John Howland, Mayflower Passenger, died 1673 - Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

Here ended the Pilgrimage of

JOHN HOWLAND

who died February 23, 1672/3

aged above 80 years.

He married Elizabeth daughter of

JOHN TILLEY

who came with him in the 

Mayflower Dec. 1620.

From them are descended a 

numerous posterity.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hee was a godly man and an ancient

professor in the wayes of Christ.  Hee was

one of the first comers into this land and

was the last man that was left of those

that came over in the Shipp called the

Mayflower that lived in Plyouth."

                      Plymouth Records.

John Howland is my 10th great grandfather, and was a Mayflower passenger.  His wife, Elizabeth Tilley, was also a young passenger on board the Mayflower, along with her parents, brother, aunt and uncle.  She was left an orphan when they all died that first winter, and married John Howland three years later in the new Plymouth Colony.  They had ten children.  You can read all about my lineage from John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley HERE.  Elizabeth Tilley was buried in Swansea, Massachusetts, where she went to live with her daughter Lydia when she was widowed. NOTE: This burial ground in what was once Swansea, Massachusetts is now East Providence, Rhode Island [thank you to reader Andrew Whipple for this edit!] 

This is the second known tombstone for John Howland.  It is unknown if any type of marker, stone or wooden, was place on his grave site in 1673.  Around 1844 a simple marker was erected, and then replaced with this current, more elaborate memorial stone in 1897.  

For the truly curious:

Surname Saturday - Howland -   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-howland-mayflower.html  

A blog post about Rocky Nook, the homesite of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley in Duxbury, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/rocky-nook-site-of-mayflower-passenger.html   

Find A Grave, John Howland -  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6613808/john-howland  

A story about the two known grave markers for John Howland at Burial Hill in Plymouth -   https://pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/The_history_of_John__Elizabeth_and_Yet_Mercy__s_Headstones    

---------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "John Howland, Mayflower Passenger, died 1673  - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 21, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/02/john-howland-mayflower-passenger-died.html: accessed [access date]).