Thomas H. Howard

Thomas Howard Howard (December 6, 1862 – June 4, 1904) was an American clubman who was prominent in New York and Newport society during the Gilded Age.

Thomas H. Howard
Born(1862-12-06)December 6, 1862
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedJune 4, 1904(1904-06-04) (aged 41)
Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1892)​
ChildrenElizabeth Stuyvesant Howard
Thomas Howard Howard
Parent(s)Ezra Williams Howard
Elizabeth Stuyvesant Neilson Howard

Early life

Howard was born in Providence, Rhode Island on December 6, 1862.[1] He was the son of Ezra Williams Howard (1818–1869), a graduate of Brown University (where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi)[2] and Harvard Law School,[3] and Elizabeth Stuyvesant (née Neilson) Howard (1828–1902). Among his siblings were Elizabeth Stuyvesant Howard (who died young), John Neilson Howard (a real estate dealer), Ezra Williams Howard (who also died young), and Marion Clifford Howard.[4] After his father's death, his mother donated $2,000 towards the erection of St. John's Memorial Church in Parsons, Kansas, which was organized in June 1874.[5]

His maternal grandparents were John Neilson and Margaret Ann (née Fish) Neilson. Through his maternal grandmother, he was a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of New Amsterdam, as she was the daughter of Nicholas Fish and sister of Hamilton Fish, who served as governor of New York, a U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State.[6] Through his maternal grandfather, he was a descendant of Col. John Neilson, an officer in the Revolutionary army and a founder of Rutgers University.[7]

Career

After marrying Rose, Howard became involved in business and served as the manager of Hyde Park, the estate of his wife's uncle (by marriage), Frederick W. Vanderbilt located in Hyde Park, New York and built between 1896–99.[8] While Vanderbilt was building his home, he also built a large home for the Howards near his home, that today is known as the Howard Mansion.[9] The mansion, a two-story, six-bay, eclectic dwelling built of uncoursed fieldstone, was designed by architect Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White. In 1901, a two-story Tudor style carriage house was built that features a two-story, polygonal bay with a polygonal roof.[10]

Society life

In February 1892, Howard his newly married wife were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[11][12] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[13] According to The New York Times, Howard, a member of the prestigious Knickerbocker Club, was one of the "best known men in New York society and the leader of many cotillions."[14]

In Newport, Rhode Island, the Howards stayed at Rough Point, the Vanderbilt cottage designed by Peabody & Stearns and owned by Rose's aunt and uncle and completed in 1892.[15]

Personal life

On January 19, 1892, Howard was married to Rose Anthony Post (d. 1949),[16] who was known as "Miss Spriggie Post",[17] at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City.[17][18] Rose was the daughter of William Post and Rosalie DeWolfe (née Anthony) Post and the sister of William Post and Margaret Van Alen Bruguiére (who married James Laurens Van Alen, a grandson of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor in 1900).[19] Rose was also the niece of Louise Vanderbilt (née Anthony),[8] as Rose's mother and Louise were both daughters of Charles Lee Anthony, a successful dry-goods merchant in New York City. Together, they were the parents of:[14]

Howard died in Hyde Park on June 4, 1904.[14] His widowed wife, along with her aunt, remained prominent in Hudson Valley society, and Rose was a friend and member of the same sewing circle as Sara Delano Roosevelt, the mother of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also lived along the Hudson River in Hyde Park.[22] Rose died at her home, 1115 Fifth Avenue (the southeast corner of East 93rd Street and Fifth Avenue) in New York City in April 1949.[16]

Descendants

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the posthumous grandfather of six; three boys: Robert Kean, Hamilton Kean and Thomas Howard Kean (b. 1935), who served two terms as the Governor of New Jersey, and three daughters, Elizabeth Kean, Rose Kean and Katharine Kean. He is also the great-grandfather of Thomas Kean, Jr. (b. 1968), who was the Minority Leader of the New Jersey State Senate.[20]

References
  1. Yearbook. Sons of the American Revolution New York State Society. 1894. p. 138. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  2. Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. Executive Council of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. 1870. p. 241. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  3. Quinquennial Catalogue of the Law School of Harvard University. The School. 1920. p. 124. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. McGill, John (1948). The Macgill-McGill family of Maryland: a genealogical record of over 400 years beginning 1537, ending 1948. McGill. p. 196. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  5. Case, Nelson (1893). History of Labette County, Kansas: From the First Settlement to the Close of 1892. Crane. p. 319. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  6. The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1905. p. 15. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  7. The Sons of the American Revolution: New York State Society, 1893-94. Republic Press. 1894. p. 137. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. "HIGHWAYMEN ATTACK SLEIGH. Mrs. F.W. Vanderbilt's Niece One of Party Which Foils Robbers" (PDF). The New York Times. February 26, 1904. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  9. Social Register, Summer: Contains the Summer Addresses of Residents of New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Baltimore. Social Register Association. 1904. p. 187. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  10. John A. Bonafide (January 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Howard Mansion and Carriage House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-24. See also: "Accompanying five photos".
  11. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  12. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House Incorporated. p. 218. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  13. Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  14. "Thomas H. Howard" (PDF). The New York Times. June 7, 1904. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  15. "Society AT HOME AND ABROAD" (PDF). The New York Times. June 5, 1904. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  16. "MRS. THOMAS H. HOWARD RITES HELD IN NEW YORK | Kin of Former Colonists Was Sister of Mrs. Louis S. Bruguiere". Newport Mercury. 8 Apr 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  17. "SOCIETY TOPICS OF THE WEEK" (PDF). The New York Times. January 24, 1892. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  18. "WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOCIETY". The Sun. January 24, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  19. Nemy, Enid (January 21, 1969). "Mrs. Louis S. Bruguiere Dies; Leader of Society in Newport; Second Invitation to Visit Her Was Viewed as Hallmark of Acceptance in Colony". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  20. "Elizabeth S. Kean, 90, Mother of Governor". New York Times. 29 January 1988. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  21. Cook, Joan (24 September 1980). "Robert W. Kean, 86; Formerly in House; Jersey Republican Won Reputation as Expert on Social Security". New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2015. Robert Winthrop Kean, a former United States Representative and for years a leading figure in Republican politics in New Jersey, died Sunday in St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, N.J., from a heart attack. He was 86 years old and lived in Livingston.
  22. Felzenberg, Alvin (2006). Governor Tom Kean: From the New Jersey Statehouse to the 911 Commission. Rutgers University Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 9780813539867. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
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