John Howland was born circa 1592 in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom to Henry Howland (c1564-1635) and Anna Margaret Aires (c1567-1629) and died 23 February 1673 Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States of unspecified causes. He married Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687) 1624 in Massachusetts, United States.
John Howland is widely believed to have the greatest number of American descendants of any of the original passengers of the 1620 Mayflower that founded Plymouth_Colony. Descendants included numerous dignitaries, presidents and celebrities.
Vital statistics
- Son of Henry Howland and Anna Margaret Aires
- 1592 - Approximate Birth Date in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
- 1620 - Voyage on Mayflower
- 1626 - Marriage to Elizabeth Tillie (1607-1687)
- 1672-Feb-24 (80 years old) Death at Rocky Nook, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts
Biography
Howland was born in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England around 1592. At the age of twenty-eight, he was employed by John Carver (1565-1621), a Puritan minister who joined with William Bradford in bringing his congregation from Leiden, Netherlands to the New World. Howland, formally a servant, was in fact Carver's assistant in managing the migration.
Voyage of the Mayflower
Mayflower at Provincetown Harbor
The Mayflower, originating from London with a group of Adventurers bound for the New World rendezvoused on 22 July with the Speedwell just arriving from Holland with a group of religious refugees from Leiden. Originally intended to sail jointly to the English Colony in Virginia it soon became evident that Speedwell was not seaworthy. Passengers and cargo were combined onto Mayflower (with many left behind) for the journey, finally departing on September 9.
During the voyage fierce storms blew the ship off course, arriving at Cape Cod on the Eastern Massachusetts coastline on November 9th. For two days they attempted to sail south to Virginia but exhausting supplies and fierce storms caused them to abort this effort and drop anchor at what is now Provincetown Harbor. On November 11th, the group decided to settle here and start their own colony. They wrote a governmental contract called the Mayflower Compact, John was the 13th of the 41 signers on this document.
At one point in the voyage John narrowly escaped death when a fierce storm blew him overboard but he kept a tight grip on a loose topsail halyard until other crewmen were able to pull him back out of the ocean.
Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899
About the middle of December 1620, the ship moved and dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor. All the while the pilgrims were conducting several exploring missions of the area and negotiations with the local natives. Almost half of the passengers died, suffering from an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis. In the spring, they built huts ashore, and on March 21, 1621, the surviving passengers disembarked from the Mayflower into their new settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Carver Family Servant
Although he had arrived on the Mayflower as a servant to the Carver family, Howland was a young man determined to make his mark in the new world, arriving as neither a "stranger", nor a "saint" as the Pilgrims termed themselves. The arduous voyage very nearly ended his life as he was thrown overboard, due to turbulent seas, but managed to grab a topsail halyard that was trailing in the water and was hauled back aboard safely.
The Carver family with whom John lived, survived the terrible sickness of the first winter, during which many Pilgrims died. But the following spring, on an unusually hot day in April, Governor Carver, according to William Bradford, came out of his cornfield feeling ill. He passed into a coma and "never spake more". His wife, Kathrine, died soon after her husband. The Carvers had no children. For this reason, Howland is thought to have inherited their estate. It has been said that he immediately "bought his freedom" but no record has survived.
In 1623/24, Howland married Elizabeth Tilley, by then a young lady of seventeen and the daughter of John Tilley and his wife Joan (Hurst) Rogers. Her parents had died the first winter and she had become the foster daughter of Governor Carver and his wife who were childless. By then he had prospered enough to also bring his brothers Arthur and Henry to the colony as well, solidly establishing the Howland family in the New World.
The following year Howland joined with Edward Winslow exploring the Kennebec River, looking for possible trading sites and natural resources that the colony could exploit. The year after that he was asked to participate in buying out the businessmen who had bankrolled the settlement of Plymouth ("Merchant Adventurers" was the term used at the time) so the colony could pursue its own goals without the pressure to remit profits back to England.
Then in 1626 the governor, William Bradford, selected him to lead a team building a trading station on the Kennebec river, and in 1628 Howland was elevated to the post of Assistant Governor.
Finally, in 1633 Howland was admitted as a freeman of Plymouth. He and Elizabeth had by then acquired significant landholdings around Plymouth, and after he was declared a freeman they diligently acquired more. Howland served at various times as Assistant Governor, Deputy to the General Court, Selectman, Surveyor of Highways and member of the Fur Committee.
1634 Kennebec River Dispute
Kennebec Dispute 1634 was a deadly fight in 1634 between traders of Plymouth Colony and nearby Pistacaqua Colony over indian trading rights on the Kennebec River in Southern Maine territory. Afterwards two prominent leaders of Plymouth (John Alden (c1599-1687) and John Howland (1592-1672)) were implicated in Massachusetts Bay Colony but eventually released.
Will, Death, Burial
Howland died on 23 February 1673, and was "with honour interred" on Plymouth Burial Hill. This was accorded only to the leaders of the Colony, and meant that a squad of soldiers fired a volley over his grave. He is described in the records as a "godly man and an ardent professor in the ways of Christ."
John Howland died February 23, 1672/3 at the age of 80, having outlived all other male Mayflower passengers except John Cooke (1607-1695), son of Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke (1583-1663).
Elizabeth Tilley outlived her husband by 15 years. She died December 21 or 22, 1687, in the home of her daughter, Lydia Brown, in Swansea, Massachusetts, and is buried in a section of that town which is now in East Providence, Rhode Island.
Marriage & Family
John and his wife Elizabeth had ten children, all of whom lived and had descendants. Their four sons were officers of the Plymouth Colony Militia, and served in other capacities.
John's wife, Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687), was the daughter of a fellow mayflower passenger, John Tilley (1571-1621), who did not survive the first winter in America.
John and Elizabeth were married ca 1624 at Plymouth Colony. All 10 Children are listed in John's will dated 1672-May-29:
- Desire Howland (1625-1683) - md Gorham
- John Howland (1626-1704) - - oldest son md Mary Lee in 1651
- Hope Howland (1629-1684) - md John Chipman
- Elizabeth Howland (c1631-1691) - Md Dickenson
- Lydia Howland (c1634-1711) - md Browne
- Hannah Howland (c1637-1708) - md Bosworth
- Joseph Howland (1640-1704)- son md Elizabeth Southworth in 1664
- Jabez Howland (1644-1712)
- Ruth Howland (1646-1679) - md Cushman
- Isaac Howland (1649-1724)
Children
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| John Howland (1592-1672) | 1592 Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom | 23 February 1673 Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States | Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687) |
| Humphrey Howland (c1596-1646) | |||
| Arthur Howland (1591-1675) | 1591 Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom | 30 October 1675 Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts | Margaret Walker (1600-1683) |
| Henry Howland (1604-1671) | 25 November 1604 Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England, United Kingdom | 17 January 1671 Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States | Mary Newland (1609-1674) |
| Margaret Howland (c1606-) | |||
| George Howland (c1608-1644) | |||
Notable descendants
See also Descendants of John Howland
Vital Records
Bradfords Passenger List
Passenger List compiled c. 1651 by Gov Wm Bradford of early Mayflower passengers includes:
Mr. John Carver; Katherine, his wife; Desire Minter; and 2 manservants, John Howland, Roger Wilder; William Latham, a boy, and a maid servant, and a child that was put to him, called Jasper More.
His servant, John Howland, maried the doughter of John Tillie, Elizabeth, and they are both now living, and have 10 children, now all living; and their oldest daughter hath 4 children. And ther 2nd daughter, one, all living; and other of their children mariagable. So 15 are come of them.
Pilgrim Monument
National Monument to the Forefathers, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims, (including this person) who came to Plymouth Colony in 1620 on the Mayflower. Dedicated on August 1, 1889, it is thought to be the world's largest solid granite monument. Located on an 11 acre hilltop site on Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
References
- The Pilgrim John Howland Society - The genealogical society, The Pilgrim John Howland Society, is open for membership to all who can claim Howland as an ancestor. It is based in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- Immigrant Ships To America/First Families/Mayflower
- Descendants of John Howland
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Footnotes (including sources)
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