March 10, 2026
Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on the Crow/Crowe/Covell/Crowell/Crowel family line. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
John Crowe immigrated to Charlestown, Massachusetts, from England in 1635. In January 1639 he was granted land in a section of Yarmouth (which is now East Dennis), Massachusetts.
Below is a list of Yarmouth settlers with John Crowe and his son Yelverton Crowe, along with the many families the Crowe offspring would marry into for generations, published in the Barnstable Patriot.
This article reads:
It is interesting to remark with reference to the present inhabitants of Yarmouth, and of the entire Cape, that they are more truly the descendants of the first settlers, than are the present inhabitants of any other town in the state. If the name of every person who shall congregate under the immense canvas tomorrow was called, we should find that nearly all bore the same names as the early settlers who first made Cape Cod their home. We are indeed the descendants of the Pilgrims, and still preserve an identity of interest and character.
Note: Various spellings of Crow/Crowe/Covell/Crowell/Crowel exist throughout the family lines.
According to an answered genealogy query in the Duluth News Tribune, this Yarmouth branch of the Crowell family is one of three that came to America.
This article reports:
The second Crowell connection was settled in Yarmouth, Mass., by John Crowe, and it is said that a true Yarmouth Crowell to this day pronounces the name Crowell as if it were spelled in the old fashion without the final two l’s.
It is believed that Thomas Crow (1649-1722), son of Yelverton and Elizabeth Crowe, married Deborah (maiden name unknown), possibly from the Wampanoag Tribe (Nawsett/Monomoyick).
The only evidence to support this claim is that their daughter Mary Crow/Crowell (1688-1742) shows up in the estate record of Thomas Quanset (Indian) in Harwich dated 1715. It mentions a “Mary Crow” (Indian).
Mary Crow married Nathan Bassett in Yarmouth on 7 March 1709 and left many descendants, including one featured in this story.
Oldest Veteran Whaler and Fisherman Dies in Provincetown, Massachusetts
My first subject is Joseph Clark Ellis (1816-1908), who graced many Provincetown postcards back in the day.
Joseph was born to Philip and Polly (Clark) Ellis, and a direct descendant of Nathan and Mary (Crowell) Bassett through his paternal grandmother Tabitha (Bassett) Ellis, daughter of Revolutionary war veteran Richard and his wife Phebe (Philips) Bassett.
Below is a photograph of Joseph’s father Philip (1789-1873), son of Philip and Tabitha (Bassett) Ellis.
Joseph married Judith B. Harvender, born to John Henry Harvender and Deborah (Paine) Harvender, a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers Elder William Brewster and his wife Mary, Stephen Hopkins, and his daughter Constance Hopkins. She also descends from Chatham pioneer settler William Nickerson.
Below is Joseph’s obituary published in the Boston Herald. He died on 15 February 1908.
This article reports:
Joseph Ellis, oldest but one of Provincetown’s citizens, died yesterday, aged nearly 92 years.
Born in Harwich, Mass., May 15, 1816, he came to this place when a mere boy and spent his subsequent life here. He married Judith B. Harvender of Provincetown, and by her had nine children, six boys and three girls, four of whom – Joseph C., William, George, and Sylvester Ellis – are residents of this town.
Mr. Ellis made several whaling voyages in his younger days, always as boat-steerer and harpooner, his skill with the harpoon and hand lance making his services ever in request. He spent 30 years in the Grand Banks cod fishery, a part of the time as master of the schooner Malden. When he quit offshore fishing he turned his attention to shore fishing, and he continued at this work to the end, participating with the other town boatmen in the quest for mackerel, with anchored nets, in spring and fall.
‘Fluffy Ruffles’ and Lydia Hall Crowell
I could not resist this handsome feline, a member of the Crowell clan.
He is pictured below with his owner, Lydia Hall Crowell (1907-1984), one of three children born to Louis Austin Crowell and Susan Howes (Hall) Crowell. Lydia married Robert Flandreau. Fluffy Ruffles looks regal and knows he is from sturdy stock.
Lydia descends from several early Crowe lines. Among them is Captain Prince Sears Crowell, a member of the seventh generation descended from John Crowe. More on Captain Crowell in an upcoming article.
She also descends from Mayflower passengers Thomas Rogers, Joseph Rogers, Stephen Hopkins, Constance Hopkins, John Howland, John Tilley, and Elizabeth Tilley.
I found an interesting death notice on Lydia’s grandmother Louisa Maria (Sears) Crowell (1852-1951), who married a Crowell, but is herself also a descendant of John Crowe of Yarmouth.
Louisa was born to Captain Joshua Sears and Minerva (Handren) Sears, and married on 20 January 1876, in Dennis, Massachusetts, Edwin Dillingham Crowell, one of the eight children born to Captain Prince Sears Crowell and Polly Dillingham (Foster) Crowell.
Below is her funeral announcement from the Boston Herald.
This article reports:
Funeral services will be held here [East Dennis] Friday at 1 P. M. at her home on Center Street for Mrs. Louisa M. Crowell, 98. One of Cape Cod’s oldest residents, who died late yesterday.
A native of this village, she attended Greenwich Seminary and was graduated from Dean Academy. She was one of the first women to serve on the Dennis school board. She was one of a group of school girls who greeted Abraham Lincoln in Boston.
She was a daughter of Joshua Sears, a sea captain. Her husband was the late Edwin D. Crowell.
She leaves two sons, Edwin D. [Crowell] of New York city and Louis A. Crowell of East Dennis, and three daughters, Miss Mildred Crowell and Mrs. Minerva Wexler, both of this village, and Mrs. Ralph Taylor of Melrose.
The collage below shows the Crowell-Sears line: (top, left to right) Edwin Dillingham Crowell; his wife Louisa Maria (Sears) Crowell; (bottom, left to right) Prince Sears Crowell; his wife Polly Dillinham (Foster) Crowell; Minerva (Handren) Sears (Louisa’s mother).
Below is a photo of sisters Lydia and Gertrude “Greta” Crowell.
To be continued…
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Note on the header image: “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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Melissa, there is no indication of the relationship between Thomas Quanset and Mary Crow/Crowell in the will that I can make out. Have you seen other documents that indicate she is his granddaughter?
Hello Melissa!
My name is Johannah Aiken. My grandfather was Walter Ruluf Covell. I am a descendant of Nathaniel Covell and Sarah Nickerson Covell. Nathaniel is listed as one of the founders of Chatham, along with his father-in-law, William Nickerson, and Robert Eldredge, among others.
Both he and Robert Eldredge died in the prime of life, leaving their wives with many children to care for.
I can find no information on Nathaniel Covell’s cause of death, nor the location of his grave. He died in 1687 at the age of 54. If you can offer any information about his life, I will be eternally grateful.
God bless you, and THANK YOU.