Almeron Reed; she died
May 22, 1874; Capt. Howard was first Justice of the Peace in Wetherefield
Tp; before coming to Illinois Capt. Howard built a goodly share of Mason
Village, N.H; was Military Captain there; there were but about twenty inhabitants
in Henry County when he settled here; for a great many years he was the
principal carpenter in the county; built the first court house at Cambridge,
in 1844, when there were but three cabins in the village; the court house
is the same now used by the county; was associated with
Ralph A. Tenney in
the publication of the first newspaper published in Kewanee, about the
year 1855; the Capt. bought the farm where Kewanee is now located, and,
associating two other gentlemen with him, laid out the town originally;
built and owned the Kewanee
House in 1854, before
the railroad was built; for several years was engaged in general merchandising,
lumber, and grain business; retired from that business in 1861, and devoted
his attention to farming, stock buying, and feeding, being the owner of
large tracts of land
in this vicinity; in
consequence of ill health he was compelled to retire from active labor
in 1873; he is now a Director of the First National Bank of Kewanee; has
been identified with the bank in that capacity since its first organization.
HOWE EDWD. E. Kewanee;
telegraph operator; Rep; Ind; born Ashtabula, Ohio, 1847.
HOWE JULIA A. widow
of Gen. John H. Howe, Kewanee; Cong; born Ashtabula, Ohio.
*HOWE Gen. JOHN H. (deceased)
whose picture appears on another page of this volume, was born at Riga,
Monroe Co. N.Y., on the 12th day of Sept. 1822. In 1832, his father
removed
to Conneautville, Pa.
and proceeded to clear a farm in that densely timbered region. After assisting
his father to make the clearing he obtained work on the Erie Canal to procure
money to attend school at Western Reserve College, at Gutenberg, Ohio,
at which place
he remained some time,
finishing at Kingsville, Ohio. He then commenced the study of
the law with E. B.
Woodbury, Esq. at Monroe. Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1845,
Benj. F. Wade and Joshua R. Giddings being his examiners. March 27,
1845, a short time previous to his admission to the bar, he was married
to Miss Julia A. Castle. For ten years Gen. Howe followed his profession
in the counties of Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga, living for a short time
at Unionville, Lake Co. In 1855, he resolved to come west, his first objective
point being Kansas, but owing to the then unsettled condition of affairs,
be
finally concluded to
stop at Kewanee, Ill. Thu change was opportune. He continued the
practice of the law, with marked success. until 1860, when he was elected
Circuit Judge
for the sixth district
of Illinois, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Drury. In 1862, his
judicial term having
expired, Judge Howe enlisted in the War of the Rebellion, and aided in
raising two companies for the 124th Ill. Vol. and upon the organization
of the regiment he was elected Lieutenant Colonel. He remained with
the regiment during the war, acting for nearly the whole period as Colonel,
owing to the sickness and absence of Col. Sloan. He
was twice promoted
during service, bearing at the time of his discharge the rank of
Brigadier General.
His regiment saw much active service, having marched over 4,100
miles, and having been
engaged in fourteen skirmishes, ten battles and two sieges, and having
been under the fire of the enemy eighty-two days and sixty nights. Throughout
all of this leaden
hail the life of the brave General was spared, but the close of the war
found him, from exposure
and anxiety, broken in health, and believing that a change of climate might
prove beneficial, he obtained an appointment as Chief Justice of Wyoming
Ter. April 3.1869. Shortly after his arrival, female suffrage was established
in Wyoming,
and Judge Howe presided
over the first jury, of which females were a component part, ever empanelled
in this country or any other so far as known.
After three years service
upon the bench, during which time he discharged his duties with signal
ability. his health again failed him, and he returned to his home in Kewanee
and resumed the practice of law. His health not improving, his physician
and friends advised
him to go south, and
he succeeded in obtaining an appointment as one of the Mexican
Border Commissioners,
then about to start south to confer with a like commission from
the Mexican Government
concerning the border difficulties. He left Kewanee, accompanied
by his wife, and after six weeks' work with the commission, fell seriously
ill at Laredo,
Texas, and lingering
twenty-three days, died April 3, 1373. His remains were embalmed
and his heroic wife
started and brought them across the country three hundred miles to
San Antonio, that being
the nearest railroad station. Mrs. Howe arrived at Kewanee,
April 19, 1873, and
the remains were interred with Masonic honors the day following.
Such, briefly, are the
outlines of the life of one of Kewanee's most worthy and honored citizens,
a man who filled a large place in the hearts of the people of Henry Co.
and whose influence will long be felt in the community of which he was
a member.
Coming to Kewanee while
the town was in its infancy, he at once entered zealously into
all of its public improvements.
He aided and encouraged the establishment of schools, churches, lyceums
and libraries, and all that might contribute to the moral, intellectual
or material welfare of the community received from Judge Howe encouragement
and support.
(continued on next
page)
*The above notice and
portrait accompanying are Inserted by friends of Gen. Howe in Kewanee,
as a tribute of
respect to his memory.
(note
the portrait appears on page572 next to the listing of the 124th Infantry) |