Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 366 - 369 

HENRY HOWARD, well known throughout Park Township and vicinity, came to Kansas in the spring of 1877, stopping first in Ford County about eighteen months, and coming from there to Sedgwick County in December, 1878. The following year he purchased eighty acres of raw prairie, in the cultivation and improvement of which he has since been industriously engaged, with the most satisfactory results. His land is pleasantly located on section 16, and in addition to general farming he makes a specialty of hogs and cattle. 

            Mr. Howard was born in Caldwell County, Ky., Jan. 24, 1836. He is of English ancestry, his great-grandfather having been born in England, and coming to America in the Colonial days, had married a lady of Irish birth and parentage. They settled in North Carolina, of which State the paternal grandparents of our subject were natives, and where they are supposed to have spent their entire lives. George F. Howard, the father of our subject, was born and reared in Caswell County, N.C., whence, in the fall of 1829, he removed to Tennessee, and two years later to Kentucky. In December, 1832, he married a maiden of the Blue Grass regions, Miss Isabella Thorp, who was born in Ohio County and was a cousin of her husband. 

            In 1845, George F. Howard, with his family, migrated to Christian County, Mo., where he followed farming, and where with his excellent wife he spent the remainder of his days. Their family consisted of six sons and seven daughters, of whom Henry was the eldest. He was reared on the farm in Christian County, where he received a common school education and remained until 1874, when, desirous of seeing something more of the world, he made his way to Colorado, where he remained three years engaged in laboring, and from there came to this State in 1877. 

            While a resident of Missouri our subject was united in marriage, in February, 1856, to Miss Martha A. Moore, who was born in Benton County, Mo., Sept. 20, 1838. Of this union there are nine children living and one deceased, the latter being William, who was killed by the explosion of a shotgun in February, 1878, after the removal of the family to Park Township. The eldest daughter, Isabel, is the wife of William M. Burns, of Park Township; Rebecca D. married William J. Baker, of Colorado. The younger ones, at home, are named respectively: Edward M., Sarah J., George T., Priscilla C., Mary F., Clara A. and Samuel L. 

            Mr. Howard has been a member of the Republican party for a period of twenty-five years, and socially, belongs to the G.A.R. He enjoys the esteem and confidence of his neighbors, and is regarded in all respects as an honest man and a good citizen.

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