Family History Friday (FHF): First water skier?

When John Howland came with the other pilgrims to America. He had quite an adventure. He was just a young man in his early 20's.

What an opportunity!

 To come to a new world and 

start a life of his own. 

While the Mayflower was at sea a storm came, John Howland fell off the ship. It wasn't like it is now. If you fell off a ship now, they could just turn around and come get you. No, this was a ship with sails and turning around would be almost impossible, especially in a storm and how would they find him, even if they were able to turn around? Luckily, or by divine intervention, John was able to catch hold of the topsail halyards and was rescued. When I spoke with friends today about this story, someone said, "Hey, he was the first water skier!" Funny! His story is an amazing one. He married Elizabeth Tilley, after her parents both died the first winter. Years ago our family had the opportunity to visit Plymouth, Massachusetts. What a great trip!! The things we heard, and the things we saw, will always stay with us. We are so thankful for the pilgrims. If you took the time to look, to see all of John Howlands descendants. You would be amazed. If he had just fallen of the ship and not been recovered, so much would be different. I'm glad he caught hold of the halyards. I'm sure his descendants are too! Heres a list of some of them:

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Joseph Smith

Dr. Spock

George H. W. Bush  

George W. Bush

Sarah Palin

Christopher Lloyd

Humphrey Bogart

Alec Baldwin

My friend Julie

and My darlin!

Happy Family History Friday! 
Love, Joy