[27] John Gorham and Desire Howland

Desire Howland was a daughter of [2] John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.

The parentage of Captain John Gorham is unclear. In a deposition dated March 4, 1674/5, John Gorham gave his age as fifty-three years, suggesting he was born in England in about 1622. As a man needed to be over age twenty-one to acquire title to land, Captain John Gorham would not be the man of this name in any Plymouth Colony land records prior to about 1643. Further, any man named John Gorham included on any Able to Bear Arms lists for Plymouth Colony dated prior to 1639 would likely have not been Captain John Gorham.

Captain John Gorham commanded a company of Plymouth forces during King Philip’s war. His company participated in the decisive Swamp Fight battle fought on December 19, 1675.  He took a fever on the march back to Plymouth and died on February, —, 1675/6.

This ancestral line continues with their daughter, [37b] Desire Gorham.