Nearly Two Million Americans Owe Their Existence to a Single Piece of Rope — And You Might Be One of Them!

From FDR to Zachery Taylor to Orson Wells and even Marilwn Monroe, there’s no shortage of famous descendants of Mayflower Passengers. And many of the passengers themselves, such as William Bradford, John Carver, and Myles Standish, are remembered in the annals of history. But one passenger, John Howland, is much less well known. And, having over 80 grandchildren, his descendants could include anyone whose family history includes English immigrants to the “New World.” Roughly two million of them! It could even include you!

But Howland’s story isn’t merely one of successful genetic dispersal, it’s also one of near-tragedy. As a boy, John Howland was on The Mayflower bound for the New Plymouth Colony as a servant of John Carver. One night, during the middle of a strong storm on The Atlantic, Howland fell overboard. Chances of survival once falling overboard are already slim. Worse still, Howland’s only lifeline, quite literally, was a single length of trailing rope. He was able to hold on long enough for sailors hoist him back aboard using boat hooks. 

Howland eventually made it to the colony and went on to live a long life with a lengthy resume of his own accomplishments. John Howland also went on to have ten children, and over 80 grandchildren! Experts now calculate that he could, some 400 years later, have upwards of 2 million grandchildren alive throughout the world today. Some of them even have their own club: The Pilgrim John Howland Society. And each and every one of them owes their existence to a young boy hanging on for dear life at sea.