Elizabeth TILLEY

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 17 Dec 1686
• Will Proved: Between 10 Jan 1687 and 1688

Notes:

Name:
When the Mayflower set sail for the new world in 120, one of the passengers was a thirteen-year-old teenager, Elizabeth Tilley. The daughter of John and Joan (Hurst) (Rogers) Tilley, Elizabeth was baptized at Henlow, Bedfordshire, England, on 30 August 1607. She died at Swansea, Massachusetts 22 December 1687, at the age of 80. Throughout the seasons of her life, Elizabeth tilley was a first person witness and participant in the settlement of what came to become known as New England and the United States of America...

Sadly Elizabeth Tilley's parents did not survive the first winter. Historians believe that she subsequently went to live with John Carver and his wife, and it is with this family that John Howland was employed as a servant. However, John Carver died the first spring and his wife, Katherine, died the first summer and so this apparently left John Howland in charge of the Carver household. the Carvers' children died in Leiden and "Howland may have inherited at least a portion of Carver's estate. In 1624 he was considered the head of what was once the Carver household when he was granted an acre for each member of the household including himself, Elizabeth Tilley, Desire Minter and a boy named William Latham."

The exact marriage date of Elizabeth Tilley to John Howland is unknown. However, the Pilgrim John Howland Society states that,"...in the Division of Cattle in 1627 they were married with two children, Desire and John. If Desire was born in 1624 or 1625 it seems John and Elizabeth were married in March 1623 when Elizabeth was almost 16." John Howland was approximately 15 years her senior based on his date of death at age 80. Their ten children included six daughters and four sons: Desire, John, Jabez, Hope, Elizabeth, Lydia, Ruth, Hannah, Joseph and Isaac. Using an estimated marriage date of 1623, John Howland cared and provided for his then "teenage wife" for approximately 49 years.

With so little written about Elizabeth Tilley, a review of John Howland's record adds to what can be surmised about her --Elizabeth was John's able partner for life. He took an active role in Plymouth's affairs and became a prominent society member. Also, John Howland was one of the "Undertakers" who assumed the debt of the colony and was in charge of the Plymouth Colony trading post at Cushnoc on the Kennebec River, and he also served as Assistant to the Governor and participated in the founding of the First Parish Church in Plymouth.

The first house of Elizabeth and John Howland was located on the north side of Leiden Street in Plymouth. A reproduction of this first dwelling can be found at Plimoth Plantation....

The place that was to become their home for many years was the farm known as Rocky Nook. "This place" (now in the village of Kingston) 'we had a great liking to plant in, but it was so far from our fishing our principal profit and so encompassed with woods that we should be in much danger of the savages, and our number being so little and so much ground to clear,' that they wisely decided to settle on the high cleared lands of the present town of Plymouth, 'so near the sea, so well provided with fresh water, and so fortunately protected against Indian attacks.'" In 1637/8 John Howland acquired three acres of land, a house, barn, out buildings and five acres of adjoining meadow, Rocky Nook Farm. It appears that three of their ten children were born there...

Information varies with regard to the widow Elizabeth Howland leaving Rocky Nook. However, it is known that she never remarried and went on to live with two of her children. It appears she was in residence with her son, Jabez Howland, in Plymouth from 1674 until his house was sold in 1680. It was then that Elizabeth went to Swansea to live with her daughter, Lydia (Howland) Brown. Sadly the Howlands beloved Rocky Nook Homestead was burned in 1675 during the King Philip's War.....

While it isn't known how Elizabeth Tilley Howland occupied herself following the death of her husband, there are several interesting articles on the website of the Pilgrim John Howland Society. One article indicates that she kept busy with her numerous grandchildren. Elizabeth's admonition to her children in her Last Will and testament reveals her love of God and family: "I give & commit my soule unto Almighty God my Savior & Redeemer....It is my Will & Charge to all my Children that they walke in ye Feare of ye Lord, and in Love and peace toward each other."

Article written by Kathleen M. (Kathy) Myers

Elizabeth married John HOWLAND on 25 Mar 1623 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts. John (son of Henry HOWLAND and Margaret ?) was born before 1592 in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England; died on 23 Feb 1673 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts; was buried in Burial Hill, Rocky Hook, Plymouth, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Desire HOWLAND was born before 1625 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA; died on 13 Oct 1683 in Barnstable, Barnstaple Co.,, Massachusetts.
2. John Joseph HOWLAND was born on 24 Apr 1627 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA; died after 18 May 1699 in Barnstable, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts.
3. Hope HOWLAND was born on 30 Aug 1629 in Plymouth, Plymouth Co., Massachsetts; died on 08 Jan 1683/4 in Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts.
4. Elizabeth HOWLAND was born before 1631; died in 1691 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.
5. Lydia HOWLAND was born about 1633; died on 11 Jan 1710/1.
6. Hannah HOWLAND was born about 1637 in Maine; died in 1705 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
7. Joseph HOWLAND was born about 1640 in Kingston, Massachusetts; died in Jan 1703/4 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA.
8. Jabez HOWLAND was born in 1644 in Rocky Nook, Kingston, Plymouth, Massachusetts; died between 14 May 1708 and 6 Feb 1712 in Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island.
9. Ruth HOWLAND was born about 1646 in Kingston, Massachusetts; died between 29 May 1672 and 16 Oct 1679.
10. Isaac HOWLAND was born on 15 Nov 1649 in Kingston, Massachusetts; died on 09 Mar 1723/4 in Middleboro, Massachusetts; was buried in The Green Cem..

John married Joan HURST on 20 Sep 1596 in Henlow, Bedford, England. Joan (daughter of William HURST and Rose ?) was born in England; was christened on 13 Mar 1567 in Henlow, Bedford, England; died between 11 Jan and 10 Apr 1621 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Elizabeth ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Rose ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]