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Diary Entry Of John Howland

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Thought I would share this with my Facebook family since it is Thanksgiving and also a neat story.
I, as well as some of my Newkirk cousins have 7 Great Grandparents and 2 Great Uncles as well as numerous cousins that were on the Mayflower. Some were very prominent and became Judges, Reverends, Captains and also Governors of Massachusetts (Winslow).
But the one Great Grandparent that I identify with mostly is John Howland. You see young John, a signer of the Mayflower compact, was a dreamer. No older than 25 years old, he dreamed of a better life. He came over as an indentured servant and in later years, was the executive assistant and personal secretary to Governor John Carver.
What also draws me to him more than the others was his …show more content…

After what I’m sure felt like an eternity the crew managed to pull him back to the side of the ship and fished him out with a fish hook.
It’s strange to think if he had let go that I wouldn’t be here to make this post. Not just me but probably a few hundred thousand of his descendants too.
So the good news is he held on.
Also on board was a little girl of 11 years named Elizabeth Tilley. Her Mother and Father both perished during the voyage making her an orphan. Legend has it, she stood by the ships rails and watched the sailors rescue John, not knowing that he was to be her future husband.
When Elizabeth turned 17 years of age John Howland married her. She’s my 10th Great Grandmother. They were married for 49 happy years and had 10 children. One daughter, Desire (Howland) Gorham is my 9th Great Grandmother. And I’m happy to say that after 5 years John was a freeman. He became a well liked and highly respected man of the Plymouth colony and after becoming a freeman, he served at various times as selectman, assistant and deputy governor, surveyor of highways, and as a member of the fur committee and was elected deputy to the Massachusetts General

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