Howland of Huntingdonshire, England, and Plymouth, Massachusetts
Henry Howland [a] b abt 1564, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England, d 17 May 1635, Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England. He md Margaret 26 Apr 1600. She was b 1567, of Fen Stanton, Hungtingdonshire, England, d 30 Jul 1629, Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
Children of Henry Howland and Margaret were:
  • John Howland b abt 1601, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
  • Henry Howland b 25 Nov 1604.
  • Humphrey Howland b abt 1605, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
  • George Howland b abt 1608, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
  • Margaret Howland b abt 1609, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
  • Arthur Howland b abt 1610, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England.
Henry Howland [b] b 25 Nov 1604, of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England, d 1 Jan 1670/71, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA. He md Mary abt 1627. She was b abt 1608, d 16 Jun 1674, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA.
Children of Henry Howland and Mary were:
  • Abigail Howland b abt 1628, Plymouth, MA; md John Young 13 Dec 1648, Plymouth, MA.
  • Zoeth Howland b abt 1631.
  • Samuel Howland b abt 1638, Plymouth, MA, d aft 8 Jul 1707; md Mary Sampson by 1673.
  • John Howland b abt 1641, Plymouth, MA; md Mary Walker 29 Jan 1685/6, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA.
  • Mary Howland b abt 1643, Plymouth, MA; md James Cudworth.
  • Sarah Howland b abt 1645, Plymouth, MA, d 2 Oct 1712, Portsmouth, RI; md Robert Dennis 19 Nov 1672, Portsmouth, RI.
  • Elizabeth Howland b abt 1647, Plymouth, MA; md Jedidiah Allen abt 1669, MA.
  • Joseph Howland b abt 1649, Plymouth, MA; md Rebecca Hussey 4 May 1683, Hampton, MA.
Zoeth Howland [c] b abt 1631, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA, d 21 Jan 1675/76, Tiverton, RI. He md Abigail (Kirby?) 10 Oct 1656. She was b abt 1640, d bef 26 Apr 1674.
Children of Zoeth Howland and Abigail were:
  • Daniel Howland b May 1661, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA, d abt 1714, Tiverton, RI; md Mary Sampson.
  • Mary Howland b 23 Dec 1665.

Mary Howland b 23 Dec 1665, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA, d 29 Jan 1742/43, Eastham, Barnstable, MA. She md Nathaniel Freeman, Esquire, 1690/91, prob Eastham, Barnstable, MA, son of Maj. John Freeman and Mercy Prence.


Notes:
a. Popular theory places the three immigrant brothers as sons of Henry Howland and Margaret of Fen Stanton, Huntingdonshire, England, which is shown in this genealogy. But recent information posted on the Rhode Island genweb main page, claims the parentage of the immigrants to be Humphrey Howland and Anne, of London, England. Cited is Humphrey's will, dated 28 May 1646, in which he names sons George, of St. Dunstan's in East London, Arthur, Henry, and John. Mention is made in his bequest to Arthur, Henry, and John, of an amount to be taken from the debt "due the testator by Mr. Buck of Salem, Mass." His wife, Anne, was buried at Barking in Essex, England 20 December 1653. Worthwhile to mention is that the ongoing Great Migration Project, under the auspices of NEHGR, states that Henry Howland was born in Fen Stanton "(prob)".

b. Henry Howland and his two brothers, John and Arthur, were the first Howlands in America. All three were in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, members of the band of Puritans who then removed to Holland due to religious intolerance. Brother John Howland was the first to arrive aboard the Mayflower in 1620. When Henry (and Arthur) arrived is not known, but it was likely in the period 1631-32, as Henry Howland was admitted freeman of Plymouth colony before January 1632/33. In 1636, he removed to the Duxbury section of the colony where he served in various positions, including Duxbury highway surveyor. His Quaker activities resulted in fines and censureship. "On 22 December 1657 Henry Howland, for entertaining Quaker meetings at his house, was summoned to appear at the next court. On 2 March 1657, 58, he was fined 10s. for entertaining a meeting at his house contrary to the order of the court...." On 7 June 1659, "Henry Howland of Duxburrow" as a Quaker "or manifest encourager of such" appears on a list to lose freemanship and is ordered to appear in August to be convicted and censured. At court on 6 October 1659, Henry Howland was disenfranchised for being an "abettor and entertainer of Quakers." The claim that Henry Howland's wife was Mary Newland is unsupported.

The will of Henry Howland:

    Hennery Howland being week of body, yet a good and perfect memory makes and ordains this to be his last will and Testament as followeth:

    Imprimis. I give and bequeath all my housing, both dwelling house barne with all my lands both vpland and meddow land now lying and being within the Township of Duxburrow unto my sonne Joseph Howland only during my wife's life she shall have and injoy the new Room to herself for her owne self

    2 I give and bequeath to my son John Howland five oxen and two heifers and one horse with all the trappings belonging there to as also a bed with things belonging there to as also my fowling piece.

    3 My will is that my son Joseph Howland out of the fore mentioned houses & lands & cattle shall pay or cause to be paid unto my son Zoeth Howland 20 pounds that is to say 5 pounds by the year till the 20 pounds be paid; as alsoe twelve pence apiece to all his brothers and sisters and their children sviving.

    4 Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah two heifers and two sheep and one mare now running at Apponogansett; as alsoe one bed and bedding there unto belonging

    5 Item I give unto my son John one muskett

    6 Item I give unto my Elizabeth one cow

    7 Item I give my old mare now running at Apponogansett unto my son Samuel Howland.

    8 Item I give unto my son Joseph Howland ten acres of meadow land now lying and being at a place commonly known by the name of the Garnetts Nose Marsh

    9 I give and bequeath unto my daughter Mary, 10 shillings to be paid out of my estate as yet undisposed of

    10 Item I give unto my daughter Abigail 10 shillings to be paid by my son Joseph who is to sell a barrel of syder and to pay it out of that

    11 I give unto my two sons John and Samuel both of them a barrel of syder

    12 Lastly I give and bequeath unto my loving wife all the rest of my estate both movables and chattels

    that this is my last Will and Testament I here unto sett my hand and seale this 28th day of Nov 1670
    Signed and sealed in the presence of:

    Samuel Nash
          Henery Howland [A Seal] and
    John Sprague.

c. Found in the Friends' records at Newport, R. I., are the marriage and death records of Zoeth Howland: "Zoar Howlan of Dartmouth in plimoth Colony was maried to Abigall his wife in the tenth month of the year one thousand six hundred fifty-six" and "Zoar Howland was killed by the Indians at Pocaset the twenty first day of 1st mo. 1676".

In the list of names of those who took the oath of Fidelity at Duxbury in the year 1657, is Zoeth Howland. He became a convert to the faith of his father about the same time, and meetings were held at his house, for which he was fined in December, 1657. The following deposition of Samuel Hunt will show the esteem in which he held the Puritan clergy and their teachings. It reads thus: "About a fortnight before the date heerof, being att the house of Zoeth Howland, hee said hee would not goe to meeting to hear lyes, and that the diuill could teach as good a sermon as the minnisters; and that a 2cond time being att the house of the said Zoeth Howland, and his brother, John Hunt, and Tho Delano being with him, hee questioned with the said Zoeth Howland whether hee would not goe to the meeting, because the minnesters taught lyes, and that the diuill could teach as good a sermon as the minnesters; and hee said hee denied it not. Alsoe, Tho Delano questioned him whether the minnesters taught lyes; and hee said yes, and lett him looke in the Scriptures and hee should find it soe." For this utterance he was arraigned at the next term of the court in March, 1657-8, "for speaking opprobiously of the minnesters of Gods Word," and was given the humiliating sentence "to sitt in the stockes for the space of an houre, or during the pleasure of the Court; which accordingly was pformed, and soe released." His wife was a sharer in his sympathies and fate. She was fined 10s. in March, 1659, for not attending the meeting of the Puritans.

Zoeth probably moved to Dartmouth as early as 1662. The Newport Friends' records, and the inventory of his estate, refer to him as Zoeth of Dartmouth, and that his mother owned a house there. Just where he was killed, and how he came to be there, is unknown. The section of Rhode Island including Tiverton and Portsmouth was originally known as Pocasset, and later the name was confined to Tiverton. There existed a ferry at that date, and which was subsequently owned and kept by Zoeth's son Daniel. It is conjectured that Zoeth was likely going to, or from, a Friends' meeting when he was killed.

SOURCES:
ANC: The Great Migration Begins, by Charles Robert Anderson, under the auspices of the New England Historical Society, profile of Henry Howland; GL: A Brief Genealogical History of Arthur, Henry and John Howland and Their Descendants, by Franklin Howland, 1885, pp 67-68, 70-74.

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