On Matthew Howard (Zella Armstrong)

MATTHEW HOWARD

Matthew Howard eldest son of Thomas Arundel or Thomas Howard [This is almost certainly incorrect], was settled in Virginia before 1623, on the East bank of the Elizabeth River near the present Parish of Norfolk. He had a large tract of land and several white servants. He received a grant of land in 1638. He was a close friend, neighbor and evidently kinsman of Edward and Cornelius Lloyd. His first wife by whom he seems to have had no children was named Elizabeth. His second wife, the mother of several children was named Ann and she was possibly Ann Hall, as Richard Hall seems to have been an inmate of Matthew Howard's household and bequeathed his estate to Matthew and his children. Matthew Howard's sister, Ann Howard, daughter of Thomas Arundel Howard and Ann Thoroughgood was married to Cecil Calvert Lord Baltimore, and the intimacy between the two families probaly prompted the removal of the entire Howard connection from Virginia to Maryland in 1649. Matthew Howard's name is not mentioned after that date in the Maryland records but it is believed that he emigrated there and it is a certain fact that all his children did. They all settled around Annapolis, and each appears frequently in the Maryland records.

The children of Matthew Howard and his wife Ann Howard were Henry Howard, Philip Howard, Samuel Howard, John Howard, Cornelius Howard. Matthew Howard, Second, Ann Howard, who married a Phillips, and Elizabeth Howard, who married a Ridgeley.

Cornelius Howard, the fifth son of Matthew and Ann Howard became the most prominent member of the family in early Maryland affairs. He was born about 1630, in Virginia and he died in Maryland in 1680. He married Elizabeth, a daughter or granddaughter of Lawrence Todd.  In his will, made in 1680, he mentions his children, Joseph Howard, Cornelius Howard, Second, Sarah Howard, Elizabeth Howard and Mary Howard.

In his will he lists his estate as including: Howard's Hope, South side of Severn, Howard's Hardship, Howard's Hill, Hockley Branch, Tuckahoe on Clapstack River, Howard and Porter's Range.

His will is witnessed by Phillip Calvert and John Howard. He was perhaps married to a daughter of Joshua Owen before he married the granddaughter of Lawrence Todd.

He was an ensign in the Maryland Militia in 1661, (Maryland Archives) and was a member of the House of Burgesses 1671 to 1675. (Maryland Archives.) All his descendants are eligible to the Colonial Societies. When he made his will in 1680, his eldest son was not yet eighteen years of age and his second son was also a minor. This establishes the approximate date of the birth of Joseph Howard, the eldest son, as about 1663, and the second son, Cornelius Howard, Second, as about 1665.

Cornelius Howard, Second, son of Cornelius Howard, First, and Elizabeth (Todd). He was born about 1665 in Maryland and married Mary Hammond. His children were, Charles Howard, Cornelius Howard, Third, James Howard and John Howard.

Source: Zella Armstrong, Notable Southern Families (Chattanooga: Lookout Publishing Co., 1918), pp. 103-104.