USA > New York > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and family history of New York, Volume I > Part 19
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Matthias St. John, son of Benjamin, married June 28, 1758, Naomi Weed. daughter of Abraham Weed. He died March 20, 1819, aged eighty-seven. His wife died August 27, 1780, aged forty-six. They are the parents of eleven children: Abraham,
Milton St. John.
baptized March 25, 1759. Sarah, June 15, 1760, married Isaac Keeler. Matthias, August 29, 1762. Esther, July 8, 1764, die 1 1777. Enoch, October 19, 1765. Benjamin, June 8. 1767. Samuel, January 27, 1769. Anna. November 13, 1770, married Matthew Benedict. John Trobridge. July 26, 1772. Nathan. November 6, 1775. Esther, March 15, 1777, married Benjamin Bates.
Of this family, Sammel St. John died November 4, 1844.
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At that time only four of them remained: Enoch, Benjamin, Jolm T. and Anna. The last survivor was Benjamin, who died about 1852.
Abraham St. John had children: Polly, wife of Elijah Weed, of Michigan; Anna, wife of Samuel Everitt; and Betsey, wife of Samuel Waterbury.
Sarah Keeler had children: Isaac; Esther, wife of Uriah Richards; Naomi, wife of Stephen Ayres; and Sarah, wife of Peter Crissy.
Matthias St. John had children: Mary, wife of Nehemiah Benedict ; Lewis; Sarah, wife of Frederick Seeley; Esther, wife of Daniel Waring; Betsy Ann, wife of Silas Davenport; and Jesse.
Enoch St. John died in 1846. His children were: Enoch ( .. Sammel, and Hannah, wife of Hanford Davenport.
Benjamin St. John had children: Benjamin M., Abraham W., Hannah B., wife of Lewis Toquet ; Mary N., and Catherine S., wife of Hon. Noah A. Phelps.
Anna Benediet had children : Polly, wife of Ezra Benedict ; Samuel; Matthias St. John. and Nathan,
John T. St. John died about 1850. His children were: Martha, wife of John C. Bassett; Maria, wife of Joseph E. Sheffield; George; Thomas; Samuel Henry, and Erastus R.
Nathan St. John had children: Miles, Milton, Chauncey, Sammel B. Newton.
Esther Bates had children: Sammel S., William S., George B., Charles. JJuliette, Sarah N., wife of Benjamin Noyes.
Milton St. John, son of Nathan and Anna St. Johm. was born in Amenia, New York, December 4, 1805. In 1810 he came to New York and lived with a near relative. Upon arriving at manhood he began the business of merchant tailor, which he condneted with great success. For many years his place of busi-
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY
ness was No. 84 Broadway. He was one of the officers in the First Presbyterian church, in Wall street, and continued to hold office until 1856, when, removing his residence from Twelfth street, between Fifth and Sixth avennes to Twenty-first street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, he connected himself with the Reformed church on Twenty-third street, and was treasurer of that church at the time of his death. In polities he was a Whig, and was one of the first to join the Republican party. In 1834 he married Sarah Pardee, of Sharon, Connecticut. After a useful and influential life he died in New York, Feb- rmary 25, 1867. His wife died January 25, 1867. Mr. St. John left children: Catharine W., Mary and Anna. Of this family the only one now living is Miss Anna St. John, now residing in New York.
HOWELL FAMILY.
The history of this family in England goes back to the middle ages, and in this country it is inseparably connected with earliest English settlement in the province of New York.
The researches of George R. Howell, whose untimely de- cease is deeply lamented by all lovers of history, inform us that William Howell, of Wedon, in the county of Bucks, had wife Mande. who died and left two children, John the elder, and John the younger. His second wife was Anne Hampton. and by this marriage had a son Henry and several other children. In his will. dated November 3, 1557. he directed his body "to be buried in the parish church of Wingrave in the chaneel before the high altar." He also left legacies to the poor of Aylesbury, White- church and Marsh. To his wife, Anne, he left the use of his lands in Watton and Hamme, and at her decease they were to go to his son Henry. To his eldest son, John, he left his lands in Marsh Gibbon, which in default of issne were to go to his brother Henry.
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William Howell died in 1557; his son John died childless in 1576; his brother Henry inherited his lands and became the founder of the family, whose record is here given. The parish register of Marsh Gibbon states that Henry Howell, Gent., was buried "ye twenty day of July 1625." His son, Edward Howell, was baptized the 22d of July, 1589. His first wife was Frances, who died about July 1, 1630. The children of this marriage
TENAX PROPOSITION IL .
HOWELL
were: 1. Henry, baptized December 2, 1618, was buried Au- gust 29, 1619. 2. Margaret, baptized November 24, 1622, mar- ried Rev. John Moore, of Southold, Long Island. 3. John, bap- tized November 22. 1624. 4. Edward, baptized September, 1626. 5. Margary. baptized June 1, 1628. 6. Richard, baptized in 1629. The second wife of Edward Howell was Eleanor, who had two children, Arthur, who was baptized 1632, and Edmund.
In 1639, Edward Howell. with all his family, came to Bos- ton. and was made a freeman March 14, 1639-40. He shortly
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after removed to Lynn, where he had a grant of five hundred acres. During the winter of 1639-40, a new settlement was pro- jected on Long Island. of which he was the leader, and the "agreement" or terms upon which the new colony was founded (still in existence in the town elerk's office in Southampton) is believed to be in his hand writing. He contributed a much larger amount than any other person towards the expenses of founding the new settlement ; was one of the very few who are mentioned as " Mr. " and " Gentleman"; to the end of his life was a magistrate, and in later years was a member of the colonial legislature at Hartford. His useful life ended in September. 1655, and on October 6, it was granted "to Mrs. Ellinor Howell that she should have the administration of all the goods belong- ing unto Mr. Edward Howell, deceased." The location of his resting place is approximately known from the fact that his eld- est son. Major John Howell, in his will directs that his remains be buried " by his father's sepulchre, " and his tombstone bearing the ancestral arms still remains in the ancient burying ground in Southampton. The extent of his "Proprietor Rights" made Ed- ward Howell a large land owner, and his landed possessions ap- pear to have been equally divided among his sons, and their ( )- scendants are now scattered far and wide throughout our broad land. The house of the founder of Southampton was standing on the west side of the main street of the village till recent years. An elegant mansion built by Hon. James H. Pierson stands upon its site. The arms of this illustrious family, as here given, are taken from an impression of the seal of Colonel Matthew Howell (son of Major John Howell), attached to his will in the New York surrogate's office. There can be little doubt but that the seal itself had belonged to Edward Howell, and had descended to his grandson, who was a Representative from Suffolk county in the Colonial Legislature, 1691-2, and from 1694 to 1706, in-
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clusive. He died in Southampton, much lamented, May 11, 1706, and a massive tombstone marks his last resting place.
As the name in its phonetic form, "Hoel" (which was its pronunciation till very recent times), appears in very ancient chronicles, we are led to the conclusion that the family is of the ancient British origin, and antedates both the Saxons and their Norman conquerors.
For one hundred and fifty years the Howells were the bone and sinew of the town of Southampton. They were the most ex- tensive landowners, the largest taxpayers, and held the highest offices. The founder of the Sag Harbor whale fishery, whose ships in later years were found in every sea, was Stephen Howell, who was born in 1744, died in 1828. He was a soldier in the Revolution and took part in the battle of Long Island. After the war he was among the first to revive the prostrate enterprise of the country, and in 1785 sent out the first whaling vessels on extended voyages. A noble monument in Oakland cemetery in Sag Harbor marks his last resting place and commemorates his services as the founder of a mighty enterprise.
At a very early date the Howells sent off colonies to other parts of the country. Edmund Howell, the youngest son of the first settler, removed to New Jersey, where his descendants are vet found. Hezekiah Howell, a grandson of Richard Howell. with many of his family, went to Orange county and founded Blooming Grove. Other branches also settled in New Jersey and in the western part of New York, and wherever they went they and their posterity were honorable and honored. The first actual settlement in the western part of the town of South- ampton was made by Hezekiah Howell, who had a house and orchard at Catehaponack before 1732. He soon after had a neighbor in the person of Jonathan Rayner, and their descend- ants still inherit their ancestral heritage. Previous to the date
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above given, it was for long years the custom for the owners of the meadows to mow the grass in the summer and secure it in large hay stacks surrounded by a fence. Late in the fall they would drive their herds of cattle to the meadows, and a few men would fodder them during the winter, living in small, temporary dwellings, and engaging their leisure time in hunting deer and shooting wild fowl, both of which were abundant. The house and orchard of Hezekiah Howell have remained in the family name, though not in the direct line of descent, and is one of the few instances of a homestead possessed by the same family from the original laying out. Of its recent owner we will now proceed to tell.
MORTIMER DEVEREUX HOWELL.
The line of descent of Mortimer D. Howell, who was recog- nized as one of the most prominent representatives of the name, is as follows: 1. Edward Howell. 2. Richard. 3. Josiah. 4. Josiah. 5. John. 6. John Mitchell. 7. Charles. 8. Mortimer D. He was born at the ancestral homestead at Catehaponack, 1836. Strange as it may seem. he began the hard life of a farmer hoy of the olden time at the early age of seven years, when he drove a team of horses, carting cordwood to Flanders. He was very small for his age, and was lifted to his place on the load, wrapped in a blanket. the lines placed in his hands, and thus he drove the well trained team, who knew the road much better than himself. As he grew older he took a more active part in the labors of the farm, and every branch of farm labor he learned thoroughly from actual experience. Learning to read at a very early age, his love of reading never ceased. In his boyhood books were few, and. as he afterward said. he read the ahnanae till he knew it by heart, and the same might be said of the other books at his command, often read by firelight, and in this way his earliest
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education was obtained. Completing the course of the public schools at fifteen, he was sent to Greenport, where educational advantages were better, and from there to Amenia Seminary. after which he taught for three years. The early labors of his life were particularly hard. The farm being large, there was a great amount of work to be done. There was no farm machinery, such as now lightens toil, the only help being negroes, descended from the slaves of colonial days, and regarded as almost a part of the family, while to maintain them, and yet make the farm pay, was a problem not easy to solve, though the estate embraced three-quarters of Catchaponack neck.
In this manner his life was spent until his twenty-fourth year, when he went on a voyage around Cape Horn to California in the clipper ship "Belle of the Sea." This voyage was made to join his brother, J. W. Fletcher Howell, who went to Cali- fornia some years before. On this voyage, although he shipped as carpenter, he might be said to have been partly passenger and partly second mate. He studied navigation, and in his leisure time read Shakespeare, until he was thoroughly familiar with all the works of that famous poet. His original intention was to visit his brother and to make a voyage around the world by sailing from San Francisco to China, but this was prevented by the Civil war. His stay in California was limited to four months. On their return voyage, while in the Bermuda passage, they saw a large ship hove to and beyond it the smoke of the rebel pirate "Alabama," which had made great havoc with American shipping. It was not till forty years afterwards that he knew the reason why the rebel steamer did not pursne and capture their ship, as she could easily have done. While in Japan he read the autobiography of Captain Semmes, and learned that a spar, taken from the burned vessel, was being rigged on the "Alabama," and the time thus ocenpied enabled
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the ship in which Mr. Howells sailed to escape. On his return from this voyage, on November 14, 1865, he married Lydia M., daughter of John Howell, of Quogue, and gained by this an earnest and faithful helper of a lifetime. He then began the business of his life. Among the summer visitors to Catchapo- nack was Phineas T. Barnum, the world wide known showman. who passed many seasons at the old Howell house. With his keen foresight he advised Mr. Howell to ereet a new and much larger building, and advanced the necessary means. His father gave him the land (the first he ever owned). in 1865, and the new hotel, or boarding house, the largest in that region, was soon finished. Under his own and his wife's able management the enterprise soon became a most successful one, and in a few years he was free from debt-the possessor of a steady and prosperous business. People of a superior class, among whom was General John A. Dix. made Westhampton their summer home. the price of land rapidly advanced. elegant residences soon dotted the landscape, and the severe toil of early days was forgotten in easy circumstances. His winters were passed in shooting trips to the south. In 1897, in company with his son, he went to Venezuela, the West Indies and Mexico. In his various travels he had been in all the states of the Union hnt four. In November, 1901. mnch against the wishes of his family, solicitous concerning his health. at the age of sixty-five, he began alone a journey around the world. As he himself remarked, "I have always desired to go around the world and this is the first time I have had a chance," and thus, forty years after his first intention, his wish was realized. Crossing India, he re- turned by way of the Suez Canal. While in England, at Marsh- gibbon, in Buckinghamshire, he visited the ancient homestead of hi- rage, owned by his ancestors three hundred years before. He returned in April, 1902, and retired from active business,
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leasing his hotel and spending his winters in New York. His health began to fail, and on February 7. 1906. he passed from the scenes of life. surrounded and lamented by family and friends, and leaving an example of a life well spent and erowned with well-merited success.
In person Mr. Howell was of average height, very strongly built, and capable of great exertion, very prompt and assertive in manner, never hesitating to express his opinions in the plain- est manner, and as one who knew him well expressed it, "He was not a man to be easily talked down." At the same time he had due regard for the feelings and opinions of others, and never failed to show them all proper consideration and respect. Exceedingly characteristic of him was the advice he gave to his sons, "Be sure to save half of what you make, bnt be sure to spend the other half." In this way they would avoid being extravagant or parsimonious. He was a liberal giver to all public improvements, and charitable to all worthy objects, and his motto was: "Do as yon would be done by." In all busi- ness affairs he possessed excellent judgment, upon which his friends relied. But there is no one who would wish to deny that the success of his life was largely owing to his choice of a life partner, who was equal to all emergencies, and met all the vicissitudes of life with a spirit no less unfaltering than his own. They were the parents of five children. 1. John M., di x! by drowning at the age of eight years. 2. Hampton Pierson. born December 27, 1869, attended the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale Univers- ity in 1891. He adopted the profession of medicine, and grad- nated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 1894. For three years he was on the surgical staff in Roosevelt Hospital. and is now a practicing physician in New York. He married Caroline E. Densmore, of Boston, and has one son, Hampton
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P., Jr., born October 27, 1904. 3. Lloyd Mortimer, born October 25, 1873. After attending Bridge Hampton Commercial In- stitute and the Wesleyan Academy. he entered Yale University and graduated in 1894; studied for two years in Columbia Law School, then entered New York Law School and graduated in 1898. For several years he was assistant United States District Attorney in Brooklyn, and is now a practicing lawyer at No. 135 Broadway, New York. 4. Henry Jarvis, born July 31, 1876. After studying at Williston Seminary and Brook- lyn Polytechnic, he was for awhile assistant to his father at West Hampton. He then entered the office of Ernest Flag, a prominent architect, and remained there several years. In 1903 he went to the Island of Guam and superintended the erection of the large station of the Macky-Bennett Cable Company. 5. Gertrude Halsey, born August 6, 1878, was educated at Walnut Lane School, Germantown, Pennsylvania. On March 12, 1903, she married Duane P. Cobb, a lawyer of Manhattan. They have one child, Mortimer Howell Cobb, born October 24, 1904.
It remains to state the immediate ancestry of this branch of the Howell family.
Jolm Howell, third, known as "John Howell of Canoe Place," from his having a house of entertainment there before the Revolution, married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Brewster. who was son of Daniel Brewster. son of Rev. Nathaniel Brews- ter, the first minister in Brookhaven. Their son, Major John Mitchell Howell, was born September 27, 1772, and died at West Hampton, March 26, 1826. His first wife was Mary, dangh- ter of William Halsey. She died at the age of twenty-four. Their children were: 1. John, married Eliza Miller. of Wad- ing River. He was at one time the owner of Old Neck at West Moriches. 2. Mary, married Thomas Hewlett of Rockaway. Major Howell married for his second wife, 1806, Clarissa.
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daughter of Daniel Fanning, whose wife, Jane Fanning, was a daughter of Colonel Josiah Smith, who commanded the Suf- folk County Regiment at the battle of Long Island. Their chil- dren were Charles and Jane. The former, known as "Charles Howell of Catchaponach," was born in 1812, died in 1878. IIe married Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Shepherd Halsey. Their children were: J. W. Fletcher Howell, a prominent citizen of Southampton ; Mortimer D .; Gertrude, wife of Dr. E. P. Jarvis, for many years a practicing physician in Moriches, Long Island ; and Clara Mitchell, wife of Frank Lyons.
THOMAS A. HOWELL.
The American ancestors of Thomas A. Howell, on the pa- ternal and maternal sides, were Long Islanders, resident from an early Colonial period in the town of Southampton, Suffolk county. New York. In the paternal line he was descended from ancestors who emigrated to this country from Holland, and in the maternal line he came from original Welsh stock. The di- reet line of descent of Thomas A. Howell is as follows: 1. Ed- ward Howell. the founder of Southampton, Long Island. 2. Richard, died 1740. 3. Josiah. 1675-1752. 4. Josiah, born 1709. 5. Captain Josiah, 1758-1808. 6. Hampton. 7. Benja- min Huntting. 8. Henry B. 9. Thomas A. Howell.
Benjamin Huntting Howell. grandfather of Thomas A. How- ell, was born at Bellport. Long Island, February 7, 1811, son of Hampton and Elizabeth Post (Huntting) Howell, and grandson on the maternal side of Colonel Benjamin Huntting, who served with credit in the war of the Revolution. Benjamin II. Howell received a common school education, and at the age of fourteen engaged in business employment as a clerk in a country store at Huntington, Long Island. In this connection he continued with various concerns until able to embark in trade on his own
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account. In 1836 he established in New York City, with John Howell, the wholesale grocery house of B. H. & J. Howell. From this partnership he was obliged by ill health to retire in 1840. removing in that year to Cutehogne, Long Island. In 1843 he resumed business in New York City, organizing the grocery firm of B. H. Ilowell & Company, which he conducted success- fully until 1858. He then accepted the presidency of the Market Fire Insurance Company, but in 1861 again entered mercantile life, forming a co-partnership with his son, Thomas A .. under the firm style of B. H. Howell & Son. This firm, devoting its energies to the purchase and sale of molasses and sugar, was soon in the enjoyment of an extensive business. In 1870 other partners were admitted and the name was changed to B. H. Howell, Son & Company. Subsequently two other sons of Mr. Howell. Frederick H. and Henry B., with James Howell Post, were received as partners. Since the death of Mr. Howell, which occurred April 16, 1900, the house has continued without further change of name, retaining the eminent position in the com- mercial world of the metropolis secured for it by its founder. Benjamin H. Howell was one of the organizers and original directors of the Market Bank, now merged in the Market and Fulton National Bank. He was for many years a resident of the section of Brooklyn known as Williamsburg, and was the first president of the Williamsburg Gas Company. He was at all times a representative and public-spirited citizen, and took an active interest in religions work. He was one of the first trustees and principal supporters of the South Third Street Presbyterian Church. His country home was at Quogne.
Mr. Howell married (first), 1837, Mary Andrews, who died Angust 25, 1848. To this union was born three children: Fred- erick H .. Thomas A. and Altheia, who became the wife of Will- iam H. Plummer, deceased. Mr. Howell married (second).
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1851, Elizabeth Banks, who died February 22, 1902. To this union were born two children: Henry B., see forward; Emma. died in childhood.
Henry B. Howell, son of Benjamin H. Howell, and father of Thomas A. Howell, was born in Brooklyn, 1855, died at Quogue, Long Island, September, 1898, at the early age of forty- three. His early life was spent in Brooklyn, and he there ac- quired his education in a private school. He was still very vonng when he entered the business of his father, which at that time bore the firm name of B. H. Howell & Son. Later the name was changed to its present form of B. H. Howell, Son & Company. He was actively interested in this business until very shortly before his death. He was married in Brooklyn, New York, to Mary Blackwell, who bore him two children : Thomas A., see forward. Corinne Blackwell, who became the wife of Channing P. Wiley.
Thomas A. Howell, only son and eldest child of Henry B. and Mary (Blackwell) Howell, was born at Brooklyn, New York, November 9, 1878. He was educated at the Hotchkins school in Lakeville, Connecticut, and later attended Yale University, from which he was graduated in the class of 1900. He immediately commenced an active business career and be- came a partner in the firm of B. H. Howell, Son and Company, of which he is an active member at the present day.
Mr. Howell married, February 8, 1902, Helen Akin, daugh- ter of Albro and Emma (Read) Akin, and they are the parents of two children: Thomas A. W., born December 12, 1902; and William H., born March 6, 1905.
FAMILY OF EMBREE.
The history of this family goes back to the earliest settle- ment of Flushing, on Long Island, and there is reason to believe
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that it was of French Huguenot origin, and tradition reports that they came from Normandy. the original form of the name being d'Embree. As the name appears in this country many years before the Huguenot immigration of 1686, they were prob- ably among the large number of families who fled from France to Holland to escape persecution, and from thence came to America with the Dutch. Their first settlement was in Westchester. from whence they removed to Long Island. One of the earliest mentions of the name is in the will of Nicholas Parcell or Pears- all, dated March 10, 1689-90. In this he leaves a legacy "to Robert Embree, son of my daughter Sarah Embree." She was probably the wife of John Embree, whose name appears at an early date. About the same time appears the name of Moses Embree (probably a brother of Jolin) and these two seem to be the progenitors of the race.
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