborn m. Charles Skinner
Generation 8: Ann Skinner m. Thomas Ratchford Lyons
Generation 9: Isabella Lyons m. Rev. Ingraham Ebenezer Bill
Generation 10: Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman
Generation 11: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe
Wilkinson
Generation 12: Donald
Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts
My HOWLAND "Surname Saturday" blog post:
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ GORHAM of
Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy,
posted August 26, 2017, (
I just found out the family I have been living with for over twenty years are descended from Desire and John Gorhan. Iʻm from Desireʻs sister Elizabeth.
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