For many years, I was fairly certain that we had a Mayflower ancestor in the family, actually two of them – John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley who both arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 as young adults, and then later married. My 2nd great grandparents, Islethera Howland & David Scribner were married in 1821 in Topsham, Maine. And I felt certain that Islethera Howland’s family, an old New England line, was our Mayflower connection.
When I originally researched Islethera Howland’s family, I found that her line appeared to go back to Henry Howland who arrived in the Plymouth Colony just a few years after the Mayflower arrived. Henry wasn’t a Mayflower passenger, however, his older brother, John Howland, was aboard the Mayflower in 1620 – a close relationship, but not a direct descendant line to a Mayflower passenger.
Henry Howland (1604-1671) [bro. of John Howland of the Mayflower]
Samuel Howland (~1648-1716) m. Mary Sampson
Abraham Howland (1675-1747) m. Ann Rouse
Benjamin Howland (1724-1755) m. Experience
Edgerton
Abraham Howland (1762-1853) m. Anna
Staples
Islethera Howland (1802-1843) m.
David Scribner
Later in my research, I found an alternate path that took me back directly to John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley. There were a lot of intermarriages, and also large families in those times, so a number of links are always a possibility. This Howland line seemed pretty strong to me as I found documentation in several early published family genealogies. And interestingly, it once again connects to my 2nd great grandmother, Islethera Howland Scribner.
John Howland (1592-1672) m. Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687)
John Howland (1627-1702) m. Mary Lee
Experience Howland (1668-1728) m.
James Bearse/Bierse
Experience Bearse (1692-1735) m.
Dennis Edgerton
Experience Edgerton (1725-?) m.
Benjamin Howland
Abraham Howland (1762-1853)
m. Anna Staples
Islethera Howland
(1802-1843) m. David Scribner
For decades I believed that we were connected to the Plymouth colonists as descendants of John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley. In more recent years, there has been extensive research done on the Mayflower passengers and their descendants. And presently, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants lineage group seems to be regarded as the best authority on the descendant lines.
Now I have never been interested in joining a Mayflower descendant’s lineage society, or any other lineage society. For that matter, joining groups in general has never really been my thing. But, I did feel confident that if I wanted to join the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, that I could probably do so.
The application process requires a lot of paperwork and documentation proving direct ancestry; so you have to get together a lot of birth, marriage and death certificates for many generations along with relevant research. An applicant submits their case along with supporting documentation, and it is reviewed for acceptance or declination which includes a process of comparing the earlier generations to known lines that the Society accepts as “proven”. The earliest generations have already been reviewed in historical documents and early lineage books which have been determined as either good or questionable sources.
That takes me to a posting that I found online that was added to an Ancestry.com tree in 2008. It is a response that was posted regarding someone’s application to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. It reads:
“31
Aug 2007 - We are delighted to learn of your interest in the Mayflower Society.
We have received your Preliminary Review Form and have attempted to determine a
best approved lineage paper that we might have which follows your stated
lineage. Unfortunately, it has never been proved that John and Mary (Lee)
Howland's daughter/son Experience married James Bearce, and the Mayflower
Society does not accept this line as a Mayflower lineage. As found in
"John Howland of the Mayflower" Volume 2, on the Descendants of John2
Howland: "There is no proof that Experience married James Bearce of
Barnstable, who moved to Halifax, Mass. Experience was considered a man until
1930 when the Bearse Genealogy suggested that this Experience might have been a
woman who could then have married James Bearse. No proof has been found for
such a marriage." So, I'm sorry, but you have no accepted Mayflower
lineage here.
– Regards, Paul S Bumpus Librarian, General Society of
Mayflower Descendants GSMD.
Well, this shoots down what I thought was the link that I had to a Mayflower line of descent. I had connected our line with Experience Bearse, the daughter of Experience Howland & James Bearse in my chain of descent.
Oh, but wait! In writing this story, I thought I might check and see if any more research had turned up, and it has. Only a few months ago in April 2020, it was posted that the General Society of Mayflower Descendants now accepts that James Bearse/Bierce did marry Experience Howland. I found the following online:
“The Mayflower Society did recently discover evidence that proves
that Experience Howland (granddaughter of Mayflower passenger John Howland)
married James Bierce. We are currently accepting applications that go through
this couple. Currently we have approved applications going through these 4
different children of Experience Howland and James Bierce: 1) James, 2)
Priscilla, 3) Rebecca, and 4) Shubael.” – Mayflower Lineage Match, April 30,
2020, Erin Gillett, Research Assistant, General Society of Mayflower
Descendants GSMD.
I’m getting closer now with
“official acceptance” that Experience Howland (a Mayflower descendant) married
James Bearse. That helps – except that
my family line is through a daughter, Experience Bearse, and she isn’t listed
as one of the 4 children noted above for which they have already approved
applications. My research sources
indicate that James & Experience had at least 8 children, so it might be
just a matter of time before the Society receives an application descending
through Experience Bearse, daughter of James Bearse & Experience Howland,
and expands their acceptance criteria.
However, if you are connected to my family line, and want to apply to a Mayflower lineage society, be prepared for the possibility of this hang-up.
* * *
* *
Key individuals:
Henry Howland (1604 – 1671)
John (the Mayflower)
Howland (1592 – 1672)
Elizabeth Tilley Howland (1607 – 1687)
Abraham Howland (1762 – 1853)
Islethera Howland Scribner (1802 – 1843)
– Jane Scribner McCrary
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