Last week I was able to listen to a book on my Deseret Bookshelf App, by Tim Ballard called: The Pilgrim Hypothesis, (also available as a book or eBook) The book details the role of the Pilgrims in establishing colonies on this continent. Many miracles occurred in order to establish a nation where Christ’s gospel could be restored, and temples could be built. Many righteous individuals had a hand in this, long before Joseph Smith was born.
As I listened to this book, I was struck by a story that was told about John Howland, a pilgrim aboard the Mayflower. At one point on the journey, in rough seas, he was swept off the ship. Miraculously there was a rope that should not have been in the water that came into his hand and he was able to be pulled on board again. I did a web search of John Howland which suggests that over two million people living in the United States can trace their ancestry back to this noble pilgrim. One of those descendants was Joseph Smith.
I was curious and wanted to see if I was related to this noble pilgrim, so I went to Relative Finder, a website supported by the BYU Family History Technology Lab. Here I logged in (I used my Family Search log in credentials) to access this website, then applied the filter, Mayflower, to explore my relatives. I discovered that one of my relatives who came over on the Mayflower was Elizabeth Tilley, who was a young girl on the journey, and at age 17 married, John Howland. It made John and Elizabeth’s stories so much more relevant to me. When you click on the names of individuals you are related to, you will see your family line and their family line and where and how they are linked.
Other filters that you may be interested in and curious to explore include: Astronauts, Authors & Poets, Constitution Signers, Declaration Signers, Entertainers, European Royalty, Famous Americans, LDS – Current Apostles, LDS – Prophets, LDS – Prophets’ Wives, LDS – Women Auxiliary Leaders, Mayflower, Movie Stars, Sports Figures, STEM, U.S. Presidents, U.S. Presidents’ Wives. You can even set up a filter and invite others to participate. This was done for our ward, and now I know that many of my ward members are also my relatives.
There are so many resources to learn about our Family Histories. As we learn the stories of our ancestors, they become more real to us and their story becomes part of our story. –Elaine Hardman
Loved this and Hi cousin, also descended from the Howland line. My husband and I have long supported Tim Ballard’s O.U.R. group, and heard him speak a couple of times in person. We are getting all 3 books! Thanks for covering this.
I wish all Americans, especially church members would read his books. The best US history I have read!!
What a fun discovery! Thank you for sharing this information Elaine
Elaine, I love this! I love that book (thank you for inspiring me to read it!). I am also a descendant of John and Elizabeth Howland and I’m so grateful for their valiancy to come to America and begin the establishment of our country. Thank you for sharing!