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Jeremiah Howes (1637–1708), son of Thomas Howes and Mary Unknown

Sarah Prence (1644–1706), daughter of Governor Thomas Prence and Mary Collier

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Jeremiah is said to have been born on his family's voyage to New England in 1637. [1] Mr. Jeremiah Howes died on 9 September 1708 in Yarmouth. [2, 9 December][3] He married Sarah, the daughter of Governor Prence. [1]

Sarah Prence was born about 1644. She died on 3 March 1706. [1, 1703/4]

Jeremiah and Sarah are buried in the Howes Cemetery in North Dennis and the inscriptions on their gravestones say: [4]

Jeremiah and his two brothers are on a 29 May 1670 list of freemen in Yarmouth. [1]

Jeremiah was on the council of war in Yarmouth during King Philip's War. [1]

Jeremiah and his son Jeremiah were on a May 1678 list of freemen in Yarmouth. [1]

Mrs. Mary Prence, relict of Governor Prence, died at the house of her son-in-law Jeremiah in 1695. [1]

Jeremiah was ten years a deputy, two years a representative after the union of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, and 20 years a selectman. [1]

Jeremiah Howes, yeoman of Yarmouth, made his will on 14 August 1708. He mentioned his children: Ebenezer Howes, Prince Howes, Elizabeth Bacon, Sarah Mayo. Mary Howes, Bethiah Howes, Marcy Sturgis, Susannah Bassett, Thankful Miller, and Rebecca Howes. He also mentioned Jeremiah, Hannah, Sarah, Martha and Mary, the children of his son Jeremiah; Thomas, the son of his son Thomas; his grandson Joseph Bacon. He named his sons Prince Howes, Ebenezer Howes, and Samuel Sturgis, his executors. The inventory of his estate was taken on 23 September 1708 and amounted to £1,463-12-05. It was presented by his executors on 6 October and probate was the following day. [3]

Children of Jeremiah Howes and Sarah Prence: (Order uncertain)

i. Jeremiah Howes of Yarmouth died on 5 January 1705/6. [2] He married Mary Daggett of Edgartown after 18 October 1693. [4]

ii. Elizabeth Howes married Jeremiah Bacon of Barnstable on 10 December 1686 in Barnstable. [4]

v. Prince Howes was born about 1670. He died on 2 October 1753, age 83. [4] Prince of Yarmouth married Dorcas Joyce of Yarmouth on 8 August 1695. [2][5] Dorcas was the daughter of Hosea Joyce and his wife Elizabeth Chipman and the sister of Prince's brother Ebenezer's second wife. [5] She was born about 1674 and died on 14 November 1757 in Yarmouth. [5]

iii. Ebenezer Howes was born about 1673. He died between 3 December 1726 and 13 February 1726/7. He married first Sarah Gorham. He married second Lydia Joyce.

vi. Mary Howes was unmarried on 14 August 1708.

vii. Bethiah Howes married Isaac Hawes on 8 January 1701 in Yarmouth. [2]

viii. Marcy Howes married Samuel Sturgis before 14 August 1708.

ix. Susanna Howes married Joseph Bassett on 27 February 1706/7 in Yarmouth. [2]

x. Thankful Howes married John Miller on 23 January 1706/7 in Yarmouth. [2]

xi. Rebecca Howes married Ebenezer Hallett on 14 August 1712 in Yarmouth. [2]

Endnotes:

1. Charles F. Swift, History of Old Yarmouth (Yarmouthport: the author, 1884).

2. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, vol. 1 (Warwick: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island, 1975), 131 (death of Jeremiah), 132 (death of Mr. Jeremiah), 133 (marriage of Prince), marriage of Bethiah), 137 (marriages of Thankful and Susanna), 138 (marriage of Rebecca).

3. "Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685–1789," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, vol. 3: 114–7.

4. Ella F. Elliot, "Brewster-Collier-Prence-Howes," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 59 (1905): 217–8.

5. Maclean W. McLean, "John Joyce of Yarmouth, Mass.," The American Genealogist 43 (1967): 1–13.

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Last revised: 23-Aug-2023