The purpose of the project is to establish the Y chromosome DNA signature of Henry Howland, d. 1635, father of Arthur, John & Henry of Plymouth Colony. Once the signature is established, English Howlands may be contacted and tested to determine if we share a common Howland ancestor with any of the other Howland families (such as those of 16th Century western Essex and London). We can also discover other surnames whose signatures are a close match to the Howland DNA signature.

Next Generation Sequence testing, such as FTDNA's Big Y test, has the ability to define branches of the family up to "modern" times (roughly the beginning of the 20th Century). Thus, it may be an option for someone who cannot cannot their line using the traditional "paper" genealogy trail, to discover their connection through DNA testing.

In addition, another goal is to identify the mtDNA haplogroups for the wives of the Howland brothers as well as the haplogroups for the immigrants daughters in-law.