Notes:
John Howland was one of the more famous of the Pilgrims. A great deal has been written about this man, not alone for his importance to the survival of the Plymouth Colony, but as much for the fact that tens of thousands of American citizens owe their very existence to him whether they know it or not. And those that know it have sought to learn as much about him as possible. Below are selections from some of the more significant writings of history concerning him. (John Howland is the 7th great grandfather of Winfield Dyer Gallup.)
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From: "The Descendants of John Howland of the Mayflower for Five Generations", Vol.1
by Elizabeth Pearson White. Pub 1990
John Howland of Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire [now Cambridgeshire], England, a passenger on the famous ship "Mayflower", which sailed from Plymouth, England, in the autumn of 1620, was the indentured manservant of Mr. John Carver, a wealthy Londoner, who became the first governor of the New Plimoth Colony in Massachusetts. On 11 November 1620, as the ship lay at anchor in Cape Cod Bay, John Howland was the thirteenth man to sign the "Mayflower Compact", the agreement which laid the foundation for the new town that the able-bodied men aboard the "Mayflower" planned to create when the group landed in what was to become Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The son of Henry and Margaret Howland, John Howland was born about 1592 and grew up in Fenstanton, a town about nine miles northwest of Cambridge on the old Roman Road. No batismal record has been found for John Howland but he was said to have been "above eighty years" when he died at Rocky Nook, Kingston, near Plymouth, 23 February 1672. His father, Henry Howland, yeoman, died in Fenstanton 17 May 1635, and his mother, Margaret, was buried there 31 July 1629.
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From: "The Pilgrim Republic" by John A Goodwin. Pub. 1888
The " lusty young man " whom the "Mayflowers" people fished out of the sea with a boat-book (p. 58) soon became a leader. He was an assistant in 1613-4-5, and so late as 1670 was serving his seventeenth year as deputy from Plymouth. He is credited with a military-turn, and in the Hocking affair showed himself a chivalrous commander. As in the height of the Quaker troubles he was dropped from the General Court, there is reason to think that he, like the other Howlands, was found too liberal for the times. Yet his high standing in their church was shown at Cotton's ordination in 1669, when four visiting clergy conducted the exercises and Elder Cushman preached, while the church-members appointed Howland as their proxy to join in the laying-on of hands.
This old Pilgrim died March 5, 1673 (N. S.) [error], at the age of eighty. Two days later he was buried "with honor," says the record, which adds that he was "a godly man," who had proved " a useful instrument of good in his place."' The graves of his posterity forming a clue to his own, a stone was erected there half a century ago by his great-great-grandson John Howland, a soldier of the Revolution, and long the honored president of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Unfortunately, the good man was led by tradition into the misstatement that the Pilgrim's wife was Governor Carver's daughter. It will be remembered (p. 182) that she was the child of John and Bridget [error, mother was Joan Hurst] Tilley and was left an orphan when fourteen years old, which was thirteen years less than Howland's age. She was married before the land division of 1624, and her son John was born Feb. 24, 1626 (N. S.). She survived her husband, and spent the last of her days with her children, James and Lydia Brown, of Swansea, where she was buried in 1687. Howland was the last signer of the " Compact" who remained at Plymouth; but at Duxbury, Soule and Alden both survived.
It was formerly thought that Howland was son of John Howland, "gentleman and salter" of London; but it is now found that the latter had no posterity of his name beyond grandsons.
[See "Ancestral Summary", below, for later research.]
On the Penobscot is the town of Howland, named for the Pilgrim by a worthy descendant, Major William Hammatt, of Bangor, who bought the land from the natives. In 1775, when a provincial mail was established between Boston and Falmouth, via Plymouth, the two post-riders were Timothy Goodwin and Joseph Howland.
["The Pilgrim Republic" pgs. 507-508]
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ANCESTRAL SUMMARY:
The ancestry of John Howland is discussed in John Howland of the Mayflower through Desire Howland for Five Generations", Vol. 1, by Elizabeth Pearson White [As of this time, 2000, this is the definitive reference on John Howland's ancestry and descendants. A copy is in my (LWG) possession].
John Howland is the son of Henry and Margaret Howland of Fenstanton, Huntingdon, England. Henry died on 17 May 1635 in Fenstanton, and Margaret was buried on 31 July 1629. Besides son John, who came on the Mayflower, they also had Humphrey, Arthur, Henry, George, and Margaret. Henry came to Plymouth sometime before 1633, and Arthur came sometime before 1640. For information on Arthur Howland, see the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 71:84+, and for information on Henry Howland see NGSQ 75:105-116, 216-225.
John Howland is an ancestor to former President George W. Bush, and to First Lady Edith (Carrow) Roosevelt (Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt). Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford are descendants of John Howland's brother Henry. Winston Churchill is descended from John Howland's brother Arthur.BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY:
From References:--Howland Family by Franklyn Howland, 1885; Colonial Families of the U. S., Rhoades, vol. 7, 1920; 160 Allied Families, Austin, 1893; Society Col. Wars, 1922.
John Howland came to America (Plymouth) in the Mayflower in 1620 as the servant of John Carver. During the passage he was thrown overboard by a heavy sea. The following account describing this incidence was written by William Bradford, political leader of the Pilgrim Colony:
"In sundry of these storms the winds were so fierce and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to hull for divers days together. And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull in a mighty storm, 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."
John was in the "First Encounter" with the Indians at Great Meadow Creek, three days before the landing of the Pilgrims. He was the thirteenth of the forty-one signers of the Mayflower compact and in 1627 he was one of the eight undertakers who assumed the debts and management of the colony. He was governor's assistant, 1633-35; in command of Kennebec Trading Post, 1634; deputy to General Court, 1641, and later. His tax in 1633 was 18s, the same as that of Myles Standish. It was written of him "He was a godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ."
John was a brother of Humphrey Howland who was a citizen and draper of London. Humphrey's will, which was proved July 10, 1646, by his wife Anne, mentions his brothers Arthur, John and Henry, his sister Margaret Phillips, nephew Simon Howland, and sister Hannah Howland. The brothers Arthur, John and Henry were in Scrooby, Eng., in 1608; were a year in Amsterdam, and then in Leyden until they emigrated to New England. The brother Henry died in 1671; he married Mary Newland.
Desire Minter, a Mayflower passenger age 15 - 17 (?), caught the eye of a young man named John Howland but she didn't like America and went back to England within a few years. John Howland married Elizabeth Tilley but named his first daughter Desire.
The obituary for John Howland is a part of the Plymouth Colony Records. It reads in part: "The 23th of February Mr. John Howland Senir of the Towne of Plymouth Deceased...Hee lived untilhee attained about eighty yeares in the world...and was the last man that was left of those that Came over in the shipp Called the May Flower, that lived in Plymouth hee was with honor Intered att the Towne of Plymout on the 25th of February 1672."
The will of John Howland, dated May 29, 1672, names his wife Elizabeth, executrix; sons John, Jabez, Joseph and "youngest son Isaac," daughters Desire Gorham, Hope Chipman, Elizabeth Dickarson, Lydia Brown, Hannah Bosworth and Ruth Cushman. His widow spent her widowhood at the home of her daughter Lydia Brown, and died at Swanzey, May 12,1687.
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From "The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical", by the American Historical Society, Inc., 1920:
John Howland, son of Humphrey and Annie Howland [error - see White, above], held to the original faith of the Puritans, and was an officer of Rev. John Cotton's church, and a staunch adherent of the orthodox faith until his death, while Arthur and Henry, his brothers, were Quakers. John Howland's was the thirteenth name on the list of forty-one signers of the "Compact" in the cabin of the "Mayflower," in Cape Cod Harbor, November 1620 [See copy below]. At this time he was twenty-eight years of age, and according to Prince was a member of Governor Carver's family. How this came about is not known, but it is probable that Carver saw elements in his character which led him to supply young Howland's wants for the journey to America, and to cause him to be considered one of the family.
That he possessed sound judgment and business capacity is shown by the active duties which he assumed, and the trust which was reposed in him in all the early labors of establishing a settlement. While the "Mayflower" was yet in Cape Cod Harbor, ten of "her principal" men were "sente out" in a boat manned by eight sailors, to select a place for landing; among them was John Howland. A storm drove them into Plymouth Harbor and Plymouth was selected as the place of settlement. The first mention of John Howland in the old Plymouth Colony records is on a list of freemen; and in an enumeration of the members of the Governor's "council" of seven, of which he is the third. In 1633 or 1634 he was an assessor; was selectman of Plymouth in 1666, and was chosen deputy of the same town, in 1652-56-58-61-62-66-67-70. He was elected to public office once for the last time on June 2, 1670, at which time he was nearly eighty years of age.
Besides these public positions of honor and trust, he was very often selected to lay out and appraise land, to run highways, to settle disputes, and to serve on committees of every description. He was not only full of zeal for the temporal welfare of the colony, but gave powerful encouragement to a high standard of morals and religion, so much so that he is recorded as "a godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ." It is shown that he was active in Christian work, for Governor Bradford notes that he became "a profitable member both in Church and Commonwealth," and it appears that at the ordination of John Cotton, Jr., in 1667, John Howland "was appointed by the church to join in the imposition of hands." He lived at what was called Rocky Nook, where he died February 1672-73.
John Howland married Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley, and ward of Governor Carver, into whose family she was taken at the death of her father and mother, when she was about fourteen years of age. She died December 21, 1687, aged eighty years, in Swanzey, Mass., at the home of her daughter, Lydia Brown, and was the last but three of the "Mayflower" passengers to die. Their children were: 1. Desire, born Oct. 13, 1623, in Barnstable; married, in 1643, Captain John Gorham. 2. John, horn in Plymouth, Feb. 24, 1627. 3. Jabez, of whom further. 4. Hope, born Aug. 30, 1629; died Jan. 8, 1684; married, in 1646, John Chipman. 5. Elizabeth, married (first) Sept. 13, 1649, Ephraim Hicks, of Plymouth, who died Dec. 2, 1649; married (second) July 10, 1651, John Dickarson, of Plymouth, 6. Lydia, married James Brown, and settled in Swanzey. 7. Ruth, married, Nov. 17, 1664, Thomas Cushman. 8. Hannah, married, July 6, 1661, Jonathan Bosworth. 9. Joseph, died in Jan., 1704. 10. Isaac, born Nov. 16, 1649; died March 9, 1724; married Elizabeth Vaughn, born in 1652; died Oct. 29, 1727.
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JOHN HOWLAND'S WILL AND INVENTORY.
Transcribed from the original records,
BY GEORGE ERNEST BOWMANJohn Howland died at Plymouth [in Rocky Nook, now part of Kingston], on the twenty third of February 1672 - 3 and his will and inventory were recorded in the Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories, Volume III, Part I, pages 49 to 54.
[p. 49] The Last Will and Testament of mr John howland of Plymouth late Deceased, exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth the fift Day of March Anno Dom 1672 on the oathes of mr Samuell ffuller and mr Willam Crow as followeth
Know all men to whom these prsents shall Come That I John howland senir of the Towne of New Plymouth in the Collonie of New Plymouth in New England in America, this twenty ninth Day of May one thousand six hundred seaventy and two being of whole mind, and in Good and prfect memory and Remembrance praised be God; being now Grown aged; haveing many Infeirmities of body upon mee; and not Knowing how soon God will call mee out of this world, Doe make and ordaine these prsents to be my Testament Containing herein my last Will in manor and forme following;Imp I Will and bequeath my body to the Dust and my soule to God that Gave it in hopes of a Joyfull Resurrection unto Glory; and as Concerning my temporall estate, I Dispose therof as followeth;
Item I Doe give and bequeath unto John howland my eldest sonne besides what lands I have already given him, all my Right and Interest To that one hundred acrees of land graunted mee by the Court lying on the eastern side of Taunton River; between Teticutt and Taunton bounds and all the appurtenances and privilidges Therunto belonging, I belonge to him and his heires and assignes for
ever; and if that Tract should faile, then to have all my Right title and Interest by and in that Last Court graunt to mee in any other place, To belonge to him his heires and assignes for ever;Item I give and bequeath unto my son Jabez howland all those my upland and Meddow That I now posesse at Satuckett and Paomett, and places adjacent, with all the appurtenances and privilidges, belonging therunto, and all my right title and Interest therin, To belonge to him his heires and assignes
for ever,Item I Give and bequeath unto my son Jabez howland all that my one peece of land that I have lying on the southsyde of the Mill brooke, in the Towne of Plymouth aforsaid; be it more or lesse; and is on the Northsyde of a feild that is now Gyles Rickards senir To belonge to the said Jabez his heires and assignes for ever;
Item I give and bequeath into Isacke howland my youngest sonne all those my uplands and meddowes Devided and undivided with all the appurtenances and priviliges unto them belonging, lying and being in the Towne of Middlebery, and in a tract of Land Called the Majors Purchase neare Namassakett Ponds; which I have bought and purchased of Willam White of Marshfeild in the Collonie of New Plymouth; which may or shall appeer by any Deed or writing that is Given under the said Whites hand all such Deeds or writinges Together with the aformensioned prticulares To belonge to the said Isacke his heires and assignes for ever;
Item I give and bequeath unto my said son Isacke howland the one halfe of my twelve acree lott of Meddow That I now have att Winnatucsett River within the Towne of Plymouth aforsaid To belonge to him the said Isacke howland his heires and assignes for ever,
Item I Will and bequeath unto my Deare and loveing wife Elizabeth howland the use and benifitt of my now Dwelling house in Rockey nooke in the Township of Plymouth aforsaid, with the outhousing lands, That is uplands [p. 50] uplands and meadow lands and all appurtenances and privilidges therunto belonging in the Towne of Plymouth and all other Lands housing and meddowes that I have in the said Towne of Plymouth excepting what meadow and upland I have before given To my sonnes Jabez and Isacke howland During her naturall life to Injoy make use of and Improve for her benifitt and Comfort;
Item I Give and bequeath unto my son Joseph howland after the Decease of my loveing wife Elizabeth howland my aforsaid Dwelling house att Rockey nooke together with all the outhousing uplands and Meddowes appurtenances and privilidges belonging therunto; and all other housing uplands and meddowes appurtenances and privilidges That I have within the aforsaid Towne of New Plymouth excepting what lands and meadowes I have before Given To my two sonnes Jabez and Isacke; To belong to him the said Joseph howland To him and his heires and assignes for ever;
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Desire Gorum twenty shillings
Item I Give and bequeath To my Daughter hope Chipman twenty shillings
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Dickenson twenty shillings
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Lydia Browne twenty shillings
Item I Give & bequeath to my Daughter hannah Bosworth twenty shillings
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Ruth Cushman twenty shillings
Item I Give to my Grandchild Elizabeth howland The Daughter of my son John howland twenty shillingsItem my will is That these legacyes Given to my Daughters, be payed by my exequitrix in such species as shee thinketh meet; Item I will and bequeath unto my loveing wife Elizabeth howland, my Debts and legacyes being first payed, my whole estate: viz: lands houses goods Chattles; or any thinge else that belongeth or appertaineth unto mee, undisposed of be it either in Plymouth Duxburrow or Middlbery or any other place whatsoever; I Doe freely and absolutly give and bequeath it all to my Deare and loveing wife Elizabeth howland whom I Doe by these prsents, make ordaine and Constitute to be the sole exequitrix of this my Last will and Testament to see the same truely and faithfully prformed according to the tenour therof; In witnes wherof the said John howland senir have heerunto sett my hand and seale the aforsaid twenty ninth Day of May, one thousand six hundred seaventy and two 1672. Signed and sealed in the John howland prsence of Samuell ffuller And a seale Willam Crow.
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Concerning the year of John Howland's birth, Caleb Johnson, a well regarded compiler/researcher of Mayflower families, has the following interesting analysis:
"The traditional date that has been ascribed to John Howland's birth is 'about 1592', and this has never really been questioned. However, a birth about 1599 is clearly a better estimate for the following reasons:
>> John Howland is called a 'manservant' in William Bradford's passenger list. Servants were contracted out until the age of 25. Thus, Howland must have been under 25 in 1620, meaning he had to have been born after 1595. Since Howland signed the Mayflower Compact, he must have been born sometime before 1600 to have been legally old enough to sign.
>> John Howland's wife was born in 1607, and it is most unlikely that he, at the age of 32, married a 17 year old girl as his first wife. Most men married about age 25, and since his marriage occurred about 1624, this would place his likely birth at 1599.
>> John Howland's last child was born in 1649. If the 1592 date were accepted, he would have fathered a child at the age of 57, a most unlikely circumstance.
>> William Bradford writes in his journal that John Howland was a 'lusty young man' in 1620. It is unlikely that Bradford would call a 28-year old a "young man". The only other person Bradford called a "young man" in 1620 was John Alden, who was born in 1599."
The problem with this is, of course, that it yields an age of 73 for John at his death and this is far too low to be compatible with the lore that he was "above eighty years" at death.* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Mayflower Compact
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We whose names are
underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign
Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great
Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and
advancement of the Christian faith and honour of our
King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in
the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents
solemly and mutually in the presence of God, and one
of another, covenant and combine ourselves together
into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and
preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid;
and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meet and convenient for the general
good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due
submission and obedience.IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunder subscribed
our names at Cape Cod the 11 of November, in the
year of the reign of our sovereign Lord, King James of
England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of
Scotland the fifty-fourth Ano. Dom. 1620[All the men of the Mayflower signed this document, John Howland being the thirteenth signer.]
Notes:
Elizabeth Tilley came to America aboard the ship Mayflower in 1620. She was 13 years old and came with her father & mother, uncle & aunt, and future husband and his parents. The discredited story that John Howland's wife was an "Elizabeth" who was a daughter of Gov. Carver may have arisen because Elizabeth Tilley, Howland's actual wife, became the ward of John Carver when her parents, aunt and uncle all died during the first terrible winter of 1621. She was definitely NOT Carver's daughter.....her parentage is clear....her parents were on the Mayflower as well, and so listed. Her lineage is traced back to about 1465 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England.
Elizabeth died at Swansea on Wednesday, 21/31 December 1687, at the house of her daughter Lydia, the wife of James Brown. Her will is recorded in the Bristol County, MA, Probate Records, Vol. I, pages 13 & 14. No inventory is on record and the original will has disappeared from the files.Last Will & Testament of Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland, 1686.
In ye Name of God Amen I Elizabeth Howland of Swanzey in ye County of Bristoll in ye Collony of Plymouth in New Engld being Seventy nine yeares of Age but of good & perfect memory thanks be to Allmighty God & calling to Remembrance ye uncertain Estate of this transitory Life & that all fflesh must Yeild unto Death when it shall please God to call Doe make constitute & ordaine &Declare This my last Will & Testament, in manner & forme following Revoking a Anulling by these prsents all & every Testamt & Testamts Will & Wills heretofore by me made & declared either by Word or Writing And this to be taken only for mylast Will & Testament & none other. And first being penitent & sorry from ye bottom of my heart for all my sinns past most humbly desiring forgivenesse for ye same I give & Committ my soule unto Allmighty God my Savior & redeemer in whome & by ye meritts of Jesus Christ I trust & believe assuredly to be saved & to have full remission & forgivenesse of all my sins & that my Soule wt my Body at the generall Day of Resurrection shall rise againe wt Joy & through ye meritts of Christs Death & passion possesse & inheritt ye Kingdome of heaven prepared for his Elect & Chosen & my Body to be buryed in such place where it shall please my Executrs hereafter named to appoint And now for ye settling my temporall Estate & such goodes Chattells & Debts as it hath pleased God far above my Deserts to bestow upon me I Do Dispose order & give ye same in manner & for me following (That is to say) First that after my funerall Expences & Debts paid wc I owe either of right or in Conscience to any manner of person or persons whatsoever in Convenient tyme after my Decease by my Execrs hereafter namedI Give & bequeath unto my Eldest Son John Howland ye sum of five pounds to be paid out of my Estate & my Booke called Mr Tindale's Workes & also one pair of sheetes & one pr of pillowbeeres & one pr of Bedblanketts,
Item, I give unto my son Joseph Howland my Stillyards & also one pr of sheetes & one pr of pillobeeres
Item, I give unto my son Jabez Howland my ffetherbed & boulster yt is in his Custody & also one Rugg & two Blanketts yt belongeth to ye said Bed & also my great Iron pott & potthookes
Item, I give unto my son Isaack Howland my Booke called Willson on ye Romanes & one pr of sheetes & one paire of pillowbeeres & also my great Brasse Kettle already in his possession
Item, I give unto my Son in Law Mr James Browne my great Bible
Item, I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Lidia Browne my best ffeatherbed & Boulster two pillowes & three Blanketts & a green Rugg & my small Cupboard one pr of AndyIrons & my lesser brasse Kettle & my small Bible & my booke of mr Robbinsons Workes called Observations Divine & Morrall & allso my finest pr of Sheetes & my holland pillowbeeres,
Item, I give unto my Daughter Elisabeth Dickenson one pr of Sheetes & one pr of pillowbeeres & one Chest
Item, I give unto my Daughter Hannah Bosworth one pr of sheets & one pr of pillowbeeres,
Item, I give unto my Grand Daughter Elizabeth Bursley one paire of sheets and one paire of Pillowbeeres
Item, I give & bequeath unto my Grandson Nathaniel Howland (the son of Joseph Howland) and to the heires of his owne Body lawfully begotten for ever all that my Lott of Land with ye Meadow thereunto adjoyning & belonging lying in the Township of Duxbury neare Jones River bridge,
Item, I give unto my Grandson James Browne One Iron barr and on Iron Trammell now in his possession,
Item, I give unto my Grandson Jabez Browne one Chest
Item, I give unto my Grand Daughter Dorothy Browne my best Chest & my Warming pan
Item, I give unto my Grand Daughter Desire Cushman four Sheep,
Item, I give & bequeath my wearing clothes linnen and Woollen and all the rest of my Estate in mony Debts linnen or of what kind or nature or sort soever it may be unto my three Daughters Elisabeth Dickenson, Lidia Browne and Hannah Bosworth to be equally Devided amongst them,
Item, I make constitute and ordaine my loving Son in Law James Browne and my loving son Jabez Howland Executors of this my last Will and Testament,
Item, It is my Will & Charge to all my Children that they walke in ye Feare of ye Lord, and in Love and peace towards each other and endeavour the true performance of this my last Will & Testament In Witnesse whereof I the said Elizabeth Howland have hereunto sett my hand & seale this seventeenth Day of December Anno Dm one thousand six hundred Eighty & six.The mark of Elizabeth E H Howland
Signed Sealed & Delivd in ye prsence of us Wittnesses
Hugh Cole
Samuel Vyall
John Browne
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One of the early attempts to establish the ancestry of Elizabeth Tilley's ancestry is the following, excerpted from an article in "The Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 10, No. 2 of April 1908 by George Ernest Bowman:
Elizabeth Tilley came in the Mayflower With her father, John Tilley, and later married John Howland. The date of her marriage is unknown, but her son John Howland, born 24 February 1626/7, and her daughter Desire Howland, whose birth date is unknown [in 1908], were both living on 22 May, 1627. Unless these children were twins, which seems unlikely from the meager data obtainable, Desire must have been born as early as February 1625/6. Whether or not they were twins, it is certain that on 24 February 1626/7, Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland was the mother of two children. In her will, dated 17 December 1686, she called herself "Seventy nine yeares of Age but of good & perfect memory," thus fixing her own birth date as about 1607 or 1608. As the statement of the will is supported by the known facts regarding her children, and nothing has been found which casts any doubt upon it, we must accept it as correct. But even if we did not have the statement of the will by which to fix the age of Elizabeth Tilley, it is evident that she must have been born before 3 March 1615, otherwise she would have become the mother of two children before she was twelve years of age. Since Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland was born before 3 March 1615, she could not have been a daughter either of Jan Tellij " or of "Prijntgen Van den Velde" [as some have claimed]who were married on that date, neither having been married before [as proven by his translation of the original Dutch marriage records appearing earlier.]
The only known contemporary references to the parentage of Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland are found in Bradford's History. In the list of the Mayflower Passengers he mentions her three times, as follows:
"John Tillie, and his wife; and Eelizabeth their doughter..."
"John Howland maried the doughter of John Tillie, Elizabeth, and they are both now living;..."
"John Tillie, and his wife both dyed, a little after they came ashore; and their daughter Elizabeth maried with John Howland... "
These statements were written by Governor Bradford while John Howland and his wife were still living in Plymouth, where all three had lived for more than thirty years, and Bradford must then have had his own manuscript "register ...... recording some of the first deaths, marriages and punishments," which Rev. Thomas Prince obtained from the Governor's grandson, Major John Bradford, and referred to so frequently in his New England Chronology, published in 1736. Governor Bradford was in a position to know the facts. Therefore, as no evidence has yet been produced to controvert his statements., we must accept them as they have come down to us in his own handwriting.
Notes:
The descendancy of Jabez and Hannah includes the founder of the famous Gorham Silver Company, his great-great-grandson Jabez Gorham (1792-1869).
Notes:
A record of the place of Desire's birth has not been found and she is recorded only as being "of" Yarmouth, MA. As her siblings were born in Marshfield, MA, it has been assumed that she was as well.
Notes:
Henry followed after his brother, John, to Plymouth and was taxed there on 25 March 1633. He had a son, Simon, bp. Fenstanton 19 Aug 1604, who was apprenticed 19 March 1622 to Humphrey Howland, his uncle.
Notes:
His estate was administered 11 July 1646 by Anne the wife of his brother Humphrey.