Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/307

Rh by the British for infringing the fishery laws. In 1824 he entered the U. S. navy, and in 1828 resigned his commission to receive a captaincy in the revenue marine. So successful was he in assisting vessels in distress on the coast of New England that the merchants of Boston presented him with a valuable service of silver. In 1848 the German confederation appointed him second in command of the fleet on the Weser, and he there constructed a navy-yard and dock, and remained in charge until the breaking up of the fleet. At the beginning of the civil war Capt. Howard raised a regiment of marine artillery, which was attached to the Burnside expedition. On returning north he began organizing in New York a regiment of heavy artillery, and raised 2,500 men, who were detailed for active service with the Army of the James. As colonel he commanded the defences around Portsmouth and Norfolk, and at the close of the war resumed his commission as captain in the revenue marine. He hoisted the flag of the United States in Alaska soon after its transference by Russia. His last service was superintending the building of steam-launches for the revenue marine.

HOWARD, William Alanson, lawyer, b. in Hinesburg, Chittenden co., Vt., 8 April. 1813; d. in Washington, D. C, 10 April, 1880. When fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to the cabinet-maker's trade at Albion, N. Y. He remained there four years, and in 1832 entered an academy at Wyoming, where he studied three years, and in 1839 was graduated from Middlebury. In 1840 he became tutor of mathematics in the Michigan university. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Detroit in 1842. He was elected a representative in congress from Michigan for three successive terms, serving from 3 Dec, 1855. till 3 March, 1861. While in the house of representatives he took a decided stand in opposition to slavery. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster at Detroit, and in 1869 declined an appointment as minister to China. He was a delegate to the National Republican conventions of 1868, 1872, and 1876. In 1869 he was appointed land-commissioner of the Grand Rapids and Indiana railway, and in 1872 of the Northern Pacific. He was appointed governor of Dakota territory in 1878, and spent the remainder of his life at Yankton.

HOWARD, William Washington, educator, b. in London, England, 19 Sept., 1817 ; d. in Aurora, Cayuga co., N.Y., 1 July, 1871. He was graduated at Oxford, and subsequently was a teacher in London. In 1849 he came to the United States, and, after passing some time in Indiana, became a professor in the military institute at Drennon Springs, Ky. On returning east, he was for some years a professor in the academy at Sing Sing, N. Y., in the high-school at Jersey Shore, Pa., and then became principal of Erasmus Hall at Flatbush, N. Y. He was licensed as a preacher, became in 1863 pastor of the Presbyterian church in Aurora, N. Y., and was chosen the first president of Wells female college in that place. He published "Aids to French Composition " (New York, 1854).

HOWE, Albion Paris, soldier, b. in Standish, Me., 13 March, 1818. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1841, entered the 4th artillery, and from 1843 till 1846 was a teacher of mat hematics at West Point. He served with credit in the Mexican war, was brevetted captain for his conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and became captain, 2 March, 1855. He was Gen. McClellan's chief of artillery in western Virginia in 1861, and commanded a brigade of light artillery in the Army of the Potomac during the campaign on the peninsula in 1862. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 11 July, 1862, and was assigned to a brigade in Couch's division, 4th army corps. He was in the battles of Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. He was in command of the artillery depot, Washington, D. C, in 1864-'6, and was brevetted major-general, U. S. army, 13 March, 1865. for meritorious service during the rebellion. He was retired from the army, 30 June, 1882, after serving for several years on the Pacific coast with the 4th artillery, of which he became colonel, 19 March, 1882.

HOWE, Edgar Watson, author, b. in Wabash county, Ind., 3 May, 1854. He did not attend school after his ninth year, and till his eighteenth year worked as a printer in the western states and territories. Since 1878 he has been publisher, pro- prietor, and editor of the " Daily Globe " at At- chison, Kan. He is the author of " A Story of a Country Town " (Boston, 1884) ; " The Mystery of the Locks" (1885); "A Moonlight Boy" (1886); and " A Man Story " (1888).

HOWE, Elias, inventor, b. in Spencer, Mass., 9 July, 1819; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 3 Oct., 1867. He was the son of a farmer and miller, and assisted his father in these pursuits, also attending school during the winter months. In 1835 he went to Lowell, and served for a time with a manufacturer of cotton machinery, earning but fifty cents a day. The financial panic of 1837 threw him out of employment, and he then went to Cambridge, Mass., where he was given work in the shop of Ari Davis, a Boston machinist. It was at this time that he conceived the idea of making a sewing-machine, and he diligently labored upon it in spare hours after his day's work. After five years of continuous experimenting he succeeded in completing his invention in May, 1845, but not until he had received pecuniary aid from an old school-fellow, George Fisher, with whom he formed a partnership. He obtained, on 10 Sept., 1846, a patent for the first practical sewing-machine, but in consequence of the opposition to any labor-saving machines, the artisans of Boston were unwilling to use it, and for a brief time Mr. Howe obtained employment on a railroad as an engineer until his health failed. In 1847 he visited England, hoping for success in that country, but after two years he returned to the United States, utterly destitute, after working his way home as a common sailor. While in England he disposed of his rights in that country to William Thomas, and adapted the machine tO the business of corset, umbrella, and valise making. During his absence the machine had been imitated and introduced through the country regardless of his patents. Friends were now easily found who were willing to help him to establish his patent, and in 1854, after much litigation, he was successful in establishing his prior right to the invention. His prosperity was thenceforth assured, and a year later he had repurchased all of the patents that he had sold during his season of adversity. Mr. Howe then received a royalty on every sewing-machine that was manufactured in the United States, and his income grew from $300 a year until it reached $200,000. It was estimated that up to September, 1867, the date of the expiration of the patent, he had realized about $2,000,000. In 1863 he organized a company of which he was made president, and erected a large sewing-machine factory at Bridgeport, Conn. During the civil war he contributed largely to the support of the government, enlisting as a private soldier in the 17th Connecticut regiment, with which he served until failing health compelled his resignation, and later, when