• Arthur, yeoman, later of Marshfield, Plymouth Colony, and buried 30 Oct. 1675. He is mentioned in will of his brother, Humphrey, 1646.
44• Duxbury was another heretical center, harboring Baptists as well as Quakers. Prence’s policy met stiff opposition here, led by John Howland’s brother, Arthur, and the sons of Joseph Rogers of the Mayflower, seconded by the local pastor, the Reverend John Holmes. For outspoken criticism of the authorities, Henry Howland was up on the malicious charge of “improperlie entertaining” a neighbor’s wife, and his young son Zoeth was put in the stocks for saying that he “would not goe to meeting to hear lyes, and that the Divill could preach as good as sermon as the minister,” with which many townspeople seemed to agree, choosing to pay a fine rather than attend public worship.
47• ARTHUR HOWLAND, the oldest of the three brothers, doubtless came to New Plimouth with his brother Henry, where he lived a few years and then became a landholder and resident of Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Arthur Howland lived and died on this Marshfield estate, and five generations lived and are buried there.
Arthur was a man of firmness, of uprightness, full of Christian zeal, and though not actively interested in the civil affairs of the colony, was greatly respected for his wealth of character. He accepted at an early day the doctrines of the Society of Friends, and amidst the persecutions of them in the 17th century, was an earnest, faithful defender of the faith. His house at Marshfield, it appears, was the headquarters of the persecuted Friends, and he courageously "entertayned the forraigne Quakers who were goeing too & frow in some of the townes of the goument, producing great desturbance."
Arthur married Widow Margaret Reed. She had a daughter, Lydia Reed, who married John Walker, a member of the Society of Friends, who lived near the Howlands.
Arthur was buried at Marshfield October 30, 1675, and his wife, Margaret, was buried there June 22, 1683.
46• Duxbury harbored a lot of the Quakers and Arthur and Henry Howland led the opposition to Quaker persecution.
2036• Will dated 3 July 1674, probated 7 Mar 1675.
582• John Howland had several brothers who also came to New England, namely Henry Howland (an ancestor to both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford) and Arthur Howland (an ancestor to Winston Churchill).
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