# Ha! The guy who fell off the Mayflower was my ancestor **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587 "2015-11-25T23:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/1 "2015-11-25T23:18:13Z")
Watching the PBS special “The Pilgrims” and realized John Howland is my gr-gr-gr-gr grandfather. He’s the guy who fell off the boat and had to be rescued. Here’s the painting commemorating the event: [http://photos.geni.com/p13/2b/65/d5/c6/53444838d20b7de7/howland-haywood-howland\_medium.jpg](http://photos.geni.com/p13/2b/65/d5/c6/53444838d20b7de7/howland-haywood-howland_medium.jpg) We always were klutzes and this proves it’s genetic 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/2 "2015-11-25T23:41:01Z")
I hope you don’t mind the gigglesnorts on this end. What a legacy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/3 "2015-11-26T00:09:49Z")
Macarthur stumbled upon landing on Leyte beach but that’s not usually depicted. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/4 "2015-11-26T00:13:51Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I hope you don’t mind the gigglesnorts on this end. What a legacy 🙂 Gigglesnorts are welcome! ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/5 "2015-11-26T00:22:17Z")
My husband was too. I guess we’re kind of related! ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/6 "2015-11-26T00:43:11Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > My husband was too. I guess we’re kind of related! Clumsy dude’s name was John Howland, I’m related to the John Curtis line (his grandson). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/7 "2015-11-26T03:04:13Z")
Huh, always thought it was [John Alden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alden) (my ancestor) who fell off the Mayflower. That’s actually somewhat disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/8 "2015-11-26T04:28:14Z")
Perhaps my ancestor pushed him? ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/9 "2015-11-26T04:40:52Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Watching the PBS special “The Pilgrims” and realized John Howland is my gr-gr-gr-gr grandfather. > > He’s the guy who fell off the boat and had to be rescued. Here’s the painting commemorating the event: > > [http://photos.geni.com/p13/2b/65/d5/c6/53444838d20b7de7/howland-haywood-howland\_medium.jpg](http://photos.geni.com/p13/2b/65/d5/c6/53444838d20b7de7/howland-haywood-howland_medium.jpg) That’s very cool to find something like that out, but I just want to say that the guy who jumped out into the water to paint that portrayal was the real hero. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/10 "2015-11-26T13:01:55Z")
Do they let you into the Mayflower Society? Or is there a reduced-grade subchapter for Nearly\_Drowned\_Flowers? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/11 "2015-11-26T13:38:16Z")
If April showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring? Klutzy, Damp Pilgrims. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/12 "2015-11-26T16:17:06Z")
Watching that show, I kept thinking: What a crazy miracle that _any_ of those folks survived!! ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/13 "2015-11-26T17:10:37Z")
You and my husband are related! He is descended from John Howland’s daughter, Desire. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/14 "2015-11-26T17:22:35Z")
Wait, _Desire_?\*\* I thought they used virtue names like Prudence and Charity. They were naming their daughters after sins? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/15 "2015-11-26T17:33:30Z")
> [@sweetie pea](#): > > Wait, _Desire_?\*\* I thought they used virtue names like Prudence and Charity. They were naming their daughters after sins? Well, you know how it is for new parents - all the virtuous names were on the Ye Olde Top Ten Lists, and no one wants to be the fourth Patience in their class. Besides, Gluttony’s a _lovely_ girl. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/16 "2015-11-26T18:39:35Z")
Isn’t it weird to think about the fact that if he hadn’t been rescued, there are a whole line of people who wouldn’t have existed. ---
**Author:** ![Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/das_glasperlenspiel/32/2944_2.png) [@Das\_Glasperlenspiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Das_Glasperlenspiel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/17 "2015-11-26T20:04:24Z")
> [@sweetie pea](#): > > Wait, _Desire_?\*\* I thought they used virtue names like Prudence and Charity. They were naming their daughters after sins? There’s another one in my husband’s line with the name “Thankful”. ---
**Author:** ![DoggyDunnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DoggyDunnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoggyDunnit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/18 "2015-11-26T23:59:20Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > Isn’t it weird to think about the fact that if he hadn’t been rescued, there are a whole line of people who wouldn’t have existed. Yeah. It’s amazing how many possibilities appear and disappear with the decisions people make. Very interesting to think about such things. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/19 "2015-11-27T01:23:19Z")
I’m another relative, through his daughter, Ruth. I just wrote a play about the Mayflower crossing, including Howland’s fall, which I sold to a magazine last month. You know, he and his wife had ten children who all grew up and lived to have children–not that common in those days. They had more than 80 grandchildren. I’ve read that Thankful was a common Puritan name. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587/20 "2015-11-27T05:33:21Z")
I share his last name, and so my family has always assumed that we’re related too, high incidence of alcoholism notwothstanding. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-the-guy-who-fell-off-the-mayflower-was-my-ancestor/738587.md?page=2)