Recently I found four ancestors on the Mayflower... The Tilleys and The Howlands...
John Tilley and his wife Joan Hurst and their daughter Elizabeth Tilley and her husband John Howland.... my pilgrim ancestors.
John Howland was a servant of John Carver and he almost didnt make it to the new world. He almost was lost at sea when he apparently fell off the boat, but they pulled him back in and here I am today.
If you stop and think how many times you may have never been born it can be staggering. How many ancestors died sometime after continuing your line? What if they had died before then? If just one of my ancestors had a really bad day centuries ago, I would not be here to write this post for you or to find all these interesting characters in the story of my tree....
As a certain cute blonde once said, "The mind boggles"...
We should take some time every now and then to thank the fates for our lives i suppose. if you believe in fate.
Any way, John Tilley is my 12th great grandfather and his wife Joan is my 12th great grandmother...
Found this out when i went to www.RelativeFinder.org. Where apparently someone had found the link before me, but its pretty cool to find an ancestor on the ship, whereas before i could only find cousins at best...
Maybe there are more surprises on board in this journey; i still have some walls to break through.
Best of luck to you cousin on your journey. Keep climbing the tree and seeking dead people.
Family History can be fun....
Good bye to you... Fare thee well....
