Ten Generations of Howards
A Short Rendering of the Descendancy
This is a first crack at recounting where we Howards came from. All the names in our line have been verified though birth/death certificates, wills, land transactions, marriage bonds, etc. At the moment I’ve limited the zoo to 10 generations, but I do plan to expand the coverage to generations 11 and 12.
The Howards can trace themselves back through the 1600’s to 1635 in the Jamestown settlement of Virginia. Back then the name was spelled Heyward/Hayward/Haward, spelling and pronunciation then being a bit flexible. The name didn’t get fixed to Howard for a couple of generations. The early Virginia genealogy traced here is based on the book "Ten Generations of Virginia Howards," by Walter L Howard (8th generation), PhD published in 1949. This book plus the notes of one Arthur Howard, a distant relation in Texas, who gave them to Tim Howard (11th generation). The research on the Howards after Virginia was done by me, my mom (Maxwell Howard) and Tim Howard.
Generation 1 - John Heyward (1615-1661)
The first American Howard was John Heyward born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. He came to James City of the Virginia Colony in 1635. John married Margaret Clarke in 1650 in York County, Virginia and they had three children: Henry (b 1651), William (b. 1658) and Ellinor (ca 1660).
The Virginia colony was a private enterprise with a charter from the Crown. One had to be sponsored to leave England and live in the colony. John was sponsored by one Capt. Thomas Harwood (d. 1652), a Virginia soldier, landowner and politician. Harwood served multiple terms as a burgess in the 1630s and 1640s and was "one of the chieff of the Mutinous Burgesses" who expelled Governor Sir John Harvey in 1635. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses 1647-49 and was named to the Council shortly before his death in 1652.
A Francis Hayward is recorded in the Early Virginia Immigrants as having arrived in 1639 sponsored by a John Hayward of James City. From this we can say that the use of Hayward was the usual orthographic anomaly and the John and Francis in the entry are brothers. See below.
From the Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1 we get the entry: "Heyward (pronounced Howard), John ancestor of the Howard family of York County patented lands in James City County in 1635 on account of the adventure of his brother, Francis and others into the colony. He was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1654, and died in 1661, leaving issue Henry, William and Elizabeth."
Generation 2 - William Heyward (1658-1719)
Next in the line is William Heyward born in Charles Parish, York County, Virginia in 1658. He married Mary Groves in York County, and they had nine children, one of whom was William (b1702). Not much is known about this William except that he was orphaned on the death of his mother in 1665 and his brother Henry was appointed guardian. There are mentions of him in York County land records and he died in York County in 1719.
Generation 3 - William Heyward (1702-1751)
William, son of William and Mary Groves Heyward, was born June 13, 1702, in Charles Parish, York County. He was twice married, first, to Elizabeth, who died January 7, 1735, and second, to Sarah Hawkins in 1737. He had two surviving children, Henry and Groves by Elizabeth and one, Francis Ross, by Sarah. They seem to have preferred to spell their name Howard rather than Heyward. William lived in York County, Virginia but moved to Granville County North Carolina after the death of Elizabeth. He died in 1751 in Lunenberg County, Virginia in 1751 aged 48. Henry inherited a large estate and moved to South Carolina.
Generation 4 - Francis Ross Howard (1739 – 1785)
Francis, son of William and Sarah (Hawkins) Heyward was born September 30, 1739, in Charles Parish, York County, Virginia. When the Howards began migrating towards North Carolina some of them settled in Lunenburg County, Virginia, near the North Carolina border. Francis went on with Groves to Granville County, North Carolina where his son Larkin (see next) was born. Francis is credited by some with being the first to spell his name Howard, but this appears to be a mistake as that honor should go to Col. Francis, a cousin of his father's. Francis was married first to Ann Allen (born 1740) on April 18,1762, a sister of Hannah, his brother Groves' wife, and second, in 1778, to Sarah Johnston. He died January 10, 1785, four days after his Will was drawn. Customarily men did not make wills until they thought they were on their death bed. There were eight living children by his first marriage and three by the second. Francis served in the Revolutionary War as a sergeant in an artillery battalion of the North Carolina militia. He took his oath of allegiance on 22 May 1778.
Generation 5 - Larkin Howard (1779-1832)
Larkin was born in 1779 in Granville County, North Carolina. His father died when he was young and his mother, Sarah, later married Henry Fuller. The family moved to Russell County, Virginia, around 1808. Larkin married Rachel Herndon in Orange County, Virginia in 1801. Larkin and Rachel then settled in Boone County, Indiana on land they bought near Lebanon, Indiana in 1831. He died in 1832 shortly after arriving. Rachel remained on the farm until her death in 1853.
All of the children including those who were married came with Larkin and his wife to Boone County from Russell County, Virginia, along with Larkin's sister, Nancy Ann Howard Herndon and her family. Both of his grandfathers, Francis Howard and Larkin Johnston, are verified Revolutionary War Patriots from North Carolina.
Generation 6 - Lewis Howard (1810-1848)
Lewis, son of Larkin and Rachel was born on April 24, 1810 in Russell County Virginia and moved with his parents in 1831 to Boone County, Indiana. He married Mary Kerr in 1838 in neighboring Montgomery County, Indiana. Lewis and Mary had three sons: Joseph Kerr, James Williamson and John Fleming. They spent the earlier years of their married life on the farm about four miles north of Jamestown in Boone County. Later they move to Frankfort, Indiana and entered the saddler or harness business.
Tragedy struck when Lewis along with his brothers, Francis, and James plus Elizabeth (Francis’ wife) all died in 1848. Lewis’ brother Anderson took responsibility for raising the orphaned children.
Anderson Howard (b 1818) later became a doctor and was prominent in the community. He died, and his daughter was severely injured, when his buggy was struck by a train on a railway crossing in Jan 1883.
Generation 7 - John Fleming Howard (1846 – 1919)
John Fleming was born in Frankfort, Indiana on March 29, 1846. His mother died from puerperal fever shortly after the birth of John Fleming. He was taken to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Peter Hendrickson in Frankfort but after a few months Mrs. Hendrikson became ill and couldn’t take care of John. He was then taken to his aunt, his mother’s sister, “Polly” Kneisley. She was nursing her daughter at the time and weaned both infants. After two years, Polly’s health failed, and she had to give him up so he was taken back to the Hendrickson’s where he was raised for the next 14 years as their only child. Lewis had by this time died in the cholera epidemic.
He remembered a happy childhood (I have his autobiography) with the Hendrickson’s on their farm two miles east of Frankfort. The religious trend of that home was the strong intellectual atmosphere. They took two papers: The New York Tribune – Horace Greeley’s paper – and ‘The Presbyterian of the West’, edited by ‘the Mumforts’, one of the strongest editorial families in religious literature of the 19th century. Public schooling was limited at that time, only 3 months a year, but he was given the advantage of several summers of subscription school. At the age of 16 he started looking for summer work and was offered a job by his Uncle Anderson for $8.33 a month. This was 1862.
In 1863 he entered the Preparatory Dept of Franklin College and spent 6 months there. In 1864 he became a Baptist, converting from the Presbyterianism he was raised in. He also began teaching school in the district at the end of which he enlisted in the army (Co. G 15th Michigan). Unlike his brother, James Williamson, he saw no action but did guard duty in many places.
He was offered a free education if he remained a Presbyterian but decided against determined to go to a Baptist College. Which he did by working his way through Shurtleff College and graduating in 1871. Along the way he met Martha Elizabeth Regan, and they were married June 20, 1871. After ordination in 1871, there followed a series of pastorates in Southern Illinois, some more successful than others. He passed away in 1919.
John and Martha had six sons: Williamson Kerr, Paul Regan, Harry Hendrickson, John Anderson, Randoph Levi and Joseph Whitney.
Generation 8 - John Anderson Howard (1880-1971)
[from his obit of 8 Nov 1971]
John Anderson Howard was born October 28,1880 at Downer’s Grove, Ill. He held degrees from Shurtleff College (BA) in Alton, Ill; Crozier Theological Seminary (BDiv), Upland, Pa; Baylor University (MA), Waco, Tx; and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (DDiv), Kansas City, Kan. After attending Shurtleff he joined the Baptist Home mission and served in Nebraska and Nova Scotia. On June 30, 1911 he married Mary Grace Lemen of Collinsville, Ill. They had four sons: John Randolph, William Harry, Levi (Lee) Milton, Everette Eugene (Gene) and He retired to Pittsburg, Kan. After 34 years of missionary service in India under the American Baptist Convention. He passed away in Pittsburg on Nov. 8, 1971.
Also, in this generation are: Williamson Kerr Howard, Paul Regan Howard, Harry Hendrickson Howard, Randolph Levi Howard and Joseph Whitney Howard. I plan to write about them and their descendants in future postings.
Generation 9 – Children of John Anderson Howard and Mary Grace Lemen
The Jungle Walla posts give an overview of the life of JAH.
o John Randolph Howard
o William Harry Howard
o Lee Milton Howard
o Everette Eugene Howard
Generation 10 – The Cousins
· Children of John Randolph Howard and Helene Woody
o Randy
o Kent
o Brian
o Carol
· Children of William Harry Howard and Harriet Mueller
o Anderson
o Julie
· Children of Lee Milton Howard and Maxwell Croft
o Regan
o Christine
o Kirk
o Gene
· Children of Everette Eugene and Mildred Dye
o Tom
o Mary
o Will
Randy = John Randolph Howard, Jr.
Carol without the "e"