John Howland facts for kids
John Howland (born around 1592 – died February 23, 1673) was an important passenger on the famous ship, the Mayflower. He traveled with the English Separatists, also known as the Pilgrims, and other people who wanted to start a new life in Plymouth Colony in North America. When he first arrived, John Howland was an indentured servant, which meant he worked for someone for a set time to pay for his journey. Later, he became a trusted helper and personal secretary to Governor John Carver.
In 1620, John Howland signed the Mayflower Compact, an important agreement that helped set up the rules for the new colony. He played a key role in founding Plymouth Colony. In 1621, he helped Governor Carver make a peace treaty with Sachem Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag people. By 1626, he was a "freeman," meaning he had full rights as a colonist. He was one of eight settlers who took on the colony's debt to its investors. This group gained control of the fur trade. John Howland was also elected as a representative to the Plymouth General Court in 1641 and served there for many years.
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Where Did John Howland Come From?
John Howland was born in a place called Fenstanton, in Huntingdonshire, England. This was around the year 1592. His parents were Margaret and Henry Howland. He had two brothers, Henry and Arthur Howland. His brothers later moved from England to Marshfield, Massachusetts. While his brothers became Quakers, John Howland stayed true to the original faith of the Separatist Pilgrims.
The Ships: Speedwell and Mayflower
William Bradford, who was the governor of Plymouth Colony for many years, wrote about John Howland. Bradford's book, Of Plymouth Plantation, says that Howland was a servant to John Carver. Carver was a leader in the Separatist church when they lived in Leiden, Netherlands.
When the Leiden group left the Netherlands, Carver was in England. He was busy getting money from investors and finding other passengers. He also rented the Mayflower for the trip to North America. John Howland might have traveled with Carver's household from Leiden. They would have gone on the ship Speedwell from Delfshaven to Southampton, England in July 1620.
Some historians believe Howland was more like a steward or secretary to Carver, rather than just a servant. The Separatists planned to sail to the New World on both the Speedwell and the Mayflower. However, the Speedwell turned out to be leaky and unsafe. Because of this, most of the passengers had to crowd onto the Mayflower alone.
The Long Journey Across the Ocean
The Mayflower left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. This small ship was only about 100 feet long. It carried 102 passengers and a crew of about 30 to 40 people. Conditions on board were very crowded.
After about two months, the ship faced strong storms. The ship's wooden parts shook badly, and water leaked in. Passengers even got wet in their beds. This, along with not enough food and poor cleanliness, led to sickness. Two people died during the trip: one crew member and one passenger. After they arrived, nearly half the passengers died during the cold, harsh winter in New England.
During one stormy part of the voyage, John Howland actually fell overboard! Luckily, he managed to grab a rope called a topsail halyard that was trailing in the water. He was pulled back onto the ship safely.
On November 9, 1620, after about three months at sea, the crew and passengers finally saw land. It was the Cape Cod Hook, which is now called Provincetown Harbor. They tried for several days to sail south to their planned destination in Colony of Virginia. But strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook. They anchored there on November 11. On that same day, November 11, 1620, the Mayflower Compact was signed. John Howland was the thirteenth of the 41 main men to sign this important document.
Life in Plymouth Colony
The first winter in North America was very difficult for the Pilgrims. Almost half of them died. The Carver family, where John Howland lived, survived this first winter of 1620-21. However, the next spring, Governor Carver became ill. He fell into a coma and died. His wife, Kathrine, died soon after. The Carvers had no children who survived to adulthood. It is thought that John Howland might have received their property after they died. In 1621, after Carver's death, Howland became a freeman. By 1624, he was seen as the head of what used to be the Carver household. He was given land for each person in his household, including himself, Elizabeth Tilley, Desire Minter, and a boy named William Latham.
After becoming a freeman, John Howland served the colony in many ways. He was a selectman, an assistant governor, a deputy governor, and a surveyor of roads. He was also part of the fur committee. In 1626, he helped take on the colony's debt to its investors. This allowed the colony to make its own decisions without pressure to send profits back to England. This group paid the investors money to give up their claims on the land. In return, the group gained control of the colony's fur trade for six years.
Howland also went with Edward Winslow to explore the Kennebec River in what is now Maine. They were looking for good places to trade furs and find natural resources for the colony. He also led a group of men who built and ran a fur trading post there.
While Howland was in charge of this northern trading post, a difficult event happened. A group of traders from Piscataqua (now Portsmouth, New Hampshire) led by a man named John Hocking, came into the trading area that belonged to Plymouth. Howland told Hocking to leave, but Hocking refused. Howland ordered his men to cut the ropes of Hocking's boat to make it drift away. When the Plymouth men cut one rope, Hocking pointed a pistol at one of Howland's men, Moses Talbot, and shot him. In response, another man from Howland's group shot Hocking.
In Plymouth, the Howlands lived on the north side of Leyden Street. They lived for a short time in Duxbury. Then they moved to Kingston, where they had a farm called Rocky Nook. This farm was burned down in 1675 during King Philip's War. By that time, John had died, and Elizabeth moved in with her son, Jabez.
Before moving to Rhode Island, Jabez Howland owned a house in Plymouth. This house was built around 1667. John and Elizabeth had spent winters in this house. Elizabeth lived there from 1675, after their farm burned down, until Jabez sold it in 1680. It is the only house still standing in Plymouth where Mayflower passengers lived.
Elizabeth Tilley: John Howland's Wife
For a long time, people thought John Howland's wife, Elizabeth Tilley, was the adopted daughter of the Carvers. Her own parents, uncle, and aunt who came on the Mayflower had died from sickness during the first winter. This mistake was even written on a gravestone for Howland in 1836.
However, when Governor Bradford's book Of Plymouth Plantation was found in 1856, it showed the truth. Elizabeth Tilley was actually the daughter of John Tilley and his wife, Joan (Hurst). Elizabeth Tilley Howland was born in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England. She was baptized in August 1607. She and her parents were passengers on the Mayflower.
John Tilley and his wife Joan both died during the first winter. Her uncle Edward Tilley and his wife Ann also died. This left Elizabeth as an orphan. The Carver family took her in. The Carvers died about a year later. Part of their property was inherited by Howland, and Elizabeth became his responsibility. In 1623 or 1624, she married John Howland.
John and Elizabeth's Children
John and Elizabeth Howland had ten children. Many people today are descended from them!
- Desire: Born around 1624, died in Barnstable in 1683. She married John Gorham and had eleven children.
- John: Born in Plymouth in 1627, died in Barnstable after 1699. He married Mary Lee and had ten children.
- Hope: Born in Plymouth around 1629, died in Barnstable in 1683. She married John Chipman and had twelve children.
- Elizabeth: Born around 1631, died in Oyster Bay, New York, in 1683. She married John Dickinson.
- Lydia: Born around 1633, died in Swansea in 1711. She married James Brown(e) and had four children.
- Hannah: Born around 1637. She married Jonathan Bosworth and had nine children.
- Joseph: Born around 1640, died in Plymouth in 1704. He married Elizabeth Southworth and had nine children.
- Jabez: Born around 1644, died before 1712. He married Bethiah Thatcher and had eleven children.
- Ruth: Born around 1646, died before 1679. She married Thomas Cushman and had three children.
- Isaac: Born in Plymouth in 1649, died in Middleboro in 1724. He married Elizabeth Vaughn and had eight children.
The Deaths and Burials of John and Elizabeth
John Howland died on February 23, 1673, when he was about 80 years old. He lived longer than most of the other men who came on the Mayflower. Only George Soule, John Alden, and John Cooke lived longer. John Howland is believed to be buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth Tilley lived 15 years longer than her husband. She died on December 21 or 22, 1687. She passed away in the home of her daughter, Lydia Brown, in Swansea, Massachusetts. She is buried in a part of that town that is now in East Providence, Rhode Island.
John and Elizabeth Howland started one of the three largest families from the Mayflower. Their descendants have become very important in American history. Famous American actors like Humphrey Bogart, Anthony Perkins, and Alec Baldwin are all related to John Howland.
Images for kids
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William Bradford's transcription of the Mayflower Compact
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The Jabez Howland House in Plymouth, Massachusetts, built c. 1667 and photographed in 1921. Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland lived there for five years.
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Howland's grave
