Week 16 Oldest Story
The story of Frances Cabell Coursen Perritt’s 9th great grandfather came in bits and pieces. The first hint I had of this man’s existence was from my husband’s mother. She and I were discussing her family history. She said one of her early relatives came to North America on the Mayflower. She thought he was a Cabell. She was sure he was from her mother’s side, that is Bessie Ferguson Reynolds Cabell’s side. She did not know the name of her Mayflower relative.
A few years later I started reading a picture book to my kindergarten children. In this story a boy who fell off the Mayflower. In this book the boy who fell overboard, John Howland, served the pilgrim’s leader as a cabin boy. They were traveling to the New World in search of religious freedom. The rescue of John Howland was suggested by an illustration of a boy clinging to a life preserver. In this picture book story, the pilgrims reached Plymouth. John grew up and married Elizabeth Tilley, another passenger on the Mayflower.
A Connection
After I retired from teaching and after I had been researching my husband’s family tree for more than five years, I learned the identity of my mother-in-law’s Mayflower relative.
Grandmother Perritt’s scrapbook left clues. There was a black-edged calling card of Mrs. D.H. Ferguson. The D. H. stood for Daniel Howes. There was a charcoal drawing of Daniel H. Ferguson.
The name Howes puzzled me for a long time. I had published a photo of the charcoal portrait of Daniel on my ancestry site.
Then in January of 2013, a librarian from Morrow County Public Library in Florida contacted me. She wanted to know about the portrait of Daniel. She said,
The Florida History Room of the Monroe County Library has a collection of letters written by Thomas and Rosalinda Ferguson. These letters are from Thomas in California describing his finding gold and Rosalinda in Key West. I have transcribed the letters.
Daniel is the brother of Thomas Jefferson Ferguson… We have an original penned letter from Fanny Ferguson(mother) to Thomas J. In her letter she mentions two girls at home and the following sons: Thomas, George, Daniel, William, Albert, Fernando, Fred and Colbert. The letter is marked Danbury.
These letters were originally found 20 years ago in a tin can at one of our local museums- no one knew then how they came to be there.
I replied telling her what I knew of Daniel. I was able to send her this photo of Daniel’s portrait.
She sent me copies of her transcriptions and copies of Thomas’s and Rosalinda’s letters to each other, a copy of Fanny’s letter and another family letter. This last letter was from Malchus Reed Howes of Mobile, Alabama to Daniel M. Howes of New York. Malchus and Daniel Howes were both brothers of Fanny. The letter mentions two other siblings of Fanny’s. They were Nathan and Adelia, who had married William Ryder. Here is my transcription of Malchus’s letter.
Mobile July 15th 1826
Dear Brother,
I have received the Deed from Nathan that you spoke of in your last letter. I have executed it and shall send it in the trunk of clothes that I send to Cornelia that is to be left at Uncle John’s. I wish you to take it [the deed] from the trunk as you have already advanced money to my children and I expect you to advance more for at this season of the year it is impossible to get money that I could pay you with. Cornelia wants money to buy hats and shoes; her other clothes I shall send her. Please do see them well supplied and see yourself well paid in the delivery of the Deed. If there should be any [money] left, let Brother [Nathan] be bound to pay it to Mother [(Ruhamah Reed Howes] to support my boys as they want. Don’t see my children outdone by any for in all probability, they are all I shall ever have and I hope that they have aplenty to maintain themselves. If you think best that Adelia should have Cornelia, I wish you to get her to take her [there] and I will see her [Adelia] well paid. The yellow fever is paying us a visit this summer. There has been very sudden death in a few hours from the time they were taken [ill]. I shall see you next year if I should live as long. Give my respects to all friends. Don’t forget to write.
Yours Respectfully, M. R. Howes
She sent me copies of her transcriptions. She also sent copies of Thomas’s and Rosalinda’s original letters to each other. Additionally she sent a copy of Fanny’s letter and another family letter. This last letter was from Malchus Reed Howes of Mobile, Alabama written to Daniel M. Howes of New York. Malchus and Daniel Howes were both brothers of Fanny. The letter mentions two other siblings of Fanny’s. They were Nathan and Adelia, who had married William Ryder.
Here is my transcription of Malchus’s letter to his brother Daniel M. Howes.
Mobile July 15th 1826
Dear Brother,
I have received the Deed from Nathan that you spoke of in your last letter. I have executed it and shall send it in the trunk of clothes that I send to Cornelia that is to be left at Uncle John’s. I wish you to take it [the deed] from the trunk as you have already advanced money to my children and I expect you to advance more for at this season of the year it is impossible to get money that I could pay you with. Cornelia wants money to buy hats and shoes; her other clothes I shall send her. Please do see them well supplied and see yourself well paid in the delivery of the Deed. If there should be any [money] left, let Brother [Nathan] be bound to pay it to Mother [(Ruhamah Reed Howes] to support my boys as they want. Don’t see my children outdone by any for in all probability, they are all I shall ever have and I hope that they have aplenty to maintain themselves. If you think best that Adelia should have Cornelia, I wish you to get her to take her [there] and I will see her [Adelia] well paid. The yellow fever is paying us a visit this summer. There has been very sudden death in a few hours from the time they were taken [ill]. I shall see you next year if I should live as long. Give my respects to all friends. Don’t forget to write.
Yours Respectfully, M. R. Howes
The above quoted letter was shared. This letter was well read, shared around the neighborhood and sent on to other family members. This letter from Malchus Howes to Daniel Morgan Howes had been read by another family member who wrote on the letter these words, “I was anxious to hear from Reed (Malchus) and thought no harm in opening this…”
The deed in this letter refers to an 1827 property sale by the heirs of Daniel Howes, Malchus’s and Fanny’s father. Here is my summary of the deed.
1827, 10 Apr. Putnam Co. Deeds, Vol. C, pp. 470-474
Ruhamah Howes of Southeast was the widow of Daniel Howes (1768-1824) of Southeast. Nathaniel Ferguson and wife Fanny, Thomas Ferguson and wife Phebe of Patterson, Putnam, New York, Nathan A. Howes and wife Clarissa, Morgan M. Howes of Southeast, William H. Ryder and wife Adelia of Danbury, Fairfield Co., CT. Fanny, Phebe. Nathan, Daniel Morgan Howes (1805-1830) and Adelia are the adult children of the late Daniel Howes. Jacob O., Esther, Lavinia, Reuben W. are the underage children of the late Daniel Howes. Three acres in Southeast were sold to Ebenezer Foster, John B. Foster and Eleazer Sprague of Southeast for the sum of $245 to be divided into 11 parts. Nathan was to be paid 2 parts for his role in managing the deal.
Soon after this treasure trove from my librarian friend at the Monroe County Library arrived, I worked out that Fanny’s family traced back to John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley. John and Elizabeth both arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. Elizabeth had come with her parents and was 14 at this time. Since I had read the picture book of John Howland’s near drowning to my kindergarten class many times, this new revelation seemed awesome.
The real John Howland almost drowned on his trip to the New World. He was not a cabin boy, but a 29-year-old man and one of two man-servants of Governor Carver. He was swept overboard in a strong storm. He managed catch hold of a rope for a top sail that tailed over the side and under water. He was brought back on to the Mayflower by the use of a boat hook. There is a sourced profile of John Howland on WikiTree
Here is Mike Haywood’s rendering of the event. Mike Haywood is an artist and holds a doctorate in Oceanography and specializes in marine paintings.
Final Thoughts
When I was a kindergarten teacher reading that historical fiction picture book to my class, I never dreamed I was telling a family story.
I made a list going from John Howland to my husband, Craig Shelton Foster
francescabellcoursenperritt.com 
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