Bethia (Thacher) Howland (abt. 1649 - 1725)

Born about 1649 in Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Jabez Howland — married 1669 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died 19 Dec 1725 at about age 76 in Bristol, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Birth

Bethia Thacher was born in 1649,^[1] probably in Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony, but the date of birth has not been ascertained yet.^[2] She was the daughter of the daughter of Anthony Thacher and Elizabeth Jones.^[3]

However, the inscription on her gravestone shows the age at death. It says she died in the 81st year of her age in 1725. Therefore, based on her age of 81 years at death, she probably was born about 1644 or 1645. The burial record is the primary source for her age at death to show when she was born.

Census

In 1688/89, Bethia and Jabez Howland were shown on the Census of Bristol, Rhode Island, with four children.^[4]

Marriage

Jabez Howland, son of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, married Bethia Thacher by 1669, probably in Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony before their first child Jabez Howland was born in Plymouth on either September or November 13 or 15, 1669. However, there is no record of place or exact date of the marriage.^[2][5]

Children

Children of Jabez and Bethia Howland, 8 sons and 3 daughters. First 5 children born in Plymouth, and rest of children born in Bristol:^[6]

1. Jabez Howland (1669-1732)
2. John Howland (1673-1673)
3. Bethiah Howland (1674-1676)
4. Josiah Howland (1676-1717)
5. John Howland (1679-?)
6. Judah Howland (1683-1683)
7. Seth Howland (1685-1685)
8. Samuel Howland (1686-1748)
9. Experience Howland (1687-?)
10. Joseph Howland (1692-1737)
11. Elizabeth Howland

Death

Bethia Howland outlived Jabez, and she signed the agreement of his heirs. She died on December 19, 1725, presumably in Bristol, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay (now Bristol County, Rhode Island).^{[7][6][8][9][10][11]}

Burial

Bethia Howland was buried in East Burial Ground in Bristol, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay (now Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island). She died in the 81st year of her age.^[12] The inscription on her gravestone inscribed:

Here lieth ye

Body of Bethiah

y wife of Jabez

Howland. died

Dece y 19 1725

in y 81 year of

her age.

Sources

1. ↑ Great Migration 1634-1635, T-Y. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VII, T-Y, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011., pg. 19.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Totten, John R., ed. "Thacher-Thatcher Genealogy." The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume XLII (42), 1911, New York City, New York: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, page 154.
3. ↑ Totten, John R., ed. "Thacher-Thatcher Genealogy." The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume XLII (42), 1911, New York City, New York: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, pg. 59.
4. ↑ The American Genealogist (TAG). New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) TAG 68(July 1993):184-185, at Page 185
5. ↑ The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995), pg. 1023
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Totten, John R., comp. "Thacher-Thatcher Genealogy." The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume XLII (42), 1911, New York City, New York: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, page 155.
7. ↑ Bristol County was created by the Plymouth Colony on June 2, 1685, and named after its "shire town" (county seat), Bristol. The Plymouth Colony merged into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The towns of Bristol, Barrington, and Warren were awarded to Rhode Island in 1746 as part of a long-running boundary dispute, forming Bristol County, Rhode Island.
8. ↑ The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Volume One: The Snow Family, by Nora E. Snow, compiled by Myrtle M. Jillson, Hillburn, New York, 1939, page 494.
9. ↑ 'The Mayflower Descendant: A Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. (MD) Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) MD 39, No. 1, Jan 1989, Page 23.
10. ↑ Hunter, Mardenna J. The Family of John Howland, Mayflower Passenger: Five Generations. Indianapolis, Ind., 1970. Print, p. 1.
11. ↑ Shaw, Hubert K, Lucy S. Doyle, Herbert S. Clark, and George E. Bowman. Families of the Pilgrims: John Howland. Boston, Mass: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1955. Print, p. 6.
12. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 2016), memorial page for Bethiah Thatcher Howland (1645–1725), Find A Grave Memorial no. 126281409, citing East Burial Ground, Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island; the photograph is materially informative and provides a legible image of the inscribed data.

• Austin's One Hundred And Sixty Allied Families, pp. 137-139.
• The American Genealogist, v. 14:214-5.
• The Mayflower Descendant, v. 2:118
• Otis, Amos, and Charles F. Swift. Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families. Barnstable, Mass: F.B. & F.P. Goss, 1888.
• William T. Davis, Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth: Part I. Historical Sketch and Titles of Estates. Part II. Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families, Boston: A. Williams and Company, 1883, p. 150.
• James Savage, Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, (Originally published Boston 1860-62, reprinted April 1873 and 1884, reproduced by Genealogical Publishing Company, Balitmore 1981, Vol. 2, p. 479.
• Lainhart, Ann Smith and Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, v. 23 (Family of John Howland), Plymouth, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006, page 10.
• Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol. 7, T - Y, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003, pages 14-22.
• The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Volume One: The Snow Family, by Nora E. Snow, compiled by Myrtle M. Jillson, Hillburn, New York, 1939, p. 494.
• James Thacher, History of the Town of Plymouth, from Its First Settlement in 1620, to the Present Time: With a Concise History of the Aborigines of New England, and Their Wars with the English, &c, Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, 1835, p. 132.
• Lainhart, Ann Smith and Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, v. 23 (Family of John Howland), Plymouth, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006, page 10.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #126281409