Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/29

This page needs to be proofread.

HOWE 21 The university possesses a library of 7,500 vol- umes, a mineralogical cabinet, a museum of cu- riosities, and a picture gallery. Although the government of the United States aided in the establishment of the university, it is now de- pendent upon contributions and fees received from students. More than $100,000 toward a proposed endowment of $300,000 has been subscribed. Gen. Howard was president of the university until the latter part of 1873, when he resigned, and John M. Langston (col- ored), dean of the law department, was ap- pointed vice president. HOWE, the name of three British officers con- nected with American history, all of them sons of Emanuel Scrope Howe, Viscount Howe in the peerage of Ireland. I. George Augustus, general, born in 1724, killed at Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758. In 1757 he was sent to America in command of the 60th regiment, and arrived at Halifax in July. .On Sept. 28 he was put in command of the 55th foot, and on Dec. 29 was made brigadier general. On July 6, 1758, he landed under Abercrombie at the outlet of Lake George. Coming suddenly upon a French force, he fell in the ensuing skirmish. Tho general court of Massachusetts appropriated 250 for a monument to him, which was erect- ed in Westminster abbey. II. Richard, admi- ral, born in London in 1725, died there, Aug. 6, 1799. He entered the navy at the age of 14, and served with distinction against the French from 1745 to 1759. After the conclu- sion of peace he obtained a seat at the admiral- ty board. In 1765 he was appointed treasurer of the navy, and entered parliament for Dart- mouth. Five years later he was made rear admiral of the blue, and commanded a fleet in the Mediterranean. In 1776 he sailed for North America with the rank of vice admiral of the blue, and as joint commissioner with his brother William for restoring peace. He was variously employed against the American forces for two years, and in August, 1778, had an indecisive encounter with a superior French fleet under Count d'Estaing, off the coast of Rhode Island, both fleets being much shattered by a severe storm. In April, 1782, he was made a peer of Great Britain, under the title of Viscount Howe, having since 1758 borne the Irish title of the same grade, inherited from his brother George. In the latter part of 1782 he succeeded in bringing into the harbor of Gibraltar the fleet sent to the relief of Gen. Eliott, then be- sieged there by the combined French and Span- ish forces. For these and previous services he was in August, 1788, created Earl and Baron Howe of Langar. In 1793 he was put in com- mand of the channel fleet. On June 1, 1794, he gained a victory over the French off the western coast of Frqnce, and received the thanks of parliament. In the succeeding year he was made admiral of the fleet, and in 1797 a knight of the garter. His last important ser- vice was the suppression of the mutiny in the fleet at Spithead in 1797. His memoirs were compiled by Sir John Barrow (London, 1838). III. William, general, born Aug. 10, 1729, died July 12, 1814. He commanded the light in- fantry under Wolfe in the battle on the heights of Abraham, near Quebec (1759), and in 1775 succeeded Gen. Gage as commander of the British forces in America. He commanded at the battle of Bunker Hill, and after the evacua- tion of Boston retired to Halifax. Subsequently he defeated the Americans on Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776, took possession of New York, Sept. 15, directed the movements in the Jer- seys and in Pennsylvania, and repelled the American attack at Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton in May, 1778. His conduct was severely criticised, but an investigation ordered by parliament in 1779 freed him from blame. He succeeded his bro- ther Eichard in the Irish viscounty, and at the time of his death was a privy councillor and governor of Plymouth. HOWE, Ellas, an American inventor, born in Spencer, Mass., July 9, 1819, died in Brooklyn, . Y., Oct. 3, 1867. He lived with his father, who was both farmer and miller, till 1835, working upon the farm and in the mill, and attending the district school during the winters. He then went to Lowell, and was employed in a manufactory of cotton machinery, and after- ward worked in a machine shop in Boston. Here he developed his invention of the sewing machine, completing his first machine in May, 1845, and securing a patent Sept. 10, 1846. After constructing four machines in the United States, he visited England in 1847, and re- mained two years. He returned to Boston en- tirely destitute, and resumed his trade. From this period till 1854 he was involved in expen- sive lawsuits, when the principal infringers of his patents acknowledged his rights, and ar- ranged to manufacture sewing machines under licenses from him. His income now steadily increased, reaching $200,000 ; and his fortune realized from his invention is said to have amounted to $2,000,000. During the civil war he enlisted as a private in a Connecticut regi- ment, and when the payment of the regiment was delayed by the government, he advanced the necessary money. (See SEWING MACHINE.) HOWE, John, an English clergyman, born at Loughborough, Leicestershire, May 17, 1630, died in London, April 2, 1705. He gradu- ated at Christ's college, Cambridge, became pastor of a nonconformist church in Great Tor- rington, and was selected by Cromwell in 1657 for his domestic chaplain. After the restora- tion and the act of uniformity he led a wan- dering life, and continued to preach in private houses. He passed five years in Ireland, where he was chaplain to Lord Massarene in the par- ish of Antrim, was pastor of a congregation in London from 1675 to 1684, travelled on the continent with Lord Wharton in 1685, became pastor of the English church at Utrecht, and returned to England in 1687, when James II. published his declaration for liberty of con-