John, The Mayflower Society hasn't bothered to publish a silver book on John Howland's descendants. As far as I know there's only one genealogist, Elizabeth Pearson White, who's independently taken up the task, and intends to create a multivolume set (one book per each of John's ten children), but after a decade hasn't finished past the first two, John and Desire (not that I blame her, it's a lot of work). What I don't understand is why the Mayflower Society hasn't taken a more active role in ensuring these publications (hiring genealogists, overseeing and sponsoring research, etc.), but they obviously don't feel it's a priority. It seems to me that if they can do it for John Alden's huge family, then they can and should do the same for Howland's! I'm a descendant of John's daughter Hope, and have been waiting for ages. Maybe some representative from the Mayflower Society on this list can enlighten me on this matter? As far as your possible Howland-Elwell connection, I saw on your homepage that your ancestor William Elwell married a Mary Cobb. Have you traced her Cobb line? John Howland's grandaughter Hope Chipman (daughter of his daughter, Hope) married Jonathan Cobb and many of their children and grandchildren settled in Maine where Mary was born. Good luck! In a message dated 5/4/2002 8:13:37 AM Pacific Standard Time, father_john@hotmail.com writes: > I was told today by a cousin that my Elwell family (of Salem and then Maine) > connects to John Howland. > > Does anyone know if this is true and what the connection might be? I have > looked briefly at my database and cannot see where yet, but ... > > If true, this would be my 12th Mayflower ancestor. I would love to find > out. > > The quickest way to check would be to just see if there are Elwell names in > the Howland Silver book. If not, I will pursue other avenues. > > Thanks! > > And thank you all for the kind words of congratulations for the membership > I > was awarded for my Brewster connection. > > Blessings, > Father John >