John Howland was born about 1592 (based on age at death), possibly at Fenstanton, Huntingdon (now Cambridgeshire), the son of Henry Howland and his wife Margaret whose maiden name is not recorded. His baptism record has not been found, but his parentage is proven by the 28 May 1646 will of his brother Humphrey Howland, draper of London. [Torrey] John was of Fenstanton when he left England as a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. He was the indentured servant of John Carver, a wealthy Londoner, who was the first Governor of Plymouth Colony. He is my 11th great grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. I have yet to submit my Howland/Tilley lines to the Mayflower Society but they are quite solid.
Governor William Bradford called John Howland “a lusty younge man,” which meant he was robust and energetic, and recounts the story of how during a severe storm John was washed overboard during the Mayflower voyage: “It pleased God that he caught hould of ye halliards which hunge over board, and rane out at length; yet he was held up...and then with a boat hooke and other means got into ye ship again.” [Bradford] His master John Carver survived the first difficult winter in Plymouth only to perish in the spring and his wife died that summer. It is believed since they were childless, John inherited their estate so was able to purchase the remaining years of his indenture.
On 11 November 1620 as the Mayflower was anchored in Cape Cod Bay, John Howland was the 13th man to sign the Mayflower Compact, the agreement which laid the foundation for the Pilgrim’s new settlement. [White]
He was one of the men who went on the third discovery by shallop 6 December 1620 during which the group had their first encounter with Indians at Namskaket (on what is now the Brewster/Orleans line) which led to a skirmish. They came upon an island off the coast of Plymouth which they named Clark's Island after the first mate. [Morton]
In March 1623 John married fellow Mayflower passenger Elizabeth Tilley who was not quite 16 years old. She was baptized 30 August 1607 at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Henlow, Bedfordshire, the daughter of John and Joan (Hurst) Tilley. Her parents died during the first winter at Plymouth leaving her a 13-year old orphan in a new world. She went to live with the Carver family, so would have lived under the same roof as her future husband. [White]
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| St. Mary's, Henlow |
Elizabeth and John had 10 children [Mayflower Descendant hereafter “MD” 2:70-77, 3:54-57; 10:66]:
i. Desire born Plymouth about 1625; married Captain John Gorham by 1644 [Plymouth VR 655] who died fighting in King Philip’s War [Barnstable VR 1:28]; Desire died Barnstable 13 October 1683 [Barnstable Town Records 1:414]
ii.John born Plymouth 24 April 1627 [Records of New Plymouth hereafter “PCR” 8:13; MD 10:66]; married Mary Lee 26 October 1651 [Plymouth VR p 659]; moved to Barnstable
iii.Hope born Plymouth 30 Aug 1629 [gravestone]; married John Chipman about 1646; died Barnstable 8 Jan 1683 [Barnstable VR 1:713]
iv.Elizabeth born about 1631; married 1st Ephraim Hicks 13 Sept 1649 at Plymouth; 2nd John Dickerson 10 July 1651 at Plymouth [PCR 8:8, 13]
v.Lydia born about 1633; married James Browne about 1655 and lived in Swansea [mother’s will names daughter Lydia Browne and son-in-law James Browne]
vi. Hannah born about 1637; married Jonathan Bosworth 6 July 1661 at Swansea [Anderson]
vii. Joseph born about 1640; married Elizabeth Southworth 7 December 1664 at Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:665]
viii. Jabez born about 1644; married Bethia Thacher [Anderson]
ix.Ruth born about 1646; married Thomas Cushman 17 November 1664 at Plymouth [PCR 8:25]
x.Isaac born 15 November 1649 at Plymouth; married Elizabeth Vaughn [Anderson]
I descend from Desire as well as Ruth. The family was of remarkably hardy stock with all 10 children surviving childhood, growing up to marry and alive in May 1672 when they are all mentioned in their father’s will.
Memorial stone to the Howland children at Burial Hill
Although he was not a “saint” and started in the new world as a mere servant, the Pilgrims recognized John’s value and he quickly became an important member of the colony. In 1626 a group of colonists, including John, assumed the debt owed to the Merchant Adventurers of London who had backed the Pilgrims financially. In the event of default, they would become personally liable and in return would receive all of the profits from the beaver fur trade for six years, as well as profits from corn and tobacco. [Cole]
It is said John had a fierce temper, a brave heart, and cool nerves. [Fraser] He was put in charge of the Penobscot trading post on the Kennebec River, in what is now Augusta, Maine, where a brisk trade developed with Native Americans. It would have been a lonely and dangerous life with only palisades protecting him from wolves, bears and potentially hostile Natives. But it turned out to be white men who posed the most danger.
The trading post was controversial as men in Quebec thought the Pilgrims were encroaching on their territory. In an undated deposition we learn that in April 1634 John Hocking challenged the rights of the Plymouth men to their exclusive trade in that place. John Howland went out in a bark with several other men and warned Hocking off, but was taunted and defied. Howland "bid three of his men go cut his cable (Hocking's anchor) but the flow of the stream was too strong and Howland called them back and added Moses Talbot to the crew. Hocking, seeing that their intent was to cut the cable, "presently put his peice almost to Moyses Talbott's head, which Mr. Howland seeing called to him desiring him not to shoot his man but take himself for his mark saying his men did but that which he commended them and therefore desired him not to hurt any of them, if any wrong was done it was himself that did it and therefore called again to him to take him for his mark saying he stood very fair, but Hocking would not hear nor look towards our bark, but presently shooteth Moyses in the head, and presently took up his pistol in his hand but the Lord styed him from doing any further hurt by a shot from our bark himself was presently struck dead being shot near the same place in the head where he had murderously shot Moyses.” The other men then killed Hocking. John Alden was also an agent at the post and when he returned to Boston he was arrested for murder. The Court agreed the primary guilt was Hocking’s and Alden was freed. [MD 2:10-11; Willison]
John's family may have spent time with him in Maine, but Robert S. Wakefield found evidence that Elizabeth Pearson White's claim that three of his children were born there is not accurate. [MD 42:15-16]
In the 1 June 1627 Division of Cattle only 42 of the original 102 Mayflower passengers were still alive and residing in Plymouth. Members of each family were listed—John and Elizabeth had two children Desire and John Jr. [MD 2:70-77; PCR 12:10 ] In the Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633, John Howland was assessed 18s., and in the list of 27 March 1634 1 pound 4s. [PCR 1:9, 27]
In 1633 John Howland was made a freeman at Plymouth and was near the top of the list among the councillors. [ PCR 1:3] He’s in the 6 March 1636/7 list of Plymouth Colony freemen [PCR 1:52]; in the Plymouth section of the 1639, 1658, and 1670 lists of Plymouth colony freemen. [PCR 5:274; 8:173, 197] In August 1643 he and his son John Jr were listed among the Plymouth men who were able to bear arms. [PCR 8:187]
John served the Colony in a variety of ways, often in important roles:
- Assessor in 1641, 1644, and 1647-1651 [Howland]
- Surveyor of highways in 1650 [Howland]
- Assistant to the Governor, an important and influential position, in 1633, 1634, 1635 [PCR 1:5, 21, 32]
- Deputy to the General Court in 1641, 1645, 1647, 1648, 1649, 1650, 1651. 1652, 1653, 1654, 1655, 1656, 1658, 1661, 1663, 1666, 1667 [PCR 2:16, 94, 117, 123, 144, 154, 167, 3:8, 31, 44, 49, 63, 79, 99, 135, 214, 4:37, 122, 148]
- Plymouth Selectman 1655 and 1666 [Howland]
- In charge of the fur trading post at Kennebec starting in 1634 [MD 2:10-11]
- Committee on the fur trade 3 Oct 1659 [PCR 3:170]
He clearly had some education as evidenced by his high level of public positions and obvious business acumen. His inventory showed he owned a Bible and other books, so he was able to read.
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| John's signature Source: Howland Genealogy by EP White |
John and Elizabeth’s first house was on the north side of Leyden Street (current no. 16) near Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Fuller, and later they moved to a Plymouth farm at what was known as Rocky Nook at Jones River, now Kingston. [Myers]
Plaque marking the site of the Howland's first home on Leyden Street
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| Rocky Nook Farm in present-day Kingston |
Some land transactions John was involved in:
- In the Plymouth Division of Land of 1623, John Howland, head of a household, received four acres "on the Southside of the brook to the woodward.” [PCR 12:4]
- On 4 December 1637 "forty acres of land are granted to Mr. John Howland, lying at the Island Creeke Pond at the western end thereof, with the marsh ground that he useth to mow there.” [PCR 1:70]
- On 5 November 1638 the "island called Spectacle, lying upon Green's Harbor, is granted to Mr. John Howland.” [PCR 1:102, 110, 168].
- He was granted six acres of meadow "at the North Meadow by Jones River.” [PCR 2:49]
- In 1639 the Old Comers were given a choice of several additional plantations for themselves and their heirs around Yarmouth, Dartmouth and Rehoboth. Part of the land which John chose was in Yarmouth, It was also in early 1639 that John paid 82 pounds for John Jenny's land and dwelling house at Rocky Nook, now in Kingston but then part of Plymouth, which had been built in 1628. He lived there with his family for the rest of his life. [Howland Quarterly 30:4:4-6, July 1966]
- He also owned a tract of land in Marshfield. Among the deeds that have survived is one that settled an argument between John Howland Sr., Thomas Bourne and John Dingley, concerning the boundaries of a parcel of marsh meadow there. Signed in the presence of Myles Standish on 4 May 1655. On 5 March 1657 he exchanged land in Marshfield for a "farme of land" in the Township of Barnstable owned by Christopher Winter, described as "the Govrs farmes" since it had been owned by Gov. Bradford. It contained fourscore and ten acres of upland and 10 acres of meadow lying next to the land of William Crocker. He deeded by gift to John Howland Jr. on 10 Jan 1667/8. [White]
Howland Teapot at Pilgrim Hall
His son Jabez’s Plymouth home operates as a museum. Elizabeth and John visited there, likely spending winters, and is the only surviving house that was lived in by the Pilgrims.
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| Jabez Howland House |
John Howland died 23 February 1672/3 at Rocky Nook, “above eighty years.” [PCR 8:34] Records speak of him as "a godly man, and an ancient professor of the ways of Christ; one of the first comers, and proved a useful instrument of good in his place, and was the last male survivor of those who came over in the Mayflower in 1620, and whose place of abode was Plymouth." [Winsor]
There’s a stone in his honor at Burial Hill, Plymouth which reads:
Here ended the Pilgrimage of
JOHN HOWI.AND
who died February 23, 1673
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.
John Howland memorial gravestone at Burial Hill
John Howland who had “grown aged and haveing many infeirmities of body upon me,” of New Plymouth, wrote his will on 29 May 1672. [MD 2:73-77, citing PCPR 3:1:51-54] He left bequests to:
- My dear and loving wife Elizabeth “the use and benefit of my now dwelling house in Rockey Nooke in the township of Plymouth...with the outhousing lands...uplands and meadow lands...in the town of Plymouth...excepting what meadow and upland I have before given to my sons Jabez and Isacke Howland during her natural life"
- Eldest son John, 100 acres at the Taunton River in addition to what he had already given him
- Son Jabez "those my upland and meadow that I now possess at Satuckett and Paaomett” and “my one piece of land that I have lying on the southside of the mill brook”
- Youngest son Isacke, “all those my uplands and meadows...in the town of Middlebery [Middleborough] and in a tract of land called the Major's Purchase near Namassakett Ponds” and “one half of my twelve acre lot of meadow that I now have at Winnatucsett River"
- Son Joseph “my aforesaid dwelling house att Rockey Nooke together with all outhousing, uplands and Medowes” after wife Elizabeth’s death as well as all other upland and meadow in New Plymouth except that given to Jabez and Isacke
- Daughter Desire Gorum 20s
- Daughter Hope Chipman 20s
- Daughter Elizabeth Dickinson 20s
- Daughter Lydia Browne 20s
- Daughter Hannah Bosworth 20s
- Daughter Ruth Cushman 20s
- Grandchild Elizabeth Howland "daughter of son John” 20s
He signed the will in presence of Samuel Fuller and William Crow. Wife Elizabeth was named executrix. His will was proved 5 March 1672/3 when Fuller and Crow made oath at court.
Inventory was taken 3 March 1672/3 and totaled £157 pounds 8s, 8d. It included his dwelling house in Rocky Nook, meadow at Jones River, half a house and meadow in Colchester, a meadow near the Jones River bridge in Duxborrow, a house and land in Middlebury [Middleborough], and land at Nemassakett Pond. Also "one great Bible and Annotations on the five books of Moses," "Mr. Tindall's workes, Mr. Wilson's workes and seven more books.”
The Howland’s Rocky Nook farm burned in 1675 during King Philip’s War. [Myers]
Elizabeth died 21 December 1687 at age 80 at Swansea, where she was living with her daughter Lydia. [Swansea VR 27]
In her will, dated 17 December 1686 and proved 10 January 1687/8, "Elizabeth Howland of Swanzey...being seventy nine years of age" bequeathed to "my eldest son John Howland the sum of 5 pounds...and my book called Mr. Tindale's Works and also one pair of sheets & one pair of pillowbeers and one pair of bedblankets"; to "my son Joseph Howland my stilliards and also one pair of sheets and one pair of pillowbeers"; to "my son Jabez Howland my featherbed & bolster that is in his custody & also one rug & two blankets that belongeth to the said bed & also my great iron pot & pothooks"; to "my son Isaack Howland my book called Wilson on the Romanes & one pair of sheets & one pair of pillowbeers & also my great brass kettle already in his possession"; to "my son-in-law Mr. James Browne my great Bible"; to "my daughter Lidia Browne my best featherbed & boulster two pillows & three blankets & a green rug & my small cupboard one pair of andirons & my lesser brass kettle & my small Bible & my book of Mr. Robbinson's Works called Observations Divine & Moral & also my finest pair of sheets & my holland pillowbeers"; to "my daughter Elisabeth Dickenson one pair of sheets & one pair of pillowbeers & one chest"; to "my daughter Hannah Bostworth one pair of Bursley one pair of sheets and one pair of pillowbeers"; to "my grandson Nathanael Howland [the son of Joseph Howland]..my lot of land with the meadow thereto adjoining...in the township of Duxbury near Jones River Bridge"; to "my grandson James Browne one iron bar and one iron trammell now in his possession"; to "my grandson Jabez Browne one chest"; to "my granddaughter Dorothy Browne my best chest & my warming pan"; to "my granddaughter Desire Cushman four sheep"; "my wearing clothes linen and woollen and the residue to "my three daughters Elisabeth Dickenson, Lidia Browne and Hannah Bosworth to be equally divided amongst them"; "my loving son-in-law James Browne and my loving son Jabez Howland" executors. She charged her children to "walke in ye Fear of ye Lord, and in love and peace toward each other.” [MD 3:54-7; citing Bristol Co. PR 1:13-14]
I love that Elizabeth used her will to give final advice to her children. It leaves me with the impression that she was a kind woman who valued religion and family above all else.
Elizabeth is buried in the Brown family plot at Little Neck Cemetery in East Providence Rhode Island, with a memorial stone erected by descendants:
“Here ends the pilgrimage of Elizabeth Tilley Howland who died Wednesday 31 December 1687 at home of her daughter Lydia & husband James Brown in Swansea. Elizabeth married Pilgrim John Howland who came with her in the Mayflower December 1620. From them are descended a numerous posterity.”
Elizabeth Tilley Howland memorial gravestone
At St. Mary the Virgin Church in England, the ground floor of the tower is named the Elizabeth Tilley Room. There is a plaque to the memory of Elizabeth and her parents.
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| Tilley family plaque at St Mary's |
I feel John and Elizabeth Howland are the quintessential Pilgrim success story. He came to Plymouth as a servant, married and had a large family to continue his name, became a successful trader and large land holder, held influential positions in the colony and lived a long life. He was allowed social and economic advancements that never would have been available to him in England. He was fortunate to marry a woman like Elizabeth who was extraordinarily strong to survive the first brutal winter in Plymouth, being orphaned, births of ten children all of whom she raised safely to adulthood, and live to the advanced age of 80.
PJ Lynch wrote a children’s book about John called The Boy Who Feel Off the Mayflower or John Howland’s Good Fortune, which was fun to read to my grandchildren.
Elizabeth would have been one of the inspirations for the Pilgrim Maiden statue at Brewster Gardens in Plymouth which inscription reads: “to those intrepid English women whose courage, fortitude and devotion brought a new nation into being.”
Pilgrim Maiden statue
Sources:
Franklyn Howland, A Brief Genealogical and Biographical History of Arthur, Henry, and John Howland and their Descendants, 1880
Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995
Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, 12 vols. (New York: AMS Press, 1968)
Frank H. Perkins, Handbook of Old Burial Hill - Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its History, Its Famous Dead, and Its Quaint Epitaphs, 1902
Kathleen M. Myers, The Mayflower Quarterly, “Elizabeth Tilley Howland: Woman of the Mayflower,” September 2012
George Willison, Saints and Strangers, 1945
William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, edited by Caleb H. Johnson, 2006
Rebecca Fraser, The Mayflower: The Families, The Voyage, and the Founding of America, 2017
Nathaniel Morton, The New-England’s Memorial, 1669, reprint Applewood’s American Philosophy and Religion Series
Justin Winsor, History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with Genealogical Registers, 1849
Steve Howland, The Mayflower Quarterly, “The First Three Children of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley Howland: Desire, John and Hope Howland in Barnstable, Massachusetts,” Summer 2021
William E. Cole, Puritans, Plagues, Promises: Cole, Clarke and Collier in England to America, 2023
Elizabeth Pearson White, John Howland of the Mayflower, 2 volumes (volume one covers descendants through daughter Desire; two of his son John), 1990 [note: these books are out of print and GSMD has been replacing them with multiple “Silver Books”]
Clarence A Torrey, The American Genealogist, “The Howland Ancestry,” 14:214 (1937)
