John Howe (1754 - 1835)

Born 14 Oct 1754 in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Minns) Howe — married 7 Jun 1778 in Newport, Rhode Island

Husband of Mary (Ede) Howe — married 23 Oct 1798 in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Descendants

Died 27 Dec 1835 at age 81 in Halifax, Nova Scotia

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Biography

John Howe (October 14, 1754 – December 27, 1835) was a loyalist printer during the American Revolution, a printer and Postmaster in Halifax, the father of the famous Joseph Howe, a spy prior to the War of 1812, and eventually a Magistrate of the Colony of Nova Scotia.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay colony, the son of Joseph Howe, a tin plate worker of Puritan ancestry, and Rebeccah Hart.

John Howe probably began his apprenticeship as a printer to Richard Draper, the publisher of the "Massachusetts Gazette & Boston Newsletter," in either 1766 or 1767. After Draper died in 1774, Mrs. Draper continued the publication and made John Howe a junior partner. He saw the battle of Bunker Hill from one of the old houses there, and nursed the wounded after it was over. On the evacuation of Boston, the paper was published for a short time at Newport, R. I.

Later, being proscribed and banished, he moved to Halifax, taking his printing press and his wife Martha with him. John Howe, published the first issue of the Halifax Journal on December 28, 1780.

On 7 June 1778 in Newport, John married Martha Minns. Their first child, Martha was born 25 Dec 1779 in New York. On September 2, 1782, their second child, Sarah Howe, was born, but she died at the age of 10 months on June 23, 1783. On September 8, 1784, John Howe, Jr., their third child, was born; in 1786 their fourth child, William Howe, was born; and in 1788, Jane Howe, their fifth child was born. On November 10, 1790, David Howe, John and Martha's sixth child was born, but Martha (Minns) Howe died of complications from the birth on November 25, 1790. On December 25, 1797, John and Martha (Minns) Howe's first child, Martha Howe, married Edward Sentell.[19].

On October 25, 1798, John Howe married his second wife, Mary (Ede) Austen, the widow of Henry Austen. Only a few months later, on January 19, 1799, Martha (Howe) Sentell, the first child of John and Martha (Minns) Howe died in childbirth. But happier events followed with the birth of Sarah Foster Howe in 1800, John Howe's seventh child and his first with Mary (Ede Austen) Howe. On December 4, 1804, his last and best-known child, Joseph Howe, was born.

John Howe died in his sleep on December 27, 1835, at 81 years of age.[31] He is buried in the Old Burying Ground. The 5 Jan 1836 edition of The Gleaner and Northumberland Schediasma reported: "d. Halifax, Sunday, 27th December, John Howe, sen. Esq., age 82, editor Halifax Gazette. NBRG".^[1]

Marriage 1 Martha Minns Married: 7 Jun 1778 in Newport, RI.

Children (All born in Halifax, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia except as noted):

1. Martha Howe, b. 25 Dec 1779 in New York, NY
2. Sarah Howe, b. 2 Sep 1782
3. John Howe, b. 8 Sep 1784
4. William Howe, b. 1786
5. Jane Howe, b. 1788
6. David Howe, b. 10 Nov 1790

Marriage 2 Mary Ede b: ABT 1770. Married: 23 Oct 1798 in Halifax Co., NS

Children:

1. Sarah Foster Howe, b. 1800
2. Joseph Howe, b. 13 Dec 1804 in Halifax Co., NS

Sources

1. ↑ death notice

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howe_(loyalist)

• Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics John Howe - Mary Austen marriage bond, 1798, Book 1700, page 1399

• Daniel Wait Howe, Howe Genealogies, Genealogies of Abraham of Roxbury, James of Ipswich, Abraham of Marlborough and Edward of Lynn, Massachusetts", Vol. 2, (Boston: NEHGS, 1929), pp.34.

• Nason, Elias. The Howe Family Gathering at Harmony Grove, South Framingham, Thursday, August 1, 1871 (Elias Howe, Boston, 1871) Page 21

• Beck, Joseph Howe, v. 1, Conservative Reformer, 1804-1848 pp. 12-13

Joseph Howe, manuscript transcribed by Sydenham Howe, microfilm,

• Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly 6 (1976): Punch, Terence M. and Allan E. Marble, "The family of John Howe Halifax Loyalist and King's Printer", pp. 320-323.