Howe

fused to obey the mandate of the United States
Supreme Court. The Wisconsin courts (n Wis.
Reports f 498-554) and the legislature (General
Laws Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin,
1859, 1859, pp. 247-48) practically nullified the
law. Almost alone Howe opposed this defiance
of federal authority. In 1861, when public opin-
ion had reversed itself to favor his position in
support of the rights of the United States gov-
ernment, he was elected to the Senate, to which
he was reflected in 1866 and again in 1872, each
time without the formality of a caucus. Upon
the death of Chief Justice Chase, President Grant
offered him the empty post, but Howe declined
because he believed it to be a breach of trust to
give the Democratic governor of Wisconsin the
opportunity to appoint a Democrat to the va-
cancy. For the same reason, he refused the ap-
pointment as minister to Great Britain. He was
one of the earliest advocates of universal eman-
cipation, strongly favored the suffrage bill of the
District of Columbia, urged the federal govern-
ment's right to establish territorial government
over the seceded states, spoke vigorously against
Andrew Johnson's policy and voted in favor of
his impeachment, supported the silver bill in
1878, advocated the repeal of the law restricting
the number of national banks, and was one of the
first to urge the redemption of the green-back
currency. Perhaps the best expression of his po-
litical opinions is in the pamphlet, Political His-
tory . . . "The Session" by Henry Brooks Ad-
ams, Reviewed by Hon. T. 0. Howe (1870),
reprinted from the Wisconsin State Journal
(Madison) for Oct. 7, 1870. His wife, Linda
Ann Haynes, whom he had married Dec. 21,
1841, died in 1881, leaving two children. In that
same year President Garfield appointed him as
commissioner to the Paris monetary conference,
and at the end of the year President Arthur made
him postmaster general, in which capacity he
served until his death in Kenosha some months
later. During the time he was postmaster gen-
eral, a reduction of postage was accomplished,
postal notes were issued, and reform measures
vigorously urged.

[J. R. Berryman, Hist, of the Bench and Bar of Wis.
(1898), vol. I ; P. M. Reed, The Bench and Bar of Wis.
(1882) ; The Columbian Biog. Diet., Wis. vol. (1895) ;
Maurice McKenna, Fond du lac County, Wis. (1912),
vol. I; J B. Winslow, The Story of a Great Court
(1912) ; Report of the Ann. Meeting of the Wis. State
BarAsso. Held . . . rpoo (1001) ; D. W. Howe, Howe
Geneals. . . . John Howe of Sudbury and Marlborough,
Mass. (1959) ; Wis. State Jour. (Madison), Mar. *6,
1883; Milwaukee Sentinel, Mar. 26, 1883.]

R.B.W.

...

HOWE, WILLIAM (May 12, iSos-Sept. 19,
1852), inventor, uncle of Elias Howe [g.z/.], was
born in Spencer, Mass., the son of Elijah and

Howe

Fanny (Bemis) Howe. He was descended from
John Howe, of Sudbury, who became a freeman
of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640. Very little
is known of his early life except that he spent
practically all of it in the vicinity of his birth-
place and on or near the old family homestead.
His occupation was primarily farming, but he
possessed an inventive trait which near the close
of his life led him to design new forms of bridge
structure. In the United States wood was used
entirely in the construction of bridges, and the
lattice or truss form of bridge was in common
use, while in Europe the arch form was more in
vogue. In 1838 Howe was commissioned to con-
struct a bridge at Warren, Mass., for the Boston
& Albany Railroad. He incorporated in this
certain new features and after working upon the
design for two years applied for and received
two United States patents, on July 10 and Aug.
3, 1840, respectively. His design was a truss
with wooden diagonals and vertical iron ties in
single or double systems. It is said to have been
an improvement on the Long type of truss, in-
vented by Col. Stephen H. Long in 1830, which
was the first to incorporate the rectangular
trussed frame. Shortly after obtaining his patent
Howe was given the opportunity to construct a
bridge using his patented truss over the Con-
necticut River at Springfield, Mass., for the
Western Railroad, later a part of the New York
Central system. This was so successful that for
the remainder of his life he was busily engaged
in constructing both bridges and roofs of his de-
sign, and this work, together with royalties
obtained through selling rights to his patent,
brought him a considerable fortune. Many Howe
truss bridges were built between the time of his
invention and the development of the iron bridge.
On Aug. 28, 1846, Howe obtained a third patent
for an improvement on his original rectangular
truss. This consisted of a curved timber run-
ning from each buttress to the center of the span.
The innovation added greatly to the strength of
the Howe truss bridge. In 1842 he designed and
built a roof for the Boston & Worcester Rail-
road depot in Boston which made use of his
patented truss and was completed with entire
satisfaction. Howe married Azubah Towne
Stone of Charlton, Mass., on Mar. 12, 1828, who
survived him at the time of his death in Spring-
field, Mass.

[E. H. Knight, Knight's Am. Mech. Diet. (3 vols.,
1874-76); H. G. Tyrrell, Hist, of Bridge Engineering
(1911); H. M. Tower, Hist. Sketches Relating to Spen-
cer, Mass., vols. I and II (1901-05) ; D. W. Howe,
Howe Geneals. . . . John Howe of Sudbury and Marl-
borough, Mass. (1929); T. W. M. Draper, The Bemis
Hist, and Geneal. (1900) ; Springfield Republican, Sept.
20,1852.] C.W.M.

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