James N Howard

From the book Grand Traverse and Leelanaw County Biography
E. L. Sprague 1903
Pg 710-711  

Thanks to: Sandy, Volunteer Typist

Whether in public office, in business life or in social circles, James N Howard is ever found as one whose integrity is above question and whose sterling worth stands as a strong element in his career.  He resides on section 22, Grant Township , where he is carrying on general farming with good success.  A native of the Empire State he was born on the 15th of June 1845.  His father, Nelson Howard, was a native of New York and after arriving at years of maturity he was there married to Miss Harriet Pratt, whose birth likewise occurred in New York and who was reared and educated there.  Believing that he might have better business opportunities in the  a more western district, Mr. Howard left New York for Wisconsin, taking up his abode in Waukesha county, where he spent his remaining days.  Unto him and his wife were born eight children, six sons and two daughters, and James N. of this review was the youngest of the family.

James N Howard was only two years old when his parents went to Wisconsin and upon the home farm in Waukesha county he was reared, the work on the farm becoming familiar to him  in his early youth, for as soon as old enough he assisted in cultivating the fields and caring for the stock.  His education was obtained in the public schools and he remained in Waukesha county until twenty years of age, when in December 1865, he came to Michigan and settled in Grand Traverse County .  Here he purchased a claim and he afterward secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, lying in Grant Township .  Upon this he settled and it has since been his place of residence.  He today owns one hundred and ten acres, of which fifty acres are improved.  He has erected good buildings upon his farm and supplied it with modern equipment which facilitate farm work and make his labors of value in the acquirement of comfortable competence.   

Mr. Howard was a young man of only nineteen years when he offered his service to the government in defense of the Union enlisting March 1865, as a member of Company I, Fifty-second Wisconsin Infantry.  He was afterward transferred to the Fifty-First Wisconsin Regiment of Volunteers, with which he remained for about two moths, but the command did not leave the state. 

 Mr. Howard was married in Sherman, Wexford County, Michigan on the 31^st of January 1878, the lady of his choice being Miss Emma Burrows, who was born in Cambridgeshire, on the 5^th of July 1850, her parents being Shadrock and Elizabeth (Brazebridge) Burrows.  Coming to America during their early married life, they took up their abode in Calhoun County , Michigan .  Mr. Burrows dying in Penfield when seventy-two years of age and his wife being called to her final rest while living in Grant township, Grand Traverse county, at the age of seventy- seven years.  Mrs. Howard was the fourth of their six children and by her marriage she has become the mother of two sons, Frederick G and Horace F.

Mr. Howard was elected and served as one of the first constables of Grant Township .  He was also overseer of highways and school moderator and in public office he was most loyal to his duties, but he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs.   He votes with the Republican Party and, as every true American citizen should do, he keeps informed on the issues and questions of the day.  His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and like her husband, she shares in the high regard of many with whom she has come in contact.  Realizing that there is no excellence without labor, Mr. Howard has labored earnestly and energetically and with an enthusiastic interest in his work.  He has never turned aside into speculation with the hope of rapidly acquiring a fortune, but has preserved in the pursuit of a given purpose.  Agriculture has been his life work and it has been through his close attention to the details of his business and his unfaltering energy that he has won for himself a place among the substantial citizen of the community.

 Aug-2006