33 Sandwich Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-746-9590
www.pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org
What do Humphrey Bogart, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George H. W. Bush, Alec Baldwin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lillian Russell, Sarah Palin, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Dr. Benjamin Spock all have in common? They are all descendants of Mayflower Pilgrim John Howland (c. 1591–1672/3). And John Howland almost didn’t make it to America. On the voyage here he fell overboard. Luckily he grabbed onto a rope and was hauled on board.
At first an indentured servant, Howland later became the secretary and assistant to Governor John Carver (before 1584–1621). Howland signed the Mayflower Compact and helped found Plimouth Colony.
This house belonged not to John but to his son Jabez (c. 1644–before 1712). It had been built in 1667 for Jacob Mitchell. When his father’s house burned, Jabez invited his parents to live here. And so this is the only surviving house in Plymouth in which a Pilgrim lived. Jabez sold the house in 1680 when he moved to Rhode Island. It remained a private residence until 1915, was restored, and is now owned and operated by the Pilgrim John Howland Society. The house is filled with period furniture and artifacts, much of which belonged to the Howlands. Tours are given by very gracious and knowledgeable guides dressed in period costume.