I’ve added Mayflower passengers to my family tree. Elizabeth Tilley 10th great grandmother, at age 13 sailed on the Mayflower with parents John and Elizabeth Joan Hurst Tilley. The older Tilley children stayed in England. Both John and Joan died in the general sickness of the first winter, 1621. Orphaned Elizabeth was taken in by John Carver (Plymouth Colony governor). Carver had a man-servant or secretary John Howland. When both John Carver and his wife died in early spring of 1621, John Howland inherited their estate and Elizabeth Tilley became his ward, they soon married and had 10 children who all survived into adulthood, so today Tilley and Howland have millions of descendants -you could be one too.

Rocky Nook was John and Elizabeth’s home, it’s no longer around but the land is preserved with a monument and trees, a stone wall and cellars original to the Howland home. The Pilgrim John Howland Society and the Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project share their findings which reveal much history: the Howland House Bake Oven and a 50 page report on 2015 excavations including an artifact catalog are 2 examples. More than 4750 artifacts have been uncovered on the lands.

John and Elizabeth’s son Jabez lived in a home at 33 Sandwich Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The home still stands today . John and Elizabeth lived with Jabez after their home burned. So a person could today walk through this Jabez Howland home in the footsteps of Mayflower passengers John and Elizabeth Tilley Howland. Fascinating.

The Jabez Howland House is the only existing house in Plymouth where Pilgrims actually lived. The original 17th century two-story timber framed house consisted of the porch, hall and hall chamber. John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley Howland spent their winters here with their son Jabez and his family.