Thomas Howland (1718 - 1798)

Born 1 Feb 1718 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Son of James Howland and Deborah (Cook) Howland

Husband of Ruth (Wing) Howland — married 25 Jun 1740 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

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Biography

This profile is part of the Howland Name Study.

Birth

Thomas Howland was born 1 February 1718 to James Howland and Deborah Cook in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.^[1]

Black Genealogy Cemetery Records Census Records Databases DNA Military Records Native American Vital Records Free Genealogy » Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts » Howland Family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts Howland Family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts 2 Howland Family of Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts 1 Comment / Genealogy, Massachusetts

The family bearing the Howland name is one historic in New England annals. First a family of Plymouth and Duxbury and some time later of Ancient Dartmouth, it became one conspicuous in the great whale fishery industry that centered at New Bedford and Fairhaven and in the later cotton industry of the former place, the former of which industries made New Bedford the greatest whaling port in the world and the wealthiest city in proportion to its population in New England. Some forty-six of its citizens possessing fortunes of between $100,000 and $200,000 sixty years ago, in 1852, were millionaires at the time of their death. While the latter industry rose out of the decline of the former it has been of no less consequence as a factor in the city’s growth and material progress. Few have figured more extensively and prominently in the whaling industry in its several forms than the Howland family, including in this the maritime feature of it, that in the line of masters of vessels, some of whom later retired with fortunes to farms about Fairhaven; later generations of the family establishing the great cotton industries since extensively operated in part under the Howland name; and from the very beginning in New Bedford the name has continued in the forefront of the city’s financial, business and public official life, and is indelibly linked through large benefactions with the city’s history. A tablet of marble in the free public library commemorates the gift of $200,000 to the city of New Bedford by Sylvia Ann Howland – $100,000 of which was to supply the city with pure water, and the other $100,000 for the benefit of the library; while also hangs in the same library, by resolution of the city, a fine portrait of the late Hon. George Howland, one of the most useful and prominent citizens of his time in New Bedford, prompted by his gift to the library of what is known as the George Howland, Jr., fund.

^[2] Some of the more worthy of the Howlands of Dartmouth, and in and about Fairhaven and New Bedford, have been such well-known personages as Nathaniel Howland, one of the foremost men of Dartmouth of his day, a gifted minister of the Society of Friends, and all of whose sons were prominent in town affairs, James, perhaps, the most active one; Thomas Howland, of Dartmouth and Westport, a farmer and manufacturer"; Matthew Howland, of Long Plain, Fairhaven, and his son George of the same town, a shipping agent, making his name known in every whaling port in the world, and left a fortune of $1,000,000; his sons, George and Matthew, of the firm of George and Matthew Howland; Matthew’s son William D., a prominent representative of the mill interests of New Bedford, treasurer of the New Bedford Manufacturing Company, the Howland Mills Corporation, and the Botch Spinning Corporation, directing the affairs of three of the most important manufacturing enterprises in the city

Marriage

The intention of marriage between Thomas Howland son of James and Ruth Wing of Dartmouth have been entered with me this 7th of the month called June 1740. Jabez Barker, Town Clerk.

Bristol ss. These are to certify to the Town Clerk of Dartmouth that Thomas Howland and Ruth Wing, both Dartmouth, was legally married in said Dartmouth this 25th day of June 1740 per Philip Taber, Justice Peace.

Issues

According to the work of Franklyn Howland, Howlands of America on page 106, they had at least the following children:

1. Deborah Howland, b. 25 September 1740; m. Christopher Gifford. They had 9 children together.
2. Sophia Howland, b. circa 1745; m. Prince Russell. They had 6 children together.
3. Ruth Howland, b. 30 September 1743; d. 1773.
4. Catherine Howland, b. 14 Dec 1745; m. 2 October 1776, Thomas Wilcox. They had 6 children together.
5. Thomas Howland, b. 25 March 1748; d. 25 March 1823.
6. Matthew Howland, b. 16 January 1751; d. 5 December 1834.
7. Cook Howland, b. 4 April 1755.
8. John Howland, b. 15 November 1758; d. 20 January 1820.
9. Charles Howland, b. 4 June 1764; 7 January 1830.
10. Jemimah Howland, m. 25 November 1744, Prince Wing. They had 6 children together.

Life

According to the work of Franklyn Howland on page 107, it says, "He owned and lived on a farm at Westport, situated on the north side of the road leading east from Hicks' Bridge about a mile from the bridge, and on a pathway running north from road which passes through it. The house stood on the west side of the path, about 500 yards from the road. Another house now stands on the spot. Besides working the farm, he was a manufacturer of spinning-wheels, foot-wheels, chairs, etc. He is frequently mentioned in the town records. He was chosen surveyor of highways in 1736, tithingman in 1738, fence-viewer in 1739, and held other offices. He was a man of great firmness and perseverance, and highly respected."

DNA

Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA STR and SNP testing. Frank Howland and FTDNA kit #37929/FGC kit #E8PEF match on 106 out of 111 markers and share two recent SNPs, R-FGC58203 and R-FGC58211, as reported by Family TreeDNA and Full Genome Corp. This confirms their direct paternal lines back to their most recent common ancestor, Henry Howland Sr.

The paternal relationship to James Howland has been confirmed by Y-chromosome SNP testing by Frank Howland and FGC kit #E8PEF which shows that they share 11 unique SNPs, plus two unique SNPs (FGC58203 and FGC58211) only for Henry Howland, Jr’s line, as reported by Family Tree DNA and are therefore all male lineal descendants of Henry Howland Sr.

Sources

1. ↑ Vital records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1850. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929-1930.
2. ↑ (https://accessgenealogy.com/massachusetts/howland-family-of-dartmouth-and-new-bedford-massachusetts.htm)

See also:

• (https://accessgenealogy.com/massachusetts/howland-family-of-dartmouth-and-new-bedford-massachusetts.htm)

• Fiske, Jane F. Thomas Cooke of Rhode Island: A Genealogy of Thomas Cooke, Alias Butcher of Netherbury, Dorsetshire, England, Who Came to Taunton, Massachusetts in 1637 and Settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1643. Boxford, Mass: J.F. Fiske, 1987. Print.

• Howland, Franklyn. A Brief Genealogical and Biographical History of Arthur, Henry, and John Howland and Their Descendants, of the United States and Canada: Together with an Account of the Efforts Made in England to Learn of Their English Ancestry, Etc. New Bedford; Author, 1885. Print.