John Eager Howard

Early life and education

John Eager Howard was the son of Cornelius Howard and Ruth (Eager) Howard, of the Maryland planter elite and was born at their plantation "The Forest" in Baltimore County, Maryland. Howard grew up in an Anglican slaveholding family.

Howard joined a Baltimore lodge of Freemasons.

Military career

Commissioned a captain at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Howard rose in 1777 to the rank of colonel in the Maryland Line of the Continental Army, In September 1781, he was wounded in a bayonet charge at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. Major General Nathanael Greene wrote that Howard was "as good an officer as the world affords. He has great ability and the best disposition to promote the service....He deserves a statue of gold."

At the conclusion of the war, Colonel Howard was admitted as an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland. He went on to serve as the vice president (1795–1804) and president (1804–1827) of the Society in Maryland.

Political life

Following his army service, Howard held several electoral political positions: elected to the Confederation Congress in 1788; fifth Governor of Maryland for three one-year terms from 1788 through 1791; later as State Senator from 1791 through 1795; and elector in the presidential election of 1792. He declined an offer from George Washington in 1795 to serve as Secretary of War. He subsequently joined the newly organized Federalist Party and was elected to the Senate of the Fourth Congress by the General Assembly of Maryland to serve the remainder of the term of Richard Potts, who had resigned. He was elected to a Senate term of his own in 1797, serving until March 3, 1803, and briefly served as president pro tempore of the Senate in November 1800. While in Congress, he was the sole Federalist to vote against the Sedition Act.

In 1798, amidst rising tensions with France, Howard declined a commission as brigadier general in the United States Army.

At the end of his Senate term in 1803, Howard returned to Baltimore, where he avoided elected office but continued in public service and philanthropy. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815. In the 1816 presidential election, he received 22 electoral votes for Vice President as the running mate of Federalist Rufus King, losing to Democratic-Republican candidates James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins in a landslide. No formal Federalist nomination had been made, and it is not clear whether Howard himself, who was one of several Federalists who received electoral votes for vice president, actually wanted to run.

Howard developed property in the city of Baltimore and was active in city planning. His house was constructed north of the city, in what later became the Mount Vernon neighborhood, where he owned slaves.

Marriage and family

Howard married Margaret ("Peggy") Chew, daughter of Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Benjamin Chew, in 1787. They had nine children:

• John Eager Howard Jr. (1788–1822), Maryland State Senator.
• George Howard, Governor of Maryland.
• Benjamin Chew Howard (1791–1872), US Representative and Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Dr. William Howard (1793–1834), civil engineer for the War Department.
• Juliana Howard McHenry (1796–1821)
• James Howard (1797–1870)
• Sophia Howard Read (1800–1880)
• Charles Howard (1802–1869), father of Frank Key Howard.
• Mary (February–May 1806)

Death and legacy

Howard died in 1827. He is buried at Old Saint Paul's Cemetery in Baltimore.

• Howard County, Maryland, was named for Howard.
• In 1904, the city of Baltimore commissioned an equestrian statue of Howard by Emmanuel Frémiet and installed it at Washington Place in Mount Vernon.
• The former Maryland state song "Maryland, My Maryland" refers to "Howard's war-like thrust".
• Three streets in Baltimore are named for Howard: John Street, Eager Street, and Howard Street.

References

References

1. {{CongBio. H000841. (December 5, 2012)
2. "Index to Politicians: Howard". [[Lawrence Kestenbaum]].
3. "John Eager Howard (1752–1827)".
4. "John Eager Howard (1752–1827)".
5. Nancy Capace. "Encyclopedia of Maryland".
6. Quoted in Lawrence E. Babits, ''A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens'' (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 26.
7. Metcalf, Bryce (1938). ''Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the [[Society of the Cincinnati]], 1783–1938: With the Institution, Rules of Admission, and Lists of the Officers of the General and State Societies'' Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., p. 168.
8. Metcalf, p. 22.
9. ''American National Biography'', [http://www.anb.org/articles/03/03-00223.html John Eager Howard]; online version consulted
10. "American Antiquarian Society Members Directory". American Antiquarian Society.
11. Papenfuse, Edward C.. (April 24, 2018). "Remembering John Eager Howard and His Vision for Baltimore".
12. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
13. Hughes, William. (December 2009). "'Cool Deliberate Courage: John Eager Howard in the American Revolution' Book Review". Media Monitors Network.
14. maxjpollock. (2015-02-02). "Why "Eager" Street?".