Albion Parris Howe (1818 - 1897)

Born 28 Mar 1818 in Standish, Cumberland County, Maine, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Law (Mehaffey) Howe — married 17 Feb 1859 in New York, New York

Descendants

Died 25 Jan 1897 at age 78 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

Albion Howe is Notable.

Brevet Capt Albion Howe served with the United States Army during the Mexican-American War
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Albion Parris Howe was born in Standish, Cumberland, Maine 25 March 1818, the son of Ebenezer Howe and Catherine Spring. He was appointed as a cadet to the US Military Academy at West Point in 1837 and graduated in the class of 1841. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Artillery and was sent to the Canadian frontier. In 1843, he was assigned to the mathematics department at West Point.

The Howe Genealogies (see source below) give the following account of his military service:

" On the breaking out of the Mexican war he was promoted to 1st Lt. 18 June 1846, and made Adjutant of his regiment I Oct. 1846. He participated in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Molino Del Rey, Contreras, Cherubusco and the capture of the City of Mexico, and was breveted Captain. 1850 to 1855, he was stationed at Forts Columbus and Hamilton, March 2, 1855, was promoted to Captain, and went on frontier duty at Fort Leavenworth; later he was ordered to Lecompton, Kans., to quell the border ruffian warfare. In 1859 and 1860 he was stationed at Fortress Monroe. In 1861 he was ordered to report with his battery to Gen. McClellan in West Va. In Dec. following he served in the defences of Washington and in drilling of the volunteer regiments, until March 1862, when he was placed in command of a brigade of Light Artillery, attached to Gen. Couch Division of the Fourth Corps, commanded by Gen. Keyes. On the 11th of June 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General of U. S. Volunteers and served through the Penisular campaign, and participated in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. On 13 March 1865 he was breveted Major General. March 2, 1864 he was placed in charge of the office of Inspector General of Artillery at Washington, which position he held until Aug. 2, 1866, when he was appointed with Gen. Hardie, Inspector of all arms, ammunition and military supplies in the U. S. Forts and Arsenals, until 20 Aug. 1867. In June 1368 with the rank of Major in the 4th Artillery, he was placed in command of Fort Washington, Md. Later he was ordered to Louisville, Ky., to take charge of the government disbursing office. After serving on garrison duty from 1877, beginning at Presidio, Cal., then at Alcatraz Island, Cal., and at Fort McHenry, Md., he was on April 19, 1882, made colonel of his old regiment, the 4th Artillery, with his headquarters at Fort Adams, R. I. In the summer of 1882 he was retired by operation of law. After spending a year in Newport, R. I., he took up his permanent residence in Cambridge, Mass."

He died 25 Jan. 1897.

Sources

See also:

• Wikipedia:Albion P. Howe.
• Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
• Daniel Wait Howe, Howe Genealogies, NEHGS, Boston, 1929, Vol. 1, pages 179-181
• Find A Grave: Memorial #5888308 for Albion Parris Howe.