Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/313

Rh  in 1839, and settled in Newark, Ohio. In 1841 he removed to Kosauque, Iowa, practised law, and engaged in politics, and was the editor of the "Des Moines Valley Whig." In 1849 he removed with his paper to Keokuk, and abandoning law devoted himself to politics and to his journal, which he now published under the title of the "Daily Gate City." He was one of the earliest advocates for the formation of the Republican party in the state, and in 1856 was a delegate from Iowa to the convention that nominated John C. Frémont for president. He supported Abraham Lincoln in the presidential campaign of 1861, and vehemently opposed slavery. In 1870 he was elected to the U. S. senate as a Republican, to fill the unexpired term of James W. Grimes, and served till 3 March, 1871. Shortly after the close of the session of 1871, President Grant selected him as one of the three commissioners that were authorized by the act of 3 March, 1871, to examine and report on claims for stores and supplies that had been taken or furnished for the use of the National army in the seceded states. He was engaged in this work until 10 March, 1880.

HOWELL, John Adams, naval officer, b. in New York, 16 March, 1840. He was graduated at the U. S. naval academy in 1858; became a lieutenant in April, 1861; lieutenant-commander in March, 1865; and commander, 6 March, 1872. He served as executive officer of the steam-sloop "Ossipee" at the battle of Mobile Bay, 5 Aug., 1864, and was honorably mentioned by his commanding officer in his despatches. He was promoted to captain on 1 March, 1884, and in 1887 was a member of the naval advisory board. He is the inventor of a torpedo (the result of sixteen years of study) which naval officers regard as probably superior to any other in use.

HOWELL, Richard, statesman, b. in Newark, Del., in 1753; d. in Trenton, N. J., 28 April, 1802. He was a lawyer, commanded a company of grenadiers before the war, and was one of the young men who were prosecuted for being concerned in the burning of the cargo of tea at Greenwick, N. J., 22 Nov., 1774. In 1775 he was appointed captain in the 2d New Jersey regiment, and was present at Quebec. He was promoted to major in 1776, commanded his regiment until 1779, and was appointed judge-advocate of the army in 1782, but declined. Resuming practice, he was clerk of the state supreme court from 1778 till 3 June, 1793, and governor of New Jersey from 1794 till October, 1801. He composed an ode welcoming Gen. Washington to Trenton, N. J., while on his way to New York to be inaugurated president.—His brother, Rednap, poet, taught in Deep River, N. C., and composed many patriotic songs. He was the author of a pamphlet entitled "A Fan for Fanning, and a Touch for Tryon" (Boston, 1771).—Richard's son, Richard Lewis, b. in Stockton, N. J., was a captain in the U. S. army; took part in the actions at Chrysler's Farm and at Fort George, where he received Gen. Pike into his arms, when he was mortally wounded; and was in many minor actions on the Canada border.—Richard Lewis's son, John Cumming, naval officer, b. in Philadelphia, 24 Nov., 1819, was educated at Crawford's classical school in that city, and at Washington college, Pa., entering the navy as an acting midshipman, 9 June, 1836. He became lieutenant in August. 1849; commander, 16 July, 1862; and captain, 25 July, 1866. He served in the "Minnesota," of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, in 1861, and was her executive officer at the battle of Hatteras Inlet. He commanded the steamer "Tahamo," Eastern Gulf blockading squadron, in 1862-'3, and the "Nereus," of the North Atlantic squadron, in 1864-'5, and participated in the two actions at Fort Fisher in 1864-'5. For his cool performance of duty he was recommended for promotion by Rear-Admiral Porter, 28 Jan., 1865. From 1868 till 1870 he was fleet-captain of the European squadron, and from 1870 till 1872 commandant of the navy-yard at League island, Philadelphia. He was commissioned commodore, 29 Jan., 1872, had command of the navy-yard at Portsmouth, N. H., till 1874, and from that year till 1878 was chief of the bureau of yards and docks. He became a rear-admiral, 25 April, 1877, commanded the North Atlantic and European squadrons in 1878-'8l, and was acting secretary of the navy at various times from 1874 till 1878.

HOWELL, Robert Boyte Crawford, author, b. in Wayne county, N. C, 10 March, 1801; d. in Nashville, Tenn., 5 April. 1868. He was graduated at Columbian college, Washington, D. C, in 1826. Soon afterward he was licensed to preach, and labored as a missionary under the Baptist general association of Virginia. On 27 Jan., 1827, he was ordained pastor of the Cumberland street Baptist church, Norfolk, Va., where he continued eight years, and in 1834 he removed to Nashville, Tenn., where until 1850 he was pastor of the 1st Baptist church. He established and edited for some time a religious newspaper in Nashville, was moderator or president of all the religious organizations of the Baptists in the state, and for ten consecutive years was president of the southern Baptist convention. In 1850-'7 he was pastor of the 2d Baptist church in Richmond, Va., but afterward returned to his former charge at Nashville, and remaining there till his death. At the beginning of the civil war he took a decided stand in favor of the south, and, when the city came into the possession of the National forces, was placed under military surveillance by Andrew Johnson, then governor of the state. Dr. Howell was commanding in his presence, eloquent as a preacher, and graceful and vigorous as a writer. He is the author of "Terms of Sacramental Communion" (Philadelphia, 1841); "Howell on the Deaconship" (1846); "The Way of Salvation" (Charleston, 1849); "The Evils of Infant Baptism" (1851); "The Cross" (1854); "The Covenant" (1856); "The Early Baptists of Virginia" (Philadelphia, 1876); and several smaller books. He left unpublished "A Memorial of the First Baptist Church of Nashville from 1820 to 1863," "The Christology of the Pentateuch," an enlargement of "The Covenants," and "The Family." Some of his works were republished in England.

HOWELLS, William Dean, author, b. in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, 1 March, 1837. His ancestors on the father's side were Welsh Quakers, and people of substance; his great-grandfather introduced the manufacture of flannel into his town and built three mills; his grandfather, impelled by his democratic sympathies, emigrated to this country, and became an ardent Methodist; while his father adopted the beliefs of Swedenborg, in which young Howells was educated. In all these generations the family was a cultivated race, living in an atmosphere of books and moral and literary refinement. His father had, for the time and place, a good collection of books, but it was mostly poetry, and familiarity with this doubtless decided the nature of his early literary efforts. Almost as soon as he could read he began to make verses and put them in type in his father's printing-office. In his inherited literary tastes and refinement and liberal