Week 22, 2026 - A Name With Meaning - John Howland

 

A young man from a modest English farming family, John Howland grew up during a time of strong religious tensions in England. He was one of seven children of Henry and Margaret Howland and second born. Separatist and Puritan groups were breaking away from the Church of England, and many had relocated to Leiden in South Holland in the Netherlands to escape religious persecution. Young John who was born about 1598-1599 in Fenstanton, England became a manservant to John Carver, a wealthy English Separatist who would go on to become the first governor of Plymouth Colony in America.

John Howland became well known because he was swept overboard in a storm while traveling on the Mayflower in 1620 but was able to grab a trailing rope and was pulled back aboard. The incident was recorded by William Bradford in his journals and over the years many books and stories have been written about the incident.

He married Elizabeth Tilly about 1623/1624 in Plymouth Colony. She had come on the Mayflower as a young girl with her parents but both of them died during the first winter making her an orphan. John and Elizabeth had 10 children who survived to adulthood:  Desire, John, Hope, Elizabeth, Lydia, Hannah, Joseph, Jabez, Ruth and Isaac. 

John was a signer of the Mayflower Compact and went on to hold many government positions including assessor and deputy to the General Court. He was a large landowner and was also said to be involved with the fur trade as far north as Maine.

Inscription:  "Here ended the Pilgrimage of JOHN HOWLAND who died February 23, 1672/3, aged above 80 years. He married Elizabeth daughter of JOHN TILLEY who came with him in the Mayflower Dec. 1620. From them are descended a numerous posterity."

Because of their large family they have millions of descendants today, the largest amount of any person who traveled on the Mayflower. 

Daughter Lydia married James Brown, and I descend from their son James Brown.

The line goes: John Howland>Lydia Howland>James Brown>William Brown>Noah Brown>Bethia Brown>Sylvia Bliss>Lois Yaw>Lillian Harris>Pauline (my grandmother)>my mother>me. I was able to prove the line and am a member of the Mayflower Society.

John Howland was my 9x great-grandfather and the name John was handed down through many of those generations. His name is a well-known and meaningful part of my family history.

Barbie

Week 21, 2026 - An Unexpected Strength - Pauline Prince Sheridan

May 6, 1911, a tiny girl was born at home to Pauline and John Sheridan in the small town of Perrinton, Michigan. Young Evalyn Agnes was the second born following her older brother Michael who had been born in 1908. Her mother became increasing concerned as the little girl wasn't eating and growing as she should.  On June 16th, just 40 days after being born, she passed away. The death was classified imperfect assimilation (#151 in the list of causes of deaths), but in layman's terms, she died from failure to absorb nutrients.

Her mother Mrs. J O Sheridan is listed as the informant on her death certificate, and it was reported on June 24th.

Child number three was Rexford Frances born in Perrinton.

Then on December 9, 1914, young John O Sheridan, Jr was born. He wasn't a really active baby, seemed to have some issues eating, but was growing and doing all things that babies do. Then in 1915, the summer seemed to be hotter than normal, the heavy air would seem to sit and not move. The humidity seemed to hang day after day. Suddenly about September 5, 1915, young John was sickly with vomiting and severe diarrhea. Two days later on September 7th, at only eight months old, he was gone. The official cause of death was cholera infantum. Also known as 'disease of the season' or 'summer diarrhea'. My mom told me it was 'fever and famine'.

His mother Mrs. J O Sheridan is listed as the informant on the death certificate, and it was reported on September 25th.

Following this there were three girls born, Agnes, Alice and Lorraine.

Then on November 15, 1926, another boy was born. He only lived two days and was never named. His cause of death is listed as 'imperfect development' Again, his mother Mrs. J O Sheridan is listed as the informant, and it was filed on November 20th.

On June 9, 1928, child number nine was stillborn. Reported by its mother Mrs. J O Sheridan.

Where my grandfather was or why he wasn't the informant, I don't know, but grandma signed each certificate for the paperwork. How difficult it must have been for her each time she wrote her name, yet through those hardships she discovered an unexpected strength.

Barbie

Week 20 2026 - At the Cemetery - Porter cemeteries in Iowa

Back in 2016 my husband and I took a flying/driving research trip to Iowa to finally see where my dad came from. Dad was born in South Dakota, but was raised in the Sioux City, Iowa area. My grandfather Harry E Porter was born in Iowa but had moved to Michigan during WWII for work. My great-grandfather and 2x great grandfather were all born and died in the same area in Iowa. 

My 3x great grandfather Aaron Porter was born in Vermont or New York in ca1780 and supposedly died in 1845 while traveling from Iowa to Indiana. There are no records for his death other than his probate records that his wife and sons created.

We flew into Cedar Rapids, Iowa and then drove back southeast to the town of Tipton and went to the Rochester Cemetery southeast of town where John J. Porter (my 2x great grandfather) is buried.  

It is over 13 acres in size, and the cemetery is left to ‘prairie grasses’ in the summer, so access is extremely limited. We had attempted to drive in a part of the cemetery, but because of the tall grass it really wasn't safe for us, the car or the potential of any damage to any headstones.  We did walk through some of it, but it was very hard going, and you often tripped on headstones. We never found his headstone, but from Find-a-Grave, I do have a picture of it.

                                              Rochester, Iowa                                                               John J Porter

His wife Margaret is buried with her 2^nd husband in the Masonic Cemetery also located in Tipton, Iowa and we also drove to that cemetery. It is a very clean, open cemetery and very nicely maintained.

Also buried at Rochester Cemetery is Juliana (Dolan) Porter, the wife of Nicholas Porter, son of John J. Unfortunately, young Juliana died at the age of 17 after being married less than a year. There is no stone for her, but she is listed in the records of the cemetery. Her husband Nicholas would move on and settle in California, although he never remarried.

We often walk burial grounds as genealogists, chasing that family dream of filling out one more section of their vital records. But they lived, loved and were members of their families and an integral part of their communities just like us. We are not thinking about how they came to be in that area and the how and why they are buried at the cemetery.

Barbie

          

Week 1 2026 - An Ancestor I Admire - Daly/Conner

I thought long and hard about this topic. There are many of my ancestors who survived catastrophic events or hardships and yet overcame so much. But here's a more recent event and a person I appreciate and respect.

Doris Daly and Ken Conner met in High School in Lapeer, Michigan. At the age of 17, Doris quit school and she and Kenny married on October 27, 1951, in Imlay City, Michigan. Ken worked for his father-in-law building bridges and overpasses in Michigan. He would do anything to pay the bills and to save to fly. His goal was to be a pilot. Their first son was born in 1952 and their second son in 1953. In the meantime, Doris went back to school and got her GED. 

Ken always loved the lure of the sky.  Ben Scott taught him how to fly.  He flew a Taylor Craft L2 in those early years. He worked on airplanes like others worked on cars.  There were a bunch of men that flew together:  Norm Burley, 'Doc' Wilcox, George Conner (brother), Dick Quick, John Miller and Jim Bochef.  

Kenny started as a crop duster and flew in Beaverdam, Wisconsin from April 1952 - August 1952. And then again in Hartsville, North Carolina for one month during the summer of 1954.  He went to Texas in 1955 to get his Instrument rating.  He also worked for Trot Brothers in Almont flying passengers around the state for extra flying time.  He started with North Central Airlines in September 1955.  He made the rating of Captain in 1957 - at that time the youngest Captain in the history of North Central.

First Officer Ken Conner standing by a DC-3

They moved to Ann Arbor for a couple of years and then purchased a building lot next door to Doris's parents at Barnes Lake, Columbiaville, Lapeer County, Michigan. There with the help of Kenny's brother George and Doris's father Ken Daly and her brother Joe Daly they build a small two-bedroom cottage that would be their home. 

On February 13, 1960, after taking his wife and two sons to Willow Run, Michigan in his Cessna 170 to catch a commercial flight to Florida, he returned to Barnes Lake, Columbiaville, Michigan.  The following morning, (Valentine's Day) he left with his parents (George & Lena Conner) and his brother-in-law (Joe Daly) to travel to Florida to meet up with his family for a vacation.  After a quick fly-by over the lake, they headed south.  A short time later the plane crashed in the town of Clarkston, Michigan.  All aboard were killed.

Doris learned of the accident via a phone call. Instantly, her life was changed. She lost her husband, her in laws and her brother that fateful morning. At the age of 26, she had to hold it together. Help her young sons, her brother-in-law who overnight became an orphan, and her parents who lost a child.

The next couple of years were a blur as she worked and raised her children. In 1962, Doris and their two sons moved to Auburn, Michigan so she could go to work for North Central Airlines.  In November 1964 she switched airlines and went to work for United Airlines.  Feeling that she needed to prove to herself (and to Kenny) that she could accept the consequences, Doris took flying lessons.  After soloing, she continued to fly for a time but eventually stopped.

Doris retired from United Airlines after 29 years. She spent her whole career at MBS International Airport. She and the boys traveled extensively over the years. She made sure that her boys enjoyed flying as much as their dad had.

I married the youngest son. Who holds doors for me, makes sure I walk on the inside of the sidewalk, always has a hankie in his pocket, is loving and giving and kind. The tragedy that day could have broken my mother-in-law, but instead she raised herself and her boys up to a standard that all of us can admire.

Barbie

The NTSB report showed that the accident happened due to weather / unexpected ice storm.

Week 19, 2026 - A Question the Records Can't Answer - Thomas Sheridan

They say that every story has a shred of truth to it and you should never completely dismiss it.

I have a Thomas Henry Sheridan born Oct 15, 1843, in Wheatland, Monroe County, New York.  He would have been my half 3x great Uncle. His mother, Mary, died in August 1849 and then his father Michael Sheridan died sixteen months later in December 1850. Suddenly, this small six-year-old boy lost everything dear to him.

I next find Thomas in the 1855 Wheatland, Monroe County, New York census living in the Harris Rogers household. He is 11 years old and is listed as a laborer. The enumeration date is June 5, 1855.  

A hand-written missive by a contributor on FamilySearch states "that young Thomas was placed in a Catholic home/orphanage and attended school there. At 14 years, he ran away from the home and started to walk to New Orleans to see his uncle (no name) who ran a lighthouse there. When Thomas was 17, he was drafted into the Rebel Army. When camped near the Union Army he slipped away and joined up in a Maine regiment in a light artillery unit. He rode a horse which was shot out from under him and his leg was broken. He refused to stay in the hospital and rejoined the unit. After the war he came to Michigan and lived with Patrick in Gratiot County. He came to Sandstone, Michigan in Jackson County and met Esther Tinkler and they married in 1868".

That is a lot of happenings for a young man in a span of 25 years. 

In 1850 he is age 6, listed with his parents in Wheatland, Monroe County, New York.

In 1855 he is 11 years old and listed as a laborer in the Harris Rogers household.

In 1860 he is 17 years old and living with his older half-brothers Patrick and Michael in Brooklyn, Jackson County, Michigan and is listed as a blacksmith apprentice.

1868 he is married to Esther Tinkler, and their first child is born in 1870 in Jackson County, Michigan.

I have researched lighthouses in the New Orleans area and have not found any names that might match. The only Thomas in New Orleans in 1860 is age 6 and born in Louisiana. I have not found young Thomas in any Civil War records. 

What the true story was, I will probably never know. The records help to put together a great accounting of Thomas's life up to a point. There may be a bit of truth in the telling, but definitely not all the answers.

Barbie