Mike Haywood's "Pilgram Overboard" depicting John Howland in the sea
from Haywood's painting; prints available from the artist
John Howland, son of yeoman Henry Howland, was raised in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, a town nine miles northeast of Cambridge. He sailed on the Mayflower in the autumn of 1620 as the indentured manservant of John Carver. Carver was a wealthy Londoner, and became the first governor of the new Colony.1

John was described as "a lusty younge man" by Governor William Bradford. He was a hired hand in the Colony, being neither one of the Pilgrims, or "Saints" as they were called, nor one of the "Strangers," the independent adventurers who accompanied the Pilgrams.2 During the voyage the Mayflower was caught in severe storms, forcing her crew to drop her sails and head into the wind, wallowing in the huge waves. During that time John ventured on deck and was washed overboard, as depicted in Haywood's painting. In Governor Bradford's words, "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."3

Once settled in Plymouth, John lived with the family of Governor Carver. They survived the terrible first winter, but on an unusually hot day in the spring Governor Carver came out of his cornfield feeling ill. He fell into a coma and "never spake more." His wife, Katherine died soon afterwards.4 Since they had no children, John is thought to have inherited their estate. It has been said that he immediately "bought his freedom" but no substantiating evidence has been found.5

John became a substantial citizen in the Colony. He was made a freeman in 1633, and held many appointed and elective offices during his lifetime. These included being an assessor for a period of years, a surveyor of highways, and a selectman. He represented Plymouth in the General Court in 1641, 1644, 1647, and 1648.6

The chart below shows the descent from John Howland to Gideon Cobb and Abigail Dyer, who moved their family to Pawlet, Vermont, and became the ancestors of all the Cobbs included in this website.


John Howland
born about 1592 7
died 23 Feb 1672, Rocky Nook, Kingston 7
married on or about 25 Mar 1623, Plymouth 8
Elizabeth Tilley
baptized 30 Aug 1607 9
died 21/31 Dec 1687, Swansea, Massachusetts 10
Desire Howland
born probably 1625, Plymouth 11
died 13 Oct 1683, Barnstable, Massachusetts 12
married about 1643, Plymouth 13
John Gorham
baptized 28 Jan 1620/1, Benefield, Northamptonshire 14
buried 5 Feb 1675/6, Swansea, Massachusetts 15
Elizabeth Gorham
born 2 Apr 1648, Marshfield, Massachusetts 16
died bef. 5 Mar 1683/4 17, pg 17")%>
married bef. 5 Mar 1666/7, probably Barnstable 18
Joseph Hallett
born 1630, England 19, pg 17")%>
died aft. 30 Jun 1715, Canterbury, Connecticut 20
Lois Hallett
born about 1672, Barnstable, Massachusetts 21
died aft. 21 Nov 1726, probably Stonington 22
married 10 Apr 1690, Barnstable, Massachusetts 23
Henry Cobb
born 3 Sep 1665, Barnstable, Massachusetts 24
died 24 Sep 1725, Stonington, Connecticut 25
Gideon Cobb
born 11 Apr 1691, Barnstable, Massachusetts 26
died 22 Feb 1759, Canterbury, Connecticut 27
married 25 Sep 1717 Canterbury, Connecticut 28
Margaret Fish
baptized 18 Aug 1695, Stonington, Connecticut 29
died 30 May 1775, Canterbury, Connecticut 30

Citations

  1. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 1, citing George Ernest Bowman, editor, The Mayflower Descendant, 34 vols (Boston: 1899-1937), 1:9, and Franklyn Howland, History of Arthur, Henry and John Howland and their Descendants (New Bedford, Massachusetts: 1885), pg 315.
  2. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2, citing George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (New York: 1945), pg 443.
  3. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2, citing William Bradford, History of Plimouth Plantation (Boston: 1898), pp 92-3.
  4. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2, citing Bradford, History of Plimouth Plantation, pp 121-2.
  5. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2, citing Willison, Saints and Strangers, pg 443.
  6. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2, citing Howland, History of Arthur, Henry and John Howland, pp 16-7.
  7. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 1.
  8. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 2.
  9. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pp 2-3, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 1:11-14, and Robert Leigh Ward, "English Ancestry of Seven Mayflower Passengers," The American Genealogist (Feb & May 1974) 40:8-13, 55-62.
  10. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 6.
  11. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 6, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 2:70-7.
  12. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 9, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 4:217.
  13. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 9, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 4:153-8.
  14. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 9, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 5:174.
  15. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 9, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 5:153.
  16. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 17, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 5:72.
  17. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 17, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 4:217-20, and Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, 12 vols (Boston: 1855-61) 3:162-4, 64:124 (Desire Gorham), shows she is not mentioned in her mother's will.
  18. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 17, citing Amos Otis, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, being a Reprint of the Amos Otis Papers, Originally Published in the Barnstable Patriot, (reprint Balitmore: 1986) 2 vols in one, 1:474fn-5fn, 481-2.
  19. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 17, citing Otis, Barnstable Families, 1:474fn-5fn, 481-2.
  20. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 17, citing Plymouth Co. Probate, 3:348 (Samuel Fuller), and Barnstable Co. Probate 4:31 (Jabez Fuller), shows he is mentioned in the probate for his grandson Samuel Fuller, but not when lands in the estate of his son-in-law Jabez Fuller were divided.
  21. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 67, citing Otis, Barnstable Families, 1:481.
  22. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 67, citing New London Probate, Dist., packet # 1309 (Ebenezer Cobb), FHL #1025011, shows she agreed to be executrix for the estate of her son Ebenezer.
  23. [S2184] White, John Howland of the Mayflower, pg 67, citing Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, 3:73, and Barnstable Vital Records, 1:352.
  24. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 10, citing Bowman, editor, The Mayflower Descendant, 3:73.
  25. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 42, citing Lucius B. Barhour, Barbour Collection, reprinted Lorraine C. White, editor (Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore) 55 vols., Stonington, Connecticut Vital Records, 2:15.
  26. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 42, citing Bowman, editor, The Mayflower Descendant, 3[1901]:73 [note #2].
  27. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 304, citing Barhour, Barbour Collection, Canterbury, Connecticut Vital Records, 1:118.
  28. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 304, citing Barhour, Barbour Collection, Canterbury, Connecticut Vital Records, 2:20; and Records of the Congregational Church in Canterbury, 1711-1844 (Hartford: 1932).
  29. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 304, citing Richard A. Wheeler, Records of the Congregational Church in Stonington, Connecticut, 1674-1874... (Norwich: 1875); and Richard A. Wheeler, A History of the Town of Stonington, County of New London, Conn. From Its First Settlement in 1649 ti 1900, with a Genealogical Register of Stonington Families (New London, Connecticut: 1900, reprint Baltimore: 1977), 372.
  30. [S2167] Roser, Early Descendants of Henry Cobb, pg 304, citing "Inscriptions In The Carey Cemetery, Canterbury, Conn.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 70[1916]:46.