Newport County RI USGenWeb Articles, Page 5
Newport Chapter RIGenWeb Reading Room
These documents are made available free to the public by the Rhode Island USGenWeb Project

Page 5

If you would like to contribute please e-mail me with information.
Articles that pertain to the state: the Rhode Island Reading Room.



  NEWPORT 

The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, by the American Historical Society, Inc., 1920. For an unknown reason there are several copies of the book with the same title page, but with different contents. From pages 118-20 of one edition. 


DANIEL HOWLAND, of the ninth generation of his family in New England, traces through a long line of honorable ancestors, descending from Henry Howland, a brother of John Howland, of the "Mayflower." Three generations of the family remained in Massachusetts, but Daniel Howland, of the third generation, became one of the proprietors of Tiverton, R. I., owned and operated Howland's Ferry across the river there, and kept a tavern in the house in which he lived. From this Daniel Howland came Daniel (2) Howland; his son, Daniel (3) Howland; his son, Daniel (4) Howland; his son, Daniel (5) Howland; his son, Richard G. Howland; and his hon. Daniel (6) Howland, each head of a family of high repute.

(I) Henry Howland, the founder, appeared early in Plymouth Colony, being first of record in 1624. He was made a freeman in 1633; was an early settler in Duxbury, Mass., and was there chosen constable in 1635; owned land in Dartmouth in 1652; was one of the twenty-seven purchasers of what is now Freetown, Mass., and finally ended his days in the Duxbury homestead. He married Mary Newland, and reared a large family, this branch tracing through Zoeth, their second son.

(II) Zoeth Howland, son of Henry Howland, was born in Duxbury, Mass. He moved, with his wife Abigail, to Dartmouth, and there embraced the Quaker religion, his father and wife also being members of that church. Zoeth and Abigail Howland were tried and fined for their religious faith, it being proven that meetings were held at their home. Zoeth Howland was killed by Indians at Pocasset, R. I., January 21, 1676, the place of his death now known as Tiverton.

(III) Daniel Howland, son of Zoeth and Abigail Howland, was born in Duxbury, Mass., in May, 1661, and died in Tiverton, R. I., about 1714. He was a man of great intelligence, filled many public offices, and was a member of the Society of Friends. He married Mary Sampson, who survived him and married a second husband.

(IV) Daniel (2) Howland, son of Daniel (1) and Mary (Sampson) Howland, was born at Tiverton, R. I., May 29, 1691, and died at his home in East Greenwich, R. I., March 23, 1749. He was associated with his father in operating Howland's Ferry at Tiverton, and was high in public office, serving as assistant deputy and clerk of the court. He purchased a farm at East Greenwich, and resided there until his sudden death in the year 1749. His widow, Judith Howland, survived him a number of years, dying at the age of eighty-two years.

(V) Daniel (3) Howland, son of Daniel (2) and Judith Howland, was born at Tiverton, R. I., December 7, 1724. On the death of his father, in 1749, he came into possession of the farm at East Greenwich, which has since remained in the possession of the family. He married, October 12, 1744, Philadelphia Brownell, daughter of Joseph and Ruth Brownell, of Portsmouth, R. I., and the following year moved to the East Greenwich farm where Mrs. Howland died in April, 1810, aged eighty-three years, five months, nine days.

(VI) Daniel (4) Howland, son of Daniel (3) and Philadelphia (Brownell) Howland, was born at the East Greenwich homestead, in 1755, where he resided all his life, his death occurring August 23, 1834. He was a man of large physical proportions, of genial, sunny nature, quick in repartee, and dearly beloved. He was a minister of the Society of Friends, and traveled often in sections of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Greene, a daughter of Richard Greene, of Potowomut Neck, one of the prominent men of the Providence Plantations.

(VII) Daniel (5) Howland, son of Daniel (4) and Sarah (Greene) Howland, was born in East Greenwich, R. I., in 1707, and died at the old homestead in August, 1871. For a time he was located in New York City, and for four years was a member of the commission firm of Franklin & Howland. Later he returned to East Greenwich, and devoted his attention to farming on the old homestead. He was a Whig in politics, later a Republican, and held many local offices. He was a man of honorable life, highly esteemed by his many friends. He was a member of the Society of Friends, but married out of the church. He married, in East Greenwich, June 8, 1835, Abigail Susan Greene, daughter of John and Abigail Susan Greene, she a descendant of Surgeon John Greene.

(VIII) Richard Greene Howland, son of Daniel (5) and Abigail Susan (Greene) Howland, was born in Centerville, town of Warwick, R. I., September 19, 1840, and died while visiting his son at Saranac Lake, N. Y., August 20, 1907. He began business life as his father's assistant at the homestead, then engaged in mill work at River Point, R. I., under Stephen Harris, and in 1868 became assistant superintendent of the Hope Company at their Hope and Phenix mills, succeeding Samuel G. Allen as superintendent, holding the position until his death. Both mills prospered under his management, and both were kept on a high plane of modern efficiency.

He was president of the Phenix Trust Company, president of the Pawtuxet Valley Railroad Company, of which he was one of the builders and organizers, president of the Pawtuxet Valley Water Company, director of the Hope Webbing Company, and interested financially in both mills which he superintended. He was active and prominent in Republican affairs, in 1870 and 1884 represented his district in the General Assembly, and was a member of the Republican State Central Committee for several years, up to the time of his death.

Probably no man in the Pawtuxet Valley was held in higher esteem than he. His sense of honor was acute, and his word was never questioned. He was beloved by those who knew him well, and was recognized by all as a man of sterling character. Mr. Howland married (first) Isabelle Allen, daughter of Samuel G. and Isabella M. F. Allen. She died in 1884. Mr. Howland married (second) in 1886, Alice Sisson, of Warwick. Children of first marriage: Richard A., Anne, Alice M., Daniel, of further mention, and Abigail Susan.

(IX) Daniel (6) Howland, son of Richard Greene and Isabelle (Allen) Howland, was born in Hope, town of Scituate, R. I., June 9, 1878. After full preparation in Mowry & Goff's English and Classical School, he entered Brown University, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1900, his sister, Alice Merrill Howland, a graduate of Vassar College, class of 1896. Daniel Howland began his business career in the employ of the Hope Company, continuing for three years. Owing to ill health, he was obliged to abandon his occupation, and he spent the following three years at Saranac Lake, N. Y., there fully recuperating.

Upon his return to Hope, R. I., he became a member of the Town Council of Scituate, also town treasurer. In 1913 he moved to the Howland homestead, near Bast Greenwich, where he conducted general farming operations. In 1915-16 he was again at Saranac Lake, returning to East Greenwich in the fall of 1916, resuming his farming operations, and so continues to the present time (1919). He then built and completed a modern residence, in Colonial style, which is located on a commanding site on the property. He concentrates all his energy an the development of his splendid farm, and employs scientific methods only.

He serves in the capacity of president of the East Greenwich Farmers' Corporation, president of the Southern Rhode Island Farm Bureau, and director of the Phenix Trust Company, Hope Webbing Company, and Natural Carbonic Gas Company of Newark, N. J. He is a member of Hope Club, Providence, and Alpha Delta Phi Club, of New York. In 1910, Mr. Howland enlisted in Battery A, Rhode Island National Guard, and resigned as first lieutenant, Field Artillery, in October, 1915, He held a commission of first lieutenant of infantry in the Rhode Island State Guard during the war, and until it was mustered out. Mr. Howland married, May 10, 1913, Katharine Stanley Jewett, of New York City, and they are the parents of Daniel (7), born June 11, 1915, and Katharine Stanley, born Dec. 6, 1918.


The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical
From pages 102-3 of a separate edition. 

HOWLAND FAMILY - The original, highly ornamented, watercolor painting of the Howland escutcheon from which copies of the arms used in this country have been made, is said to have been brought to America shortly after the arrival of the "Mayflower." In 1865 this painting was in the possession of Rev. T. Howland White, of Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, a grandson of Gideon White, whose wife was Joanna, daughter of John Howland, son of the Pilgrim.

The original Howlands in America were Arthur, Henry and John. The last named was of the "Mayflower" number, and is the progenitor of the line herein under consideration. The progeny of these three Howlands is a large and prominent one in New England, and from the earliest years of the struggle of Plymouth Colony for a foothold in the New World has played an important part in our life and affairs.

(I) Humphrey Howland, the first of the line of whom we have definite information, was the father of the American immigrants, and was a citizen and draper of London. His will, proved July 10, 1646, bequeathed to sons: George, of St. Dunstan's in the East, London; Arthur, Henry and John. The last three were to receive under his will, dated May 28, 1646, (8 4s. 4d. out of the debt "due the testator (Humphrey) by Mr. Buck, of Salem, Mass." Annie Howland, widow of Humphrey Howland, was executrix of the estate. She was buried at Barking, County Essex, England, December 20, 1653. The sons Arthur, Henry and John, were in Scrooby, England, and were members of the band of Puritans who left England because of religious intolerance and sought freedom in Amsterdam, Holland, where they remained a year, subsequently removing to Leyden, whence they emigrated to the New World.

(II) John Howland, son of Humphrey and Annie Howland, held to the original faith of the Puritans, and was an officer of Rev. John Cotton's church, and a staunch adherent of the orthodox faith until his death, while Arthur and henry were Quakers. John Howland's was the thirteenth name on the list of forty-one signers of the "Compact" in the cabin of the "Mayflower," in Cape Cod Harbor, November 1620. At this time he was twenty-eight years of age, and according to Prince was a member of Governor Carver's family. How this came about is not known, but it is probable that Carver saw elements in his character which led him to supply young Howland's wants for the journey to America, and to cause him to be considered one of the family.

That he possessed sound judgment and business capacity is shown by the active duties which he assumed, and the trust which was reposed in him in all the early labors of establishing a settlement. While the "Mayflower" was yet in Cape Cod Harber, ten of "her principal" men were "sente out" in a boat manned by eight sailors, to select a place for landing; among them was John Howland. A storm drove them into Plymouth Harbor and Plymouth was selected as the place of settlement. The first mention of John Howland in the old Plymouth Colony records is on a list of freemen; and in an enumeration of the members of the Governor's "council" of seven, of which he is the third. In 1633 or 1634 he was an assessor; was selectman of Plymouth in 1666, and was chosen deputy of the same town, in 1652-56-58-61-62-66-67-70. He was elected to public once for the last time on June 2, 1670, at which time he was nearly eighty years of age.

Besides these public positions of honor and trust, he was very often selected to lay out and appraise land, to run highways, to settle disputes, and to serve on committees of every description. He was not only full of zeal for the temporal welfare of the colony, but gave powerful encouragement to a high standard of morals and religion, so much so that he is recorded as "a godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ." It is shown that he was active in Christian work, for Governor Bradford notes that he became "a profitable member both in Church and Commonwealth," and it appears that at the ordination of John Cotton, Jr., in 1667, John Howland "was appointed by the church to join in the imposition of hands." He lived at what was called Rocky Nook, where he died February 1672-73.

John Howland married Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley, and ward of Governor Carver, into whose family she was taken at the death of her father, when she was about fourteen years of age. She died December 21, 1687, aged eighty years, in Swanzey, Mass., at the home of her daughter, Lydia Brown, and was the last but three of the "Mayflower" passengers to die. Their children were: 1. Desire, born Oct. 13, 1623, in Barnstable; married, in 1643, Captain John Gorham. 2. John, horn in Plymouth, Feb. 24, 1627. 3. Jabez, of whom further. 4. Hope, born Aug. 30, 1629; died Jan. 8, 1684; married, in 1646, John Chipman. 5. Elizabeth, married (first) Sept. 13, 1649, Ephraim Hicks, of Plymouth, who died Dec. 2, 1649; married (second) July 10, 1651, John Dickarson, of Plymouth, 6. Lydia, married James Brown, and settled in Swanzey. 7. Ruth, married, Nov. 17, 1664, Thomas Cushman. 8. Hannah, married, July 6, 1661, Jonathan Bosworth. 9. Joseph, died in Jan., 1704. 10. Isaac, born Nov. 16, 1649; died March 9, 1724; married Elizabeth Vaughn, born in 1652; died Oct. 29, 1727.

(III) Jabez Howland, son of John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland, was born in Plymouth, Mass., in 1628. He resided in Plymouth during the early part of his life, and took an active part in public life, holding various civil offices. He served as a lieutenant under Captain Benjamin Church in King Philip's War, and proved his bravery under a test made by Church for that purpose. He was a blacksmith and cooper, doing a very large business in both these trades, which were of large importance in early colonial days.

He removed to Bristol, R. I., where he settled, and conducted a blacksmith establishment. His residence was on Hope street, where he kept a hotel. Jabez Howland was first town clerk of Bristol, and subsequently became prominent in the affairs of the town. He was selectman, assessor, and deputy to the General Court. He was active in the construction of the First Congregational Church of Bristol. His will, dated July 14, 1708, was proved April 21, 1712. He was one of the most influential citizens of early Bristol, highly esteemed.

He married Bethiah Thatcher, daughter of Anthony Thatcher, and granddaughter of Anthony Thatcher, who came from Sarum, England, with his second wife, Elizabeth Jones, in the ship "James," in April, 1635. The vessel was wrecked off Cape Ann, August 16 of that year, and he was made administrator of the estate of Joseph Avery, one of the victims of the disaster. The General Court gave to Anthony Thatcher the island on which the vessel was wrecked.

He was a tailor by trade, and settled first in Marblehead, whence he removed to Yarmouth, on Cape Cod, and gave allegiance to the Plymouth Colony, January 7, 1639. He was deputy to the General Court, a magistrate, and was licensed to marry persons. Children of Jabez and Bethiah (Thatcher) Howland: 1. Jabez, born Nov. 15, 1670. 2. John, born March 15, 1673. 3. Bethiah, born Aug. 6, 1674. 4. Josiah, born Oct. 6, 1676. 5. John, born Sept. 26, 1679; recorded in Bristol, R. I. 8. Judah, born May 7, 1683. 9. Seth, born Jan. 5, 1684-85. 10. Samuel, of whom further. 11. Experience, born May 19, 1687. 12. Joseph, born Oct. 14, 1692.

(IV) Samuel Howland, son of Jabez and Bethiah (Thatcher) Howland, was born in Bristol, R. I., May 16, 1686. He married, May 6, 1708, Abigail Cary, born August 31, 1684, daughter of John and Abigail (Allen) Cary; she died August 16, 1737. Samuel Howland was a lifelong resident of Bristol, prominent in its affairs, and the owner of considerable property. Children: 1. Samuel, born April 3, 1709. 2. Abigail, born Oct. 18, 1710. 3. John, born Sept. 27, 1713. 4. Tabitha, born Nov. 13, 1715. 5. Seth, born July 9, 1719. 6. Phebe, born Sept. 9, 1721; married John Wardwell. Mary, of whom further. 

Abigail Allen, mother of Abigail (Cary) Howland, was the daughter of Samuel Allen, who came from Bridgewater, England, with his wife Anne, and settled in Braintree, Mass. The wife died in 1641, and he married (second) Margaret Lamb, who was the mother of Abigail Allen, wife of John Cary. John Cary, ancestor of Abigail (Cary) Howland, was born about 1610, and resided near Bristol, Somersetshire, England, whence he came about 1634 to America, and settled in Duxbury, Mass., where he had a farm. He was one of the proprietors of Bridgewater, Mass., and one at its first settlers, locating in what is now West Bridgewater, one-quarter of a mile east of the present town house.

Bridgewater was incorporated as a town in 1656, and John Cary was its first town clerk, filling that office for several years. He married, in 1644, Elizabeth, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Godfrey. His eldest child, John (2) Cary, was born November 4, 1645, in Duxbury, Mass., resided in Bridgewater until 1680, when he removed to Bristol, R. I., and died there July 14, 1721. The deed of his first land in Bristol was dated September 14, 1680, and he was present at the first town meeting of that town, prominent in town affairs, and deacon of the church from its organization until his death. He was one of the first "raters" or assessors, secretary of the county, clerk of the peace, and representative in the General Assembly in 1694. He married in Bridgewater, December 7, 1670, Abigail, daughter of Samuel Allen and his second wife, Margaret Lamb, who at the time of her marriage to Samuel Allen was a widow, maiden name French. His second daughter became the wife of Samuel Howland, as previously noted.

(V) Mary Howland, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Cary) Howland, was born in Bristol, R. I., March 18, 1720. She married, September 26, 1742, William Wardwell, of Bristol, descendant in the fourth American generation of William Wardwell, founder of the line in New England. 


TILLEY FAMILY - As early as the Norman Conquest, the surname Tilley is found in England, and appears in the "Domesday Book." The name was common also in France and Holland at an early date, and is doubtless of Norman-French origin, as Lower states that there is a village of Tilly in the Department of Calvados, in Normandy. The name is spelled in ancient records Tillie, Tilly, Teley, Tiley, Tilee and Tely. We have at the present time the surname Tylee, probably of the same stock.

Edward and John Tilley were among the passengers of the "Mayflower." Edward and his wife Ann both died in the spring of 1620-21. John brought his wife and daughter Elizabeth, and he and his wife also died early in 1621. The only descendants of these Pilgrim Tilleys are through Elizabeth Tilley, who became the wife of John Howland. No person can claim' descent through these ancestors in the male line. There was another John Tilley in Dorchester who came in 1628; died without issue. William Tilley, of Barnstable and Boston, came from Little Minories, England, in the ship "Abigail," in June, 1636, left a daughter Sarah, but no sons. Others of the name came later.

(I) John Tilley, immigrant ancestor, came to the American colonies in December, 1620, a passenger, with his wife and daughter Elizabeth, in the ship "Mayflower." Both John Tilley and his wife died early in 1621.

(II) Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley, was born in England, and accompanied her parents to New England. After the death of her parents she became the ward of Governor John Carver, when she was about fourteen years of age. She married John Howland, who was also a passenger on the "Mayflower." Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland died December 21, 1687, aged eighty years. (See Howland II).


The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical
From pages 22 to 24. 

ROBERT SHERMAN, for many years a well known figure in business and financial circles in Newport, was descended from several of the foremost of the old Colonial families of Newport county. He was born in Newport, October 10, 1811, the son of Perry and Mary (Clarke) Sherman. He was educated in the public schools of the city, and on completing his studies was employed for several years in various enterprises. Mr. Sherman subsequently established himself independently in the grocery business in Newport, in which. he engaged successfully until his death.

He was for many years a director of the Rhode Island Union &. Savings Bank of Newport, and was also a trustee of Long Wharf. As an able business man, thoroughly conversant with conditions in business and financial fields, his judgment was valued in numerous enterprises. He was active in public life, although he remained strictly aloof from political organizations. Mr. Sherman attended the United Congregational Church of Newport, and was generous in his donations to its charities and benevolences. He was a man of magnetic personality, sincere in his friendships, simple and direct in his manner. His friends were legion.

Mr. Sherman married, on July 1, 1839, at Newport, Susan Baker Howland, who was born May 7, 1818, daughter of Benjamin Baker and Phebe C. (Greene) Howland. (See Howland VI). Mr. and Mrs. Sherman were the parents of the following children: 1. Mary Clarke Gardner, born Aug. 1, 1844, died June 30, 1913. 2. Jane Howland, born April 24, 1847, died Nov. 12, 1893. 3. Benjamin Baker Howland, born Sept. 16, 1850, died Sept. 15, 1905. 4. Elizabeth Greene Howland, born June 14, 1852; Miss Sherman resides at No. 113 Turo street, Newport. Robert Sherman died at his home in Newport on April 25, 1881.
(The Howland Line).

The original Howlands in America were Arthur, Henry and John. The last named was a passenger on the "Mayflower." The others appeared in Plymouth in the early days of the settlement. All figure prominently in the early history of Plymouth Colony. John Howland, founder of the branch of the family herein under consideration, was the thirteenth signer of the "Mayflower Compact." His descendants are found throughout New England. They have been active in Rhode Island life and affairs for over two hundred years. The late Benjamin Baker Howland, of Newport, descended lineally in the sixth American generation from John Howland.

(I) John Howland, immigrant ancestor and progenitor, was a native of England, where he was born in 1592, the son of Humphrey and Annie Howland. With his brothers, Arthur and Henry Howland, he was in Scrooby, a center of Puritan thought and activity; in 1608 they went to Amsterdam, remained a year, then removed to Leyden, where they remained until migrating to New England. At the time of his coming to New England he was twenty-eight years old and, according to Prince, was a member of Governor Carver's family. While the "Mayflower" was yet in Cape Cod harbor, ten of "her principal" men were "sante out," in a boat manned by eight sailors, to select a place for landing. Among them was John Howland. A storm drove them into Plymouth harbor, and Plymouth was selected as the place of settlement.

The first mention of John Howland on the records is on a list of freemen, and as third an the Governor's Council of seven. He was assessor in 1633; in 1636 he served on a jury, and in 1666 was selectman. He represented Plymouth in the Massachusetts General Court in 1652-56-58-61-63-66-67-70. On June 2, 1670, his name appears for the last time as a candidate for public office. At this time he was nearly eighty years old, and refused to serve any longer. He served often on committees to lay out and appraise land, to run highways, settle disputes, etc. He was a zealous worker for the good of the colony, not only temporarily but spiritually.

He is recorded as a "godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ." Governor Bradford notes that he was "a profitable member both in Church and Commonwealth." He was one of the men "appointed by the Church to join in the imposition of hands" at the ordination of John Cotton, Jr., in 1667. John Howland was for many years manager of the colonists' interests in a. trading post on the Kennebec river in Maine. He lived at what was called Rocky Nook, and died February 23, 1672-73. He married Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley, of the "Mayflower," who after the death of her father became a member of the household. She died December 21, 1687, at the home of her daughter, Lydia Brown, at Swansea, Mass.

(II) Jabez Howland, son of John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland, was born in Plymouth, Mass., in 1628, and resided in that town during the early portion of his life, filling various civil offices. He served as a lieutenant under Captain Benjamin Church, in King Philip's War, and proved his bravery under a test made by Church, for that purpose. He was a blacksmith and: cooper by trade, and followed the occupation with great success in Bristol, where he settled after King Philip's War. His residence was on Hope street, where he kept a hotel. He was first town clerk of Bristol, and also served as an assessor, selectman and deputy to the General Assembly. Jabez Howland was active in the founding of the First Congregational Church of Bristol, and was one of the prominent and esteemed citizens of the town. His will, made July 14, 1708, was proved April 21, 1712, and disposed of an estate valued at six hundred pounds. He married Bethiah Thatcher, daughter of Anthony Thatcher.

(III) Joseph Howland, son of Jabez and Bethiah (Thatcher) Howland, was barn at Bristol, R. I., on December 14, 1692, and died there October 16, 1737. He was baptized November 8, 1695, at the First Congregational Church. He settled in Swansea, Mass., and perhaps later in life removed to Newport. He married Bathsheba Cary, daughter of David and Elizabeth Cary; she was born October 14, 1693, and died October 16, 1775.

(IV) Joseph (2) Howland, son of Joseph (1) and Bathsheba (Cary) Howland, was born in Swansea, Mass., December 6, 1717. He died in Newport, R I., which was his home during the greater part of his life, in March, 1775. In 1776 his widow, Susan, removed to Providence, when the British occupied Newport. She died there, February 12, 1779. He married, in 1746, Susan Baker, daughter of Jeremiah Baker, of Middletown, R. I.

(V) Henry Howland, son of Joseph (2) and Susan (Baker) Howland, was born in Newport, R. I., about 1751. He was a lifelong resident of Newport, where he died July 9, 1843, aged ninety-two years. Henry Howland married Susan Baker. They were the parents of Benjamin Baker Howland, of further mention.

(VI) Benjamin Baker Howland, son of Henry and Susan (Baker) Howland, was born at Newport, December 11, 1787. At an early age he was thrown upon his own resources, and having a taste for drawing and painting, began the study of portraiture under Robert Feke. He later abandoned this work for a business career, however, and established himself in the commission business. His first venture was a failure, but by dint of hard work and indomitable perseverance, he eventually succeeded in paying off all his indebtedness and establishing his business on a sound financial footing.

In September, 1825, he succeeded Charles Gyles as town clerk of Newport, and soon afterwards was made probate clerk. To these offices he was annually reelected until advancing years made it necessary for him to retire to private life. In his inaugural address, Mayor Cranston spoke as follows of Mr. Howland: "Our venerable and highly esteemed City Clerk, Benjamin B. Howland, has declined this year to be a candidate for office again. Mr. Howland was elected Town Clerk in September, 1825. Since that time he has annually been reelected without opposition. In all municipal and probate matters he is, if I may use the expression, an encyclopaedia of knowledge. During the last forty years he has discharged all the varied duties of his office in the most efficient, faithful and satisfactory manner, and now retires from the office of City Clerk without an enemy, with the kind feelings of all who have ever transacted business with him, and with the thanks of the whole community."

Both branches of the City Council passed complimentary resolutions, and at the earnest solicitations of many friends, Mr. Howland filled the office of probate clerk until 1875, when his resignation was accepted. At the request of the City Council, he sat for the portrait which now adorns the mayor's office, and on November 2, 1875, the Council voted to present him with a testimonial. A gold medal was decided on, and it was struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The medal, which was presented at the inauguration of the city government by Dr. David King, bears on the face the arms of the city of Newport, and on the other side this inscription: "The City of Newport to Benjamin B. Howland; a testimonial of faithful public service in Newport during a period of fifty years."

For many years Mr. Howland was a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Newport. He was also active in financial circles and was secretary of the Newport Savings Bank from the time of its incorporation, 1819, until his death. In early life he was a member, first of the Old Guards, and then of the Artillery Company, and he was both the keeper of the cabinet of the Southern Department of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and recording secretary and librarian of the Newport Historical Society from the time of its organization; He was deeply interested in historical research and well versed in the history of Rhode Island. He spoke frequently before the Historical Society in Newport, and treated, among other subjects, "The Streets of Newport," "The Schools of Newport," and "King Philip of Pokanoket." Benjamin Baker Howland married Phebe C. Greene, daughter of Fones Greene. Among their children was Susan Baker Howland, who became the wife of Robert Sherman, of Newport. (See Sherman). Mr. Howland died in Newport, October 20, 1877.


The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical
From pages 247-8

CRAWFORD CARTER ALLEN - The late Crawford Carter Allen, whose death occurred at his home in Newport, R. I., on January 18, 1917, was the descendant of a distinguished ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides.

Crawford C. Allen was the son of the late Richard Bowers and Sophie B. (Danforth) Allen, born in Providence, R. I., June 20, 1861, and grandson of John Carter, who for more than forty-five years was editor of "The Providence Gazette,." one of the most prominent publications of New England toward the close of the eighteenth and opening of the nineteenth century. We are told that "during the whole period" of his connection with the "Gazette," closing February 12, 1814, "the paper was remarkable for accuracy of execution and correctness of sentiment and principle. During the whole of our Revolutionary contest he was the firm champion of his country, and the columns of his paper teemed with sound patriotism and animating exhortations." John Carter occupied a place of prime importance in the life and affairs of his times. His co-worker and friend, the Hon. Walter Raleigh Danforth, became his son-in-law, and grandfather of the late Crawford Carter Allen.

Crawford Carter Allen attended the public and private schools of Providence, and in 1885 received the degree of LL. B. from the Boston Law School. In the following year he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, and almost immediately began to practice his profession. He was essentially the student and scholar, and his activities in legal fields were confined mostly to study and research and to consultation. Possessing an independent fortune, he was free to develop the taste for travel, study and social intercourse which made him rebel against the smallness of a life narrowed to the confines of one city, one society, even of one country.

In the truest sense he was "a citizen of the world," representative of a type we find more often among the upper c1asses of Old World countries, Educated liberally and broadly, a writer of no mean attainments, a critic of literature and the arts, possessing the entree into finest circles, he became a figure of prominence in diplomatic, official, literary and higher social life in the cities of the Continent. But throughout the period of his absence from his home land, he remained a true citizen of the United States.

With the wave of prosperity which rolled over America in the late decades of the nineteenth century, came an attendant tide of emigration of Americans of wealth to European capitals. In this group were many expatriates who have since attained a considerable degree of notoriety. They constitute a class against which the true American instinctively rebels. Since the earliest days of colonial history, however, American students and scholars have gone abroad to complete an education, the foundation of which has been laid in their native land, realizing that for a true perspective of life a knowledge of Old World civilization was essential. Intense dislike of the American who forgets the laud of his birth characterized Mr. Allen throughout his life. He was before all a lover of America and American institutions, a student of Americana, as his membership and deep interest in colonial and patriotic societies attests.

Mr. Allen was a member of the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the War of 1812, the Bunker Hill Monument Association, the Old Planters, and the Society of Sons of the American Revolution. In 1907 he became a companion of the Aryan Order of St. George of the Empire in America, and subsequently was honored with the office of chancellor of the Order to the Colonies of America. Mr. Allen made his home in Newport, R. I. He was deeply interested in Rhode Island institutions, and as a member of a family whose bequests to Brown University have always been large, he maintained always a warm regard for the University, although not an alumnus. In his will he made a generous bequest to it for the establishment of a fund for the erection or improvement of a building in memory of his maternal grandfather, Hon. Walter R. Danforth.

Throughout his entire lifetime his gifts to charitable and philanthropic causes were large, and he was quick to respond to individual appeal for aid. A kindly, courteous gentleman, possessing in abundant measure those virtues which we are apt in the present day to classify as "of the old school," he endeared himself to all who knew him, and his friends were legion. In a day when the frenzy of big business leaves men but little time for the social side of life, such a character as that of the late Crawford Carter Allen is found with increasing rarity. He was a polished gentleman - a man equally at ease in the presence of a financial magnate or in the audience chambers of royalty.

On February 18, 1909, Mr. Allen was married, at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, London, to Maud, daughter of Helena Caulcutt, of Kensington, London, and the late Count Corsi, of Rome, Italy. Mrs. Allen survives her husband and resides at No. 4 Wesley street, Newport, R. I. She is a woman of unusual attainments, who for many years was her husband’s companion in his travels on the Continent. Mrs. Allen is well known in social circles in the capitals of Europe, of New York and Newport. She has been active in many notable charitable and benevolent efforts.

(The Carter Line)

In the foremost ranks of leaders of thought and public sentiment in Rhode Island, in the closing decades of the eighteenth and opening years of the nineteenth centuries, controlling the Providence "Gazette," one of the leading journals of New England throughout the turbulent period of the Revolution, was John Carter, a Philadelphian by birth, who became the founder of what was virtually a dynasty of powerful men, leaders of Rhode Island life and affairs to the present day.

Wielding an eloquent and polished pen in the cause of the colonies, he influenced public sentiment in Rhode Island vitally in the decade immediately preceding the outbreak of hostilities between the British and the Colonists. In the indecision of the period which followed victory and peace, he gave the support of a courageous belief in the future greatness of the struggling republic and in the ability of its statesmen to adjust themselves to the responsibilities of governing a new nation. He was a journalist of the constructive type, a keen student of the times, and although he remained a private citizen until the close of his life, he remained also a power in public and official life through the journalistic medium and as an advisor and consultant of the leading public men of the time. He ranks among the foremost of his contemporaries in the field of journalism in America. 


This document is made available to the public for non-commercial purposes. If you wish to incorporate this document into any commercial product, you must first obtain permission from the author of the material.

Home  Return to Newport County Rhode Island Home Page.

Back to Index of the Newport Chapter, RI Reading Room.

  To the Next Page of the Newport Chapter, RI Reading Room.

  Articles that pertain to the whole state are on the Rhode Island Reading Room page

Mail   If you have a (pre-1922) contribution from a Rhode Island book or newspaper you would like to share, please send me an e-mail with the publication title, author, and publisher. Thanks.



https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rinewpor/article05.html