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According to John Howland of the Mayflower; vol 1; by Elizabeth Pearson White; FHL SLC US/CAN 929.273 H843w; p1, John Howland was born in 1602 in Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England to Henry Howland and Alice Aires.
(p.6) George Howland of the Parish of St. Dunstans, along with Arthur, John and Henry, to each of whom was left small legacies given out of debt due to Humphrey Howland, whose will was proved 10 July 1646 in London give credence to the family of John.
The first mention of John Howland's name occurs in Governor William Bradford's account of the stormy voyage of the Mayflower:
In sundries of these stormes the winds were so fierce and ye seas so high as they could not beare a knote of saile, but were forced to hull for diverse days together. And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull in a mighty storme, a lustie yonge man called John Howland coming upon some occasion above ye gratings, was, with a seale of ye shippe, thrown into ye sea; but it pleased God yet he caught hold of ye top-sails ballards which hunge over-board and ran out at length; yet he held his hould (though he was sundrie fadomes under water) till he was hald up by ye same rope to ye brime of ye water, and then with a boat hooke and other means got into ye shippe again and his life was savd; and though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth.
(P.8) When after sighting the wooded hills of Truro, and attempting to pass around Cape Cod towards Hudson, the Mayflower narrowly escaped the dangerous shoals and currents south of Chatham. The leaders decided to abandon the plan of settling within limits of the Virginia Company Patent and put back into Harbor at Provincetown, where the Mayflower anchored on 11 November 1620.
Being outside any jurisdiction of established authority, the adult males were gathered together and established the Mayflower Compact, which has been called the first foundation of civil and religious liberties, and combined themselves into a "civil body politic", with rights to command obedience, putting into form the ancient Anglo-Saxon form of government by common consent. John Howland's name appears on this document as the 13th signature.
(p.9) On Wednesday, the 6th day of December 1620, the third exploration party set out with ten of their principle men:
- Miles Standish
- John Carver
- William Bradford
- Edward Winslow
- John Tilley
- Edward Tilley
- John Howland
- Richard Warren
- Steven Hopkins, and
- Edward Dotte
Freezing weather made the salt spray freeze upon their clothing making them like "coats of iron". The frightful storm disabled their rudder as they neared the entrance to Plymouth Harbor. Their mast and sail were carried away. They finally reached sheltered anchorage under the lee of Clark's Island. However, previous weakness from exposure and illness assaulted them and they were beset by wolves and savages, as they set foot ashore.
(p.10) On 11 December 1620 the small group found harbor fit for shipping, and bringing their boat alongside a great glacial boulder, the only rock to be seen for miles, they stepped onto Plymouth Rock and by the touch of their weary feet consecrated it to all succeeding generations. The Mayflower anchored in Plymouth Harbor on 16 December, and on 25 December 1620 the men went ashore and began to erect the "Commonhouse", roughly twenty feet square, with a thatched roof. This was nearly finished by 9 January 1621, but the women and children remained on board until 21 January 1621.
(p.11)With the death in May 1621 of Governor Carver, John Howland became head of the Carver family, looking out for their needs. It was not uncommon for the single men to take on this role.
(p.12) John married Elizabeth Tilley on 25 March 1623. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Tilley and Bridget Vandervelde, who had married in 1615 in Leyden. Elizabeth's parents died in the first bout of illness shortly after the Mayflower passengers came ashore. Elizabeth was fourteen at the time she was orphaned. She died on the 21st of December 1687, and John died on 23 February 1672.
(p.14) No supplies were ever sent to help the little group, although on 11 November 1621 the ship "Fortune" brought additional passengers to add to their numbers. They were heartlessly abandoned by the Merchant Adventures, and left to their own resources.
(p.37) The little group, having lost many of their original group to illness, celebrated the first Thanksgiving on 13 December 1621. The first national observance was held 31 December 1781, a date set aside by the Second Continental Congress by a motion of Roger Sherman of Connecticutt, which was seconded by John Witherspoon of New Jersey. In the 1st Session fo the 1st Congress, President Washington, by proclamation, set aside the 26th of November 1789 as a day of public Thanksgiving. As a Recurrent holiday, it began in 1863, when President Lincoln, by proclamation, set aside the last Thursday in November as a National day of Thanksgiving.
We, like those brave pilgrims who led the way, have much to be grateful for.
SOURCE:
John Howland, A Mayflower Pilgrim
Edited and compiled by William Howland for the Pilgrim John Howland Society, Inc., Detroit, 1926
US/CAN
929.273
H843hw
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