John HOWLAND

Male 1541 -


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  • Name John HOWLAND  [1
    Born 1541  Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    Person ID I941  adkinshorton
    Last Modified 2 Jan 2013 

    Father John HOWLAND,   b. betw 1515-1518 
    Mother Anne GRENWAY,   d. 1588 
    Family ID F24907  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Emma REVELL,   b. Abt 1542, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 1560  Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Children 
    +1. Henry HOWLAND,   b. 1564, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 May 1635, Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 71 years)
    Family ID F3787  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • History from Life and Recollections of John Howland (Pres of R.I. Hist Soc) Preface...

      REDO THIS TEXT FROM TEXT VERSION AT http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeandrecollec01stongoog/lifeandrecollec01stongoog_djvu.txt

      HOWLAND numerous name in the United States, is of English origin. It is traced through ancient records, to " John Howland, of London, gentleman, citizen and salter," born (probably) between 1515 and 1518, early in the reign of Henry VIII. >He married Anne, daughter of - Grenway, of Clay, county of Norfolk. She died in 1588. The issue of this marriage was eleven sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Richard, born 1540, was made Bishop of Peterboro'. To him, by patent, dated June 10, 1584, family arms were confirmed, and allowed to all the posterity of his father. Sir Giles Howland, seventh son of John, married first, Anne, daughter of Sir John Hart, .and second, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Rivers, both wives being of London. The fruits of these unions were three sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Sir John Howland, of Streatham, Co. Surrey, Knt., died 1621, and was succeeded by his brother Geoffrey, as Lord of the Manor of Tooting Bec. Elizabeth Howland, grand daughter of Geoffrey, married Wrotherby Russell, Marquis of Tavistock, afterwards Duke of Bedford. He died 1711 ; she 1724; from whom the present Duke of Bedford and Baron Howland.
      John Howland, brother of the Bishop, and second son of John of London, was born 1541. He married Emma, daughtcr and heiress of Nicholas Revell, citizen of London. In this line descended John Howland, born 1592, and one of the founders of the mouth Colony.
      Whether he was one of the original company in Holland, or accompanied Carver on his second return from England to Lcydcn, is unknown. It is not improbable, however, that he mas among the number who waited at Southampton the return of the comp, preparatory to sailing for America. On that memorable voyage, during ld a mighty storm," he narrowly escaped drowning." At the time of his arrival at Plymouth, he was twentyeight years of agc. Prince, in his chronology, following Morton, speaks of him as d( of Carver's family." Governor Bradford, in his history of Plymouth Plantation, rcccntly published, calls him Carver's ser~anta, n expressson that may bear a legal definition, though it has been conjectured that Carrcr, having advanced him mcans with which to procure his outfit, thc young self-reliant adventurer had agreed to work out" the debt on arriving in the new world. Be that as it mn!-, hc was associated with the leaders in all tl~c ~bri~uary movements for effecting a settlement, ant1 \\-as carly called by the colonists to discharrc d11tic.4 requiring sound judgment, business talent, and ~ r c n t intrepidity. On Morton's list he is the tliirtccntli of the forty-one who signed tlie mcmornl~lc cnmpact formed on board the Ilayflowcr in Cnlw Cod harbor, and was one of the ten (. 1~rincil)nl men," who with eight scamen, mcrc *(scntc out" on the 6th December following, to disco\-cr n locality suitable for their future honic. Driven by storm into Plymouth harbor, the little bnli11 of erplorers went on shore, and thus was confcrrcd on them the distinction of having stood on ': Forefathers' Rock," since l1b ccomc an object of ycncration," five days before the 3la~-flowerw th thc residue of her company, cast anchor in tlie desired haven.
      In 1627, he was associated with Governor Bradford and six other principal men of the colony, in a contract, made with the London inerchal~ta drenturers, in which they agreed to give the111 $1 8 0 for the relinquishment of their ims upon the Plymouth lands, and also to assume the colony debts, amounting to S2400 more. As s co,lsidcration for this, the lL undcrtakers," as t11c.j mcre called, were to have the ~nonopnly of the. ~ l ~ o l e trade of the colony for six year*. In 1;33 IIC \me elccted an assistant in thc government of tlie colony, which office he held for sercral years. Iie had the chief management of the undcrtakcr.3' trading establishment on tlic Kenncbec, wliere hie firmncss was signally tcsted by the headstrong and reckless Hocking," and for cightccn years he was a rcprcscntative of the town of Plymouth in the General Court of the colony. In the records he is honorably mentioned as " a godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ," who ((livcd to the age of eighty ycars, and prored a uscful instrumcnt of good in his place." At the ordination of Mr. John Cotton jr., in 1667, he was appointcd by the church to join in thc imposition of hands." With one exception, (John Alden,) hc outlivcd all the signers of the BIayflomcr compact, and of tho entire body of pionecrs " by mllosc instrumentality the great qucstion was scttlcd as to what nation of Europe should predominate in North Aincrica," none, at his decease, were left in Plymouth. Governor Bradford says he became a useful lncinbcr
      both in church and commonwealth," and the frequency
      with which his name is mcntioncd in the
      Plymouth colony records, as conncctcd with important
      transactions, furnishes abundant evidence
      that he was one of the most energetic and efficient
      of the Pilgrim band.
      Until the publication of Bradford's history it
      had been supposed, and so stated by severs1 historians,
      that the Pilgrim Howland married Governor
      Carver's daughter. Gencral tradition, lianded
      down in an unbrokcn line from the decease of the
      former in 1672, had uniformly and without question
      so declared. It is now said that Carver had
      no daughter, which, if true, affords a remarkable
      illustration of historic uncertainty. This state-
      ment rests on the fact that in his enumeration of
      Carver's family, written thirty years after his decease,
      Bradford makes no mention of children ; and
      further, that he says Howland married Elizabeth,
      daughtcr of John Tilly. But this statement is not
      so conclusive as would at first sight be supposed;
      for we find that by the rule governing the allotment
      of acre lots to each member of a family in
      1623, he received four acres, which indicates the
      numbcr of his own. Now if Elizabeth Tilly was
      his first and only wifc, the marriagc could not have
      occurred earlier than 1622, as she would then have
      been only sixteen years of age, and could hardly
      have been the motlicr of two children at two distinct
      births, in 1623. In 1627, in the division of
      the cattle, the names of his wifc and of their two
      children, John and Desire, are mentioned, showing
      that no increase of family had taken place. Mitchell
      in his history of Bridgewater, says that Howland's
      wife and two children came over in 1627,
      but as lie gives no authority for the statemcnt, we
      are left in uncertainty with regard to its accuracy.
      Should it appear, on further research, that
      lie was twice marricd, the apphrently conflicting
      statements may bc reconciled. For the present,
      it may suffice to say that his family consisted of
      four sons and six daughters, viz. John, married
      Mary Lee, Oct. 26,1651, and settled in Barnstable;
      Jabez, married Bethia Thachcr, only daughter of
      Anthony Thacher of Yarmouth, and settled in
      Bristol, R. I. ; Isaac, marricd Elizabeth, daughter
      of George Vaughan, and settled in Middleborough ;
      Joseph, married Elizabeth Southworth, only child
      of Thomas Southworth, 1664, and aettled in Plymouth
      ; Desire, second child, married John Gorham,
      1643, who died Peb. 5, 1676--she died Oct. 13,
      1683 ; Hope, married John Chipman, of Barnstable ;
      Elizabeth, married first, Ephraim Hicks, of Plymouth,
      Sept. 13,1649, and second, John Dickerson,
      of Barnstable; Lydia, married James Brown, of
      Swansea ; Hannah, married Nathaniel Bosworth,
      of Hull, afterwards of Swansea; Ruth, married
      Thomas Cushman, of Plymouth, November, 17,
      1664. (less footnotes/credits, etc.)

  • Sources 
    1. [S18753] Life and Recollections of John Howland.

    2. [S18753] Life and Recollections of John Howland.
      John Howland, brother of the Bishop, and second son of John of London, was born 1541. He married Emma, daughtcr and heiress of Nicholas Revell, citizen of London. In this line descended John Howland, born 1592, and one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony. - p.6

    3. [S18753] Life and Recollections of John Howland.
      John Howland, brother of the Bishop, and second son of John of London, was born 1541. He married Emma, daughtcr and heiress of Nicholas Revell, citizen of London. In this line descended John Howland, born 1592, and one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony. p.6.


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