Surname Saturday ~ HOWLAND, A Mayflower Passenger

The Jabez Howland House in Plymouth, Massachusetts
home of John Howland's son. 

John Howland is my 11^th and 10^th great grandfather because I descend from two of his daughters. He was the famous passenger on board the Mayflower in 1620 who almost lost his life when he fell overboard during a storm.  Thankfully, he was saved with a rope and a boat hook, thus ensuring thousands, and perhaps millions of descendants.   The only first person account of this event reads that “a lusty young man called John Howland, coming upon some occasion above the gratings was, with a seele of the ship, thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards which hung overboard and ran out at length. Yet he held his hold (though he was sundry fathoms under water) till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with boat hook and other means got into the ship again and his life saved. And though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth." [from Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford]

The Mayflower passengers are among some of the most studied and researched immigrants to America, and you can read much about them in books, scholarly journals and online.  I will summarize some of that research in a few paragraphs, and list some of the best genealogical sources below. John Howland was a cooper, who came aboard the Mayflower as a young servant to John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.  He was one of the 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact, and he is buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

John Howland was married about 1623 to Elizabeth Tilley, who was only about fifteen during her passage to Plymouth on board the Mayflower.  Elizabeth’s parents, John Tilley and Joan Hurst died that first winter in New England, 1620 – 1621, and Governor Carver became her guardian.  However, Governor Carver, died in April 1621 and his wife died in May 1621, which made John Howland the head of the Carver household, which included Mrs. Carver’s daughter Desire Minter (by her first marriage).  John and Elizabeth Howland named their first child (my ancestor) after Desire (see below).

John and Elizabeth Howland raised ten children at their home in Rocky Nook, which was part of Plymouth but is now in the town of Kingston, Massachusetts.  John’s brothers, Henry and Arthur Howland both came to New England and left descendants, too.  Famous descendants of John and Elizabeth Howland include Presidents George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as the writers Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, actors Christopher Lloyd, Humphrey Bogart, Stephen Baldwin, and the founder of the LDS church Joseph Smith.  Henry Howland is the ancestor of presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.  Arthur Howland is the ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill.  

In the second generation I descend from sisters Desire (1623 – 1683) and Hope (1629 – 1684).  Desire married Captain John Gorham in 1644.  He was a tanner who lived in Barnstable on Cape Cod, and he owned a grist mill.  He served in King Philip’s war where he contracted a fever and died in 1675.  Hope Howland married John Chipman in 1646.  He arrived from England on board the Friendship with Isaac Allerton (one of my other Mayflower ancestors) as a servant to Richard Derby.  He became a resident of Barnstable and an elder of the church. (See the lineages listed below)

HOWLAND resources:

The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620 – 1633, by Robert Charles Anderson, 1995, Volume II, pages 1020 – 1024 for John Howland, and pages 1016 – 1019 for Henry Howland.

John Howland of the Mayflower: Volume 1, the First Five Generations, Documented Descendants Through his First Child Desire Howland and her Husband Captain John Gorham, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990.

John Howland of the Mayflower: Volume III: Documented Descendants Through His Third Child Hope Howland, Wife of John Chipman, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990

Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620 - 1647, by William Bradford (many editions)

The History of Arthur, Henry and John Howland and Their Descendants, by Franklyn Howland. 

The Pilgrim John Howland Society (Family Association) http://www.pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/  

The English origins of the three HOWLAND brothers are in an article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 75, pages 105 – 116, and 2016 – 225.

For children, The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower: Or John Howland’s Good Fortune, by P. J. Lynch, 2015, (the story is good, but the illustrations portray John Howland in 1620 as a boy instead of the being “of age” and old enough to sign the Mayflower Compact).

My HOWLAND genealogy (two lineages):

Generation 1:  John Howland, son of Henry Howland and Margaret Aires, born about 1592 in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England, died 23 February 1673 at Rocky Nook, Plymouth; married about 1623 in Plymouth to Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley and Joan Hurst, born 30 August 1607 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England and died 21 December 1687 in Swansea, Massachusetts.  Ten children (I descend from Hope and Desire):

Lineage A:

Generation 2: Hope Howland, born 30 August 1629 in Plymouth, died 8 January 1684 in Barnstable, Massachusetts; married 13 September 1646 in Plymouth to John Chipman as his first wife.  He was the son of Thomas Chipman, born about 1620 in Bryant’s Puddle, Dorsetshire, England, and died 8 January 1709 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Twelve children.

Generation 3:  Hannah Chipman, born 14 January 1659 in Plymouth, died 4 November 1696 in Barnstable; married on 1 May 1680 in Barnstable to Thomas Huckins as his first wife.  He was the son of Thomas Huckins and Rose Unknown,  born 25 April 1651 in Barnstable, and died before 15 October 1714 in Barnstable. Nine children.

Generation 4: Hope Huckins, born 21 September 1689 in Barnstable, died after 4 January 1730 in Barnstable; married first to Benjamin Hamblin (4 children), son of John Hamblin and Sarah Bearse, born 11 February 1687 in Barnstable, died before 8 March 1718; married second to Ebenezer Childs, son of Richard Childs and Elizabeth Crocker, born March 1691 in Barnstable, died 17 January 1756 in Barnstable (2 children).

Generation 5: Hannah Hamblin, born about 1714 in Barnstable, died 26 July 1791 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; married before 7 March 1734 to Jonathan Crosby, son of John Crosby and Hannah Bangs, born 2 November 1705 in Harwich, Massachusetts, and died 26 July 1782 in Yarmouth.  Eleven children.

Generation 6: Ebenezer Crosby, born 26 August 1747 in Mansfield, Connecticut, died 26 February 1826 in Yarmouth; married on 8 September 1774 in Chebogue, Nova Scotia to Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of Jabez Robinson and Tabitha Green.  She was born 17 June 1750 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and died 27 July 1837 in Nova Scotia.  Eleven children.

Generation 7:  Rebecca Crosby, born 19 December 1789 in Yarmouth, died 1889 in Nova Scotia; married 12 August 1808 in Chebogue to Comfort Haley, son of Comfort Haley and Abigail Allen.  He was born 9 October 1787 in Chebogue and died 3 December 1874 in Chebogue. Eleven children.

Generation 8:  Joseph Edwin Healy, born 12 August 1823 in Belfast, Maine or Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, died 17 June 1862 at the Battle of Saint Charles, Arkansas during the Civil War; married on 3 February 1848 to Matilda Weston, daughter of Zadoc Weston and Mary Clements.  She was born October 1825 in Yarmouth, and died 19 August 1909 at 43 Bartlett Street, Beverly, Massachusetts.  Four children.

Generation 9: Mary Etta Healey, born 19 May 1852 in Beverly, died 23 July 1932 in Beverly; married on 14 March 1870 in Salem, Massachusetts to Peter Hoogerzeil, so of Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone.  He was born 24 June 1841 in Beverly, and died 10 May 1908 in Beverly. Six children.

Generation 10:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, son of Abijah Franklin Hitchings and Hannah Eliza Lewis.  He was born 10 May 1869 in Salem, and died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton. Eight children.

Generation 11:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, died 3 November 2001 in Peabody, Massachusetts; married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton to Stanley Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Carrie Maude Batchelder.  He was born 14 January 1904 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly.  Seven children. (My grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 2: Desire Howland, born 13 October 1623 in Plymouth, died 13 October 1683 in Barnstable; married on 6 November 1644 in Barnstable to John Gorham, son of Ralph Gorham and Margaret Stephenson.  He was born 28 January 1620 in Benefield, Northamptonshire, England, and died 5 February 1675 in Swansea. Eleven children.

Generation 3:  Desire Gorham, born 2 April 1644 in Plymouth, died 30 June 1700 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts; married on 7 October 1661 in Barnstable 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 4:  Elizabeth Hawes, born 5 October 1662 in Yarmouth, died between 25 December 1732 and 13 February 1734 in Edgartown, Massachusetts; married on 22 January 1684 in Bristol, Rhode Island to Thomas Daggett, so of Thomas Daggett and Hannah Mayhew.  He was born about 1658 in Bristol, and died 28 August 1726 in Edgartown.  Ten children.

Generation 5: Elizabeth Daggett, born about 1690 in Edgartown, died after 1753; married 16 December 1708 in Edgartown to John Butler, son of John Butler and Priscilla Norton.  He was born about 1674 and died after 6 February 1754.  Six children.

Generation 6:  Keziah Butler, born 1710 in Edgartown, died October 1768 in Edgartown; married on 9 September 1731 in Edgartown to Samuel Osborn, son of Samuel Osborn and Mercy Norton.  He was born about 1711 in Edgartown and died after 8 October 1753.  Ten children.

Generation 7:  Samuel Osborn, born 1732 in Edgartown, probably died in Nova Scotia; married on 28 April 1755 in Martha’s Vineyard to Sarah Wass, daughter of Wilmot Wass and Rebecca Allen.  She was born 24 January 1738 in West Tisbury, Massachusetts; and died 23 February 1813 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  Five children.

Generation 8:  Sarah Osborn, born 22 July 1760 in Fredricton, New Brunswick, died 15 January 1848 in Pleasant Valley, Cornwallis; married on 24 November 1774 in Passamoquoddy to Charles Skinner, son of Aaron Skinner and Eunice Taintor.  He was born 3 January 1748/9 in Colchester, Connecticut, and died before 1837 in Nova Scotia.  Fifteen children.

Generation 9: Ann Skinner, born 9 March 1786 in Cornwallis, died 19 October 1815 in Cornwallis; married on 30 September 1802 in Cornwallis to Thomas Ratchford Lyons, son of David Lyons and Elizabeth Ratchford.  He was born 3 March 1780 in Cornwallis, and died 3 September 1859 in New Brunswick.  Six children.

Generation 10: Isabella Lyons, born 28 January 1806 in Cornwallis, died April 1872 in Carleton, New Brunswick; married on 20 April 1826 in Annapolis County to the Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill as his first wife.  He was the son of Asahel Bill and Mary Rand,  born 19 February 1805 in Billtown, Cornwallis, and died 4 August 1891 in St. Martin’s, New Brunswick.  Five children.

Generation 11: Caleb Rand Bill, born 30 May 1833 in Nictaux, Cornwallis, died 30 December 1902 in Salem, Massachusetts; married 7 June 1858 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Ann Margaret Bollman, daughter of Bremner  Frederick Bollman and Sarah Elizabeth Lennox.  She was born 11 September 1835 in Lunenburg, and died 1923 in Salem.  Nine children.

Generation 12:  Isabella Lyons Bill, born January 1863 in Machias  Maine, died on 19 January 1935 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 18 October Salem, Massachusetts to Albert Munroe Wilkinson, son of Robert Wilson Wilkinson and Phebe Cross Munroe.  He was born 7 November 1860 in Danvers, Massachusetts and died 12 May 1908 at the Corey Hill Hospital, Brookline, Massachusetts.  Two children.

Generation 13: Donald Munroe Wilkinson, born 23 October 1895 in Salem, died 24 July 1977 in Long Beach, California; married on 26 November 1926 in Beverly to Bertha Louise Roberts, daughter of John Peter Bawden Roberts and Emma Frances Warren.  She was born 30 September 1897 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England and died 17 March 1990 in Long Beach.  Three sons. (my grandparents)

I have posted another Mayflower lineage, the ALLERTON family:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/07/surname-saturday-allerton-mayflower.html  

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ HOWLAND, A Mayflower Passenger”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 19, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-howland-mayflower.html: accessed [access date]).