| Notes |
- The English background of Mathew Howard of the Severn in Maryland has been the subject of much interest and not a little controversy as to the origin. That he was of the noble family of England cannot be denied, for, according to the ancient rules of heraldry, any family which has been granted a coat-of-arms is deemed to be ennobled.
Many visible and invisible indicators point to the belief that he was not of too remote relationship to the Howards of the Peerage, but certainly no title or even a knighthood was possessed by him. But the use of the ancient Howard arms on documents in Maryland and the fact that all of his sons were literate place his family in the social picture above many of the British planters who settled in the Colonies.
The date of his settlement in America and the political times at home all have some bearing on his life and the motive for his leaving England. His politics were of the Puritan variety. They may have alienated him from the conservative opinions of other members of the family?though many peers espoused the liberality and revolutionary actions of Cromwell and his adherents. His associations in Virginia were definitely with the liberal non-Conformists which was the reason of his leaving that colony and coming to Maryland at the invitation of Lord Baltimore. He was among the first contingency to arrive and settled on the north shore of the Severn opposite the present town of Annapolis around present Greenbury Point more or less under the ancient rights of squatters until patents were granted after certain formalities.
The first record of Mathew Howard being in the Colony of Virginia was on February 8, 1637/8, when he was seated on the western branch of the Elizabeth River in the Upper County of New Norfolk. His emigration therefore ante-dates that year, but it is not believed to have been too many years.
Throwing aside any political entanglement of Mathew Howard in England, his desire to settle in the Colonies may have been actuated by sheer adventure and the opportunities which a new world offered to younger sons without estates. There is no record of his bringing in children, but only his wife, Anne, and two man-servants. Consequently, it can be assumed that he had recently married and set out for Virginia shortly thereafter.
He seemed to have left all connections behind him, and when he settled in Maryland neither he nor his sons commemorated any of his ancestral estates by the naming of their plantations to offer a clue to their life in England.
As mentioned previously, he was seated on the western branch of the Elizabeth River in Upper Norfolk which is present Nansemond County, where a hot-bed of non-Conformists had developed through mutual interests. It was not until May 27, 1638, that he applied for his head-rights in financing his own passage and that of Anne his wife.
He had a family by July 6, 1640, as the following human interest item will prove: "Simon Peeter, aged 26, stated that Edy Hanking said that Mathew Howard's wife went walking with Edward Lloide and left the children crying and her husband had to leave work and quiet the children? Eady Hanking shall acknowledge the accusations and as Howard's wife openly forgiveness both at the house of Mr. Wm Julian on Friday next and also at the Parish Church the Sunday following and defray the charges of the Court."
By 1648 Mathew Howard was the father of six children. Richard Hall, of Lower Norfolk County, died testate in 1648 without issue and named Mathew Howard the Elder as Executor of his estate and bequeathed legacies to the Howard children. He furthermore left "Old Mathew" one yearling stear calf and "my best pair of breeches."
Children of Mathew and Anne Howard
1. Anne Howard Greeniffe, born ca 1637.
2. Elizabeth Howard Ridgely, born ca 1639.
3. Mathew Howard, Jr., born ca 1640.
4. Capt. Cornelius Howard, Sr., born ca 1643.
5. John Howard, Sr., born before 1645.
6. Samuel Howard, born before 1645.
7. Mary Howard Hammond, born ca 1645.
8. Philip Howard, born after 1648.
On July 3, 1650, Robert Clark, Surveyor General of the Province, stated that he had "laid out for Mathew Howard of the Severn in the County of Ann Arundell planter a parcel of land lying on the south side of the River Severn near a Creek called Marshes Creek... containing and now laid out in the whole for Six Hundred and fifty acres more or less." The 650 acres were undoubtedly due for his own personal adventure into the Province (100 acres) and the remainder for the transportation at his own expense eleven persons whose names were not recorded. His younger children were certainly under age at that time, so it can be assumed that among the eleven were several of his children.
He perhaps returned to Virginia or his son and namesake remained behind, for on November 15, 1650, the Court of Lower Norfolk ordered that 100 lbs of tobacco be paid to Mathew Howard for the killing of a wolf. It is also evident that he was a resident of Virginia as late as 1652. Lt. Coll. Cornelius Loyd in that year was appointed the Collector of the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River for 97 tithable persons with a quota of 31,330 lbs. tobacco. His remuneration was to be 4, 150 lbs. tobacco and Mathew Howard was to receive 100 lbs. tobacco. In that same year Robert Woody was ordered to pay Mathew Howard 500 lbs. tobacco.
No record can be found of any last will and testament or even an inventory or administration of his estate. He was deceased by 1659, when Edward Loyd who was the guardian of his youngest son, Philip, had "Howardstone" on the Severn surveyed for Philip Howard, stating that he was an orphan of Mathew Howard. It was not until 1660 or a little later that his sons appeared in the service and annals of the Province.
The records of Oxford and Cambridge do not reveal that any of the sons of Mathew Howard were sent back to England for their education, but all were literate and manifested a high degree of intellect. It is therefore apparent that they were tutored in Virginia and that the younger ones were later schooled after settlement in Maryland. The family left its mark on Maryland and the scions intermarried with the county gentry of the Province. They were large land and slave owners which were symbols of wealth and position in those days. While the emigrant was undoubtedly of Puritan learnings, the sons conformed to the Established Church and even became members of the local vestries.
Anne Arundel Gentry: A Genealogical History of Some Early Families of Anne Arundel County, Maryland by Harry Wright Newman
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Matthew Howard, b. 1609.
Matthew Howard emigrant son of Sir Thomas Howard-Arundel and Ann Philipson his wife. He married Ann about 1630 and embarked within a short time for Virginia with two white servants. Most likely political differences or adventure sent him and his bride to the New World. It must be remembered that he was not the eldest son and therefore the title would not descend to him on the death of his father. At that time it was not uncommon for the second and younger sons of baronial houses to immigrate to Virginia with a retinue of servants and continue a life of culture, ease and wealth which could be found unequalled in the New World.
The vessel in which Matthew Howard sailed from his native land brought him with his bride to the settlements at the mouth of the James and Elizabeth Rivers and there he joined the group of settlers in what was then known as Lower Norfolk County. He resided for nearly twenty years in that locale and it is believed that is where his eight children were born.
In 1638 Matthew was granted by Charles I 150 acres of land, his rights by his own immigration and the transportation of his wife, Anne, and two servants. Inasmuch as he demanded no land for transportation of his children, it is conclusive proof that all eight children were born in the new world.
He was among the first contingency to arrive and settled on the north shore of the Severn opposite the present town of Annapolis around present Greensbury Point. On July 3, 1650, Robert Clark, Surveyor General of the Province, stated that he had "laid out for Mathew Howard of the Severn in the County of Anne Arundell planter a parcell of land lying on the south side of the River Severn near a Creek called Marshes Creek... containing and now laid out in the wholf for 650 acres more or less."
What caused Matthew and his family to leave the Tidewater Country of Virginia and seek a home in Maryland is not known-only supposition. When he landed in Virginia, Maryland the proprietory province of the Calverts had not been established. It is not unlikely that he wished to reside in the Province of his brother-in-law, Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore. Again the fact that the county of Anne Arundel was named after his sister perhaps lured him. The tales of beauty and richness of Maryland to the north no doubt reached his ears and in spirit of adventure he sought a new home in the province of his kinsmen. And the land which he surveyed for him and his sons in the vicinity of Round Bay of the Severn is to this day unequalled in beauty and fertility of all the lands bordering the many rivers which empty into the Chesapeake Bay.
Matthew Howard died intestate some time before 1659, and left behind five sons to carry on the name and all five except one, who became a Quaker, gave themselves to public service and distinguished themselves in the military history of Maryland.
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opposing viewpoint:
The ancestry of Matthew HOWARD is unknown. One theory of his ancestry, the HOWARD-ARUNDELL theory has been found to have no validity.
Another theory, the HOWARD-DOUGLAS theory, is that Matthew was a great grandson of Thomas HOWARD and Margaret DOUGLAS (niece of King Henry VIII). This theory is also highly improbable. The foundation of Moss' theory rests on a false premise, that does not show a union between the HOWARD and DOUGLAS families as he implied.
Matthew HOWARD's son John HOWARD on his 1695 will affixed a wax seal, which corresponds with the undifferenced arms of the HOWARD family of England, from which descended the HOWARD family of the Duke of Norfolk. The arms were on an escutheon, a bend between six cross crosslets fitchee.
After the Battle of Flodden in 1513, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, was granted an augmentation that appeared on the bend as a small shield with the demi-lion of the arms of the King of Scotland cut in half with an arrow through its mouth. The seal used by John HOWARD did not contain the augmentation.
Many writers have stated that the use of the arms by John HOWARD showed that the family was not too distantly related to the Norfolk line. They also believed that the MD Howards would not have used the arms, if they did not have the "legal" right.
Illegal use of arms was a problem, both in England and America. The purpose of the Herald's Visitations in England in the 16th and 17th centuries were to determine those who did have right to display arms. Little, if any, effort was made by colonial governments to enforce laws regarding Heraldry. Contemporary with when John HOWARD wrote his will, a Mr. Gore, a carriage painter in Boston created arms for socialites there.27
Undifferenced usage of arms passed at death to a man's eldest son, other sons being allowed to use a differenced version of the arms. In that John HOWARD used the undifferenced, pre-1513 arms of the Ducal HOWARDs his usage was illegal according to the laws of Heraldry. Whether the HOWARD family of MD was entitled to use a differenced version of the Ducal arms is unknown.
Matthew HOWARD and wife Anne had children:
1. Elizabeth HOWARD1 b. ca. 1639; m. Henry RIDGELY;5 d. 16696-16727 Anne Arundel Co., MD
2. Matthew HOWARD1 b. ca. 1641;2 m. Sarah DORSEY;8,28 d. between 3 Oct. 1691 and 12 Jan. 1692 Anne Arundel Co., MD3
3. Cornelius HOWARD1 b. ca. 1643;2 m. Elizabeth;9 d. between 15 April and 15 Oct. 1680 Anne Arundel Co., MD9
4. John HOWARD1 b. ca. 1645;2 m.1. Susanna (NORWOOD) widow of Charles STEVENS;10 m.2. Eleanor,12 widow of John MACCUBIN;11 d. between 30 Dec. 1695 and 13 May 1696 Anne Arundel Co., MD
5. Samuel HOWARD1 b. ca. 1647;2 m. Catherine14 WARNER;13 d. between 28 Feb. 1702 and 9 Nov. 1703 Anne Arundel Co. MD14
6. Philip HOWARD3 b. ca. 1649;2 m. Ruth BALDWIN;15 d. between 25 July 1701 and 24 Feb. 1701 [1702] Anne Arundel Co., MD
7. Ann HOWARD1 b. ca. 1651;2 m. James GRENEFFE;4 living 1690
http://home.netcom.com/~fzsaund/howard.html
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1609 - 1659 (50 years)
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