Howlett, Thomas

Ensign Thomas HOWLETT (1606 - 1678) and Alice FRENCH (1610 - 1666)

my 10g-grandparents

Thomas HOWLETT/HOWLET was born about 1606 in England, and died about 1678 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony. More specifically, in court records he stated his age as 52 on 25 Nov 1658, and 60 in Jun 1665 and Mar 1666. His will was written 4 Nov 1677, and his estate was inventoried 10 Sep 1678, so he died between those dates. [GMB, Vol. 2, pp. 1024-8]

By 1630, Thomas immigrated to Boston, probably in the Winthrop fleet. He became member #51 in the Boston church, on 27 Aug 1630. In 1633, along with John WINTHROP, Jr, he became one of the first English settlers in Agawam, where he became a freeman on 4 Mar 1633. Agawam became known as Ipswich, about 30 miles north of Boston. Thomas became a member, and later a deacon, of the church in Ipswich.

Thomas married Alice FRENCH about 1633 or 4, possibly before moving to Agawam. Alice was the daughter of Thomas FRENCH (no relation to Lieut. William FRENCH) and Susan RIDDLESDALE, Alice was baptized 9 Apr 1610 in Assington, Suffolk, England, and probably came to Massachusetts with her brother Thomas, about 1630, along with the Winthrop fleet. Her parents and other siblings immigrated in 1633 and 1638. Alice died on 26 Jun 1666, age about 56, in Ipswich. Thomas and Alice had 7 children, probably all born in Ipswich.

Thomas HOWLETT was a Sergeant in the Ipswich company until 1645, and an Ensign thereafter. In 1643 he lead 10 men in defense of the Agawam Indians, against other tribes.

After Alice died, Thomas married Rebekah, the widow of Thomas SMITH of Ipswich and Newbury. She had sons Thomas, James and John SMITH from her first marriage. Thomas and Rebekah had no children together. She died about 2 years after Thomas, on 1 Nov 1680 in Newbury, Essex, MA.

1 Thomas HOWLETT b: 1606 in England, d: 1678 in Essex, MA, age 72

+ Alice FRENCH b: Bef. 09 Apr 1610 in Assington, Suffolk, England, m: Abt. 1634, d: 26 Jun 1666 in Ipswich, age 56
......2 Sarah HOWLETT b: 1633 in MA, d: 07 Dec 1700 in Dunstable, MA, age 67
...... + John CUMMINGS b: 1630 in England, m: 1656 in MA, d: 01 Dec 1700 in Dunstable, MA, age 70
......2 Thomas HOWLETT b: Abt. 1637 in Ipswich, d: 23 Dec 1667 in Ipswich, Essex, MA
...... + Lydia PEABODY m: Bef. 1662, d: Aft. 23 Dec 1667
......2 John HOWLETT b: Abt. 1643 in Ipswich, d: 1675 in Boston, MA, age 32
...... + Susanna HUDSON m: Abt. 1669
......2 Mary HOWLETT b: Abt. 1645, d: 21 Oct 1718 in Boxford, Essex, MA, age 73
...... + John PERLEY m: Abt. 1661, d: 15 Dec 1729
......2 Samuel HOWLETT b: Abt. 1646, d: 11 Mar 1720, age 74
...... + Sarah CLARK m: 03 Jan 1670/71 in Topsfield, Essex, MA, d: 26 Mar 1717
......2 William HOWLETT b: Abt. 1650, d: 1718, age 68
...... + Mary PERKINS m: 27 Oct 1671 in Topsfield, Essex, MA, d: 1728
......2 Nathaniel HOWLETT d: 28 Apr 1658 in Ipswich, Essex, MA

+ Rebekah m: Aft. 06 Jun 1666, d: 01 Nov 1680 in Newbury, Essex, MA

1. Sarah HOWLETT was born about 1633, either in Boston or Agawam (later Ipswich), Massachusetts Bay Colony. She died on 7 Dec 1700 in Dunstable, MA, at age 67.

Sarah married in 1656 to John CUMMINGS, born 1630 in England, and came to America at age 5, in Oct 1635, settling in Topsfield, MA. He died 1 Dec 1700 in Dunstable, MA, age 70. Sarah and John were my 9g-grandparents. See the John CUMMINGS page.

2. Thomas HOWLETT Jr was born about 1637, in Ipswich, and died 23 Dec 1667 in Ipswich, at age 30. Before 1662 he married Lydia PEABODY, daughter of Francis and Lydia PEABODY. They had 2 daughters. After Thomas died, his widow married Thomas PERLEY.

1 Lydia PEABODY d: Aft. 23 Dec 1667

+ Thomas HOWLETT b: Abt. 1637, m: Bef. 1662, d: 23 Dec 1667 in Ipswich, Essex, MA, age 30
......2 Mary HOWLETT d: 24 Oct 1727 in Norwalk, CT
...... + Thomas HAZEN m: 01 Jan 1682/83
......2 Alice HOWLETT
...... + Isaac CUMMINGS III b: 15 Sep 1664, m: 25 Dec 1688, d: 07 Aug 1746, age 81

+ Thomas PERLEY

Alice HOWLETT, named after her grandmother Alice (FRENCH) HOWLETT, married Isaac CUMMINGS III, grandson of Isaac CUMMINGS the immigrant, my 10g-grandfather. So Alice's uncle, John CUMMINGS, was married to her husband's aunt, Sarah HOWLETT (above).

3. John HOWLETT was born about 1643 in Ipswich, and died about 1675 in Boston, at age 32. He married about 1669 to Susanna HUDSON. They had 3 known children, but at least 2 of them seem to have died young. Susanna married twice more after John died.

1 Susanna HUDSON

+ John HOWLETT b: Abt. 1643, m: Abt. 1669, d: 1675 in Boston, MA, age 32
......2 Mary HOWLETT b: 22 Jan 1670, d: Aft. 1678
......2 Samuel HOWLETT b: 06 Feb 1672, d: probably died in childhood
......2 Sarah HOWLETT b: 22 May 1674, d: probably died in childhood

+ Edmund PERKINS m: Abt. 1677

+ Christopher SLEG

4. Mary HOWLETT was born about 1645, probably in Ipswich or Topsfield, and died 21 Oct 1718 in Boxford, Essex, MA, age 73. About 1661 she married John PERLEY, and they were married about 57 years. He died 11 years after her, on 15 Dec 1729. They had no known children.

John PERLEY was the brother of Thomas PERLEY, who married Mary's sister-in-law, Lydia (PEABODY) HOWLETT, widow of Thomas HOWLETT. John and Thomas were sons of Allen and Susanna PERLEY.

5. Samuel HOWLETT was born about 1646, and died on 11 Mar 1720, at age 74. He married Sarah CLARK on 3 Jan 1670/71 in Topsfield, and she died on 26 Mar 1717. So they were married 48 years, and had 3 known children.

1 Samuel HOWLETT b: Abt. 1646, d: 11 Mar 1720, age 74
+ Sarah CLARK m: 03 Jan 1670/71 in Topsfield, Essex, MA, d: 26 Mar 1717
......2 Mary HOWLETT b: 17 Feb 1671/72
...... + Ephraim WILDE m: 18 Mar 1689
......2 Sarah HOWLETT b: 25 Nov 1674, d: 11 Jul 1729, age 55
...... + Nathaniel AVERILL m: 13 Dec 1698
......2 John HOWLETT b: 03 Apr 1677, d: 07 Sep 1735, age 58
...... + Bathsheba HOYT m: 26 Dec 1699, d: 17 Oct 1740

6. William HOWLETT was born about 1650, and died about 1718, age 68. He married Mary PERKINS on 27 Oct 1671 in Topsfield, They had been married about 47 years when he died. She lived another 10 years, and died in 1728. They only had one known child.

1 William HOWLETT b: Abt. 1650, d: 1718, age 69
+ Mary PERKINS m: 27 Oct 1671 in Topsfield, Essex, MA, d: 1728
......2 Thomas HOWLETT b: 26 Oct 1672, d: 10 Feb 1713, age 40
...... + Rebecca CUMMINGS b: 01 Apr 1674, m: 13 Jan 1696

Brother and sister Rebecca and Isaac III CUMMINGS married 1st cousins Thomas and Alice HOWLETT.

7. Nathaniel HOWLETT died 28 Apr 1658 in Ipswich.

Sources

[DW] The ancestry of Dudley Wildes : 1759-1820, of Topsfield, Massachusetts (1959) by Walter Goodwin Davis

[GMB] The Great Migration Begins (2013)

[MG] Thomas HOWLETT on the Master of Gilda tree

Updated 20 May 2021 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.