1640 Arthur Howland immigrated to Duxburry, Massachusetts by August 6, the date Thomas Lechford of Boston recorded in his notebook a statement by Anne Floyd, wife of John Floyd, citizen and haberdasher of London, concerning the care and tuition of Anne and John's son Thomas "now remayning wth Arthur Howland of Duxbury in New England Planter." William Colbron and Thomas Button of the Church of Boston were to take custody of the son Thomas and "twenty four pounds & eight pence to aske demand recover & receive of the said Arthur Howland wch he hath in his hands for the maintenance" of the son Thomas "while he remained wth the said Arthur Howland … In witness &c 28. 6. 1640." [1]
1640 On November 2, Arthur Howland was granted land in Plymouth Colony at North River (now Marshfield). [2] The persons "following are graunted these quantities of land, at the North Riuer, wth meddow to yt … To Arthur Howland fifty acres, and some meddow if it be there to be had when the former lots are layd forth; if not, then in some other convenyent place." [3]
1641/2 On March 1, "Arthur Howland, of Marshfield," and others were "p[ro]pounded to be freemen" in Plymouth Colony. [4]
1643 On June 6 the Plymouth court ordered "John Walker, sonne in law to Arthur Howland," to appear at the next General Court. [5] As discussed in Wakefield and Sherman's article about Arthur Howland and his family, John Walker was the son of Arthur's wife Margaret. [6]
1651 On October 7 The Plymouth "Grand Enquest" presented "Arthur Howland, of the town of Marshfield, for not frequenting the publicke assumblyes on the Lords daies." [7]
1657 On December 22, Plymouth Court recorded that "John Phillipes, cunstable of Marshfeild, on the one and twentieth day of December, 1657, repairing to the house of M' Arther Howland, to summon the said Arther Howland, by warrant from Capt Josias Winslow, to appeer on the morrow after, att the house of M' John Alden, before the majestrates, to answare for intertaining a Quaker, and suffeiing and inviting sundry to hear the said Quaker, coming into the house of the said Arther Howland, summoned him to appeer as aforsaid, and, p[er]ceiueing the said Quaker to bee there, haueing a warrant to attach him psonally, to appeer before authoritie, required him to goe along with him, whervpon the said Arther Howland would not suffer him to goe along with him; on which the said Phillips pulled him to goe alonge with him; and then the said Arther Howland thrust the said John Phillipes out of his dores; then the said John Phillipes charged the said Arther wland and the two sonnes of John Rogers abouesaid with the said Quaker, to haue him forth coming; and then the said Arther Howland said, if hee, the said John Phillipes, tooke such courses, hee would haue either a sword or a gun in the belly of him; then the said Phillipes went downe to the mill to gitt more assistance, and when hee came vp againe, the said Quaker was gon. Further, the said John Phillipes saith, that when hee required the young men then p[re]sent before expressed to aide him, one of them, viz, Joseph Rogers, aboue expressed, refused to asist him in bringing away the said Quaker." [8]
1657/8 On March 2, Plymouth Court ordered that "M' Arther Howland, for p[er]miting of a Quakers meeting in his house, and for inviting, viaf, such as were vnder go[vern]ment, children and others, to come to the said meeting, was centanced by the Court to find surties for the good behauior; which incase hee should refuse to doe, hee is to pay for a fine four pounds. The said Arther Howland, for resisting of the cunstable of Marshfeild in the execution of his office, and for abusing him in words by threatning speeches, is fined the som[m]e of fiue pounds. The said Arther Howland, for p[re]senting a writing into the Court, which said writing, on the pusing therof, appeered to bee of dangerouse consequence, hee owning of it to bee his owne, and for makeing knowne the said writing to others, was centansed by the Court to find surties for his good behauior. Arther Howland refused to procure surties or to enter bonds for his good behauior, and soe the fine is payable." [9]
1658 On June 1, Plymouth Court Ordered that "Wheras M' Arther Howland p[re]sented a writing vnto the Court held the 2nd of March last past before the date heerof, which said writing is found full of factiouse, seditious, and slanderouse passages, tending to the desturbance of the peace of this go?ment, wherof the said Arther Howland hath bine convict in open Court, the said Arther Howland, att this Court, acknowlidging that hee hath done euill in sundry p[ar]ticulares expressed in the said writing, and desired the Court to passe them by, and engageing in the strength of God for the future not to offend in like manor any more, the Court, considering his age and infeirmities in that respect, and in hopes y' this p[re]sent admonition may bee a meanes of preuensyon of such further euill in him, they haue for p[re]sent pased it by, with this prouiso, that if hee shall offend in like manor any more, this his great offence will come into remembrance to agment the punishment." [10]
1669 On October 20, the Plymouth Court recorded that "Att this Court, Arther Howland, Phillip Leanard, William Norkett, and Willam Hincksman appeered according to summons to answare for theire neglect of paying theire rate to the minnestry. The Court, haueing heard theire seuerall answarcs, doe determine as followes: that the said Arther Howland, in respect vnto his age and low condition, bee acquitted for what is pasd; and the rest of them forthwith to pay theire proportions they were rated the last yeare to the minnestry …" [11]
1674 Arthur Howland of Marshfield, Massachusetts, dated dated his will on 3 July 1674, and it was proved before the court in Plymouth 7 March 1675[/76]. [12] Arthur names his son Arthur Howland, his grandchild Assadiah Smith and her three brothers, his daughters Mary Williamson, Martha Damon, and Elizabeth Low, his wife Margaret's grandhild Mary Walker, his grandchild Timothy Williamson, and his wife Margaret Howland.
1675 "Arthur Howland Seniour was buried the .30. October 1675" in Marshfield, Massachusetts. [13]
1683/4 Margaret Howland of Marshfield, Massachusetts, dated her will on 19 January. The inventory was appraised on 25 January. [14]
1683/3 "Margret Howland The widdow of Arthur Howland Seniour was Buried the 22 of January 1683[/84]" [15]
Research Notes:
Several children of an Arthur Howland, glover, were buried at St Giles, Cripplegate between 1616 and 1639, but it appears that no baptisms of Arthur's children were recorded there. Grace, the wife of Arthur Howland, was buried at St Giles, Cripplegate, in 1635. In that record Arthur was a described as a leather dresser rather than a glover, and the word "Excom[m]uni" appears in the margin of the record. If these records pertain to the Arthur Howland who immigrated to New England by 1640, then the mother of Arthur's daughters Deborah and Mary may have been Grace ____ rather than Margaret ____ who was Arthur's wife in Marshfield, Massachusetts. However, the St Giles records also include the baptisms of several children of a Henry Howland/Holland, weaver, from March 1615/16-March 1634/35 (two years after Arthur's brother Henry first appeared in Plymouth Colony records), suggesting that there were members of another Howland family in this parish at this time.
St Giles, Cripplegate, is about 3/4 of a mile from Bush Lane near St Swithin where Arthur and Henry Howland's brother Humphrey lived. The absence of baptism records for Arthur's children in the St Giles records, as well as the notation "Excommuni" in Grace's burial record, may indicate Arthur's adherance to nonconforming beliefs and actions. The first two children buried, Azariell and Zoheth, had unusual biblical names. Plymouth records indicate that Arthur's brother Henry also named a son Zoeth.
1616 "Burialls in December … Azariell Sonne of Arthur Howland Glover 31" at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [16]
1625 "Burialls in August … Zoheth sonne of Arthur Howland glouer" was buried on August 10 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [17]
1625 "Burialls in September … Mary dau of Arthur Howland glouer" was buried on September 27 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [18]
1634 "Burialls in Aprill … Eliz da: of Arthur Howland Glover" was buried on April 21 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [19]
1635 "Burials in December … Grace wife of Arthur Howland Lether dresser Buried in the new church yard [on December] 4 Excom[m]uni" at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [20]
1639 "Burialls in Maye … Martha daugh[ter] of Arthur Howland Glouer" was buried on May 30 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England. [21]
[1] Edward Everett Hale, Jr., ed., Note-book Kept by Thomas Lecher, Esq., Lawyer, in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, from June 27, 1638, to July 29, 1641 (Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1885), 297-299, [GoogleBooks].
[2] Robert S. Wakefield and Robert M. Sherman, "Arthur Howland of Plymouth, Mass., 1640," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 71 (1983), 84-93, at 84.
[3] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 1, Court Orders. 1633-1640 (Boston: William White, 1855), 165, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[4] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 2, Court Orders. 1641-1651 (Boston: William White, 1855), 34, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[5] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 2, Court Orders. 1641-1651 (Boston: William White, 1855), 57, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[6] Robert S. Wakefield and Robert M. Sherman, "Arthur Howland of Plymouth, Mass., 1640," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 71 (1983), 84-93, at 85.
[7] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 2, Court Orders. 1641-1651 (Boston: William White, 1855), 174, [InternetArchive], [HathiTrust].
[8] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 3, Court Orders. 1651-1661 (Boston: William White, 1855), 125, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[9] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 3, Court Orders. 1651-1661 (Boston: William White, 1855), 129, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[10] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 3, Court Orders. 1651-1661 (Boston: William White, 1855), 139, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[11] Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, Vol. 5, Court Orders. 1668-1678 (Boston: William White, 1856), 28, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[12] George E. McCracken, "The Will of Arthur Howland, Senior, of Marshfield," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 104 (1950), 221-225, [AmericanAncestors].
[13] Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, ed., Vital Records of Marshfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1970), 9, [NEHGS_Catalog].
[14] Robert S. Wakefield and Robert M. Sherman, "Arthur Howland of Plymouth, Mass., 1640," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 71 (1983), 84-93, at 85.
[15] Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, ed., Vital Records of Marshfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1970), 14, [NEHGS_Catalog].
[16] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1606/7-1634, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 002, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[17] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1606/7-1634, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 002, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[18] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1606/7-1634, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 002, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[19] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1606/7-1634, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 002, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[20] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1634/5-1646, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 003, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[21] London Metropolitan Archives, St Giles Cripplegate, Composite register, 1634/5-1646, P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419, Item 003, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].