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 In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

Early life

Howard was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, on December 6, 1862. He was the son of Ezra Williams Howard (1818–1869), a graduate of

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

(where he was a member of

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

) and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, and Elizabeth Stuyvesant (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

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. After his father's death, his mother donated $2,000 towards the erection of St. John's Memorial Church in

Parsons, Kansas Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, Labette County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,600. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most pop ...

, which was organized in June 1874. His maternal grandparents were John Neilson and Margaret Ann (née Fish) Neilson. Through his maternal grandmother, he was a direct descendant of

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

, the last Dutch

director-general of New Amsterdam This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. ...

, as she was the daughter of

Nicholas Fish Nicholas Fish (August 28, 1758 – June 20, 1833) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. He was the first Adjutant General of New York. Early life Fish was born on August 28, 1758, into a wealthy New York City family. He was the son of Jo ...

and sister of

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American statesman who served as the sixteenth governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States senator from New York from 1851 to 1857, and the 26th U.S. secretary of state from ...

, who served as governor of New York, a

U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

, and

U.S. secretary of state The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

. Through his maternal grandfather, he was a descendant of Col. John Neilson, an officer in the Revolutionary army and a founder of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

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 Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Fra ...

, and built between 1896 and 1899. 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. The mansion, a two-story, six-bay, eclectic dwelling built of uncoursed

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

, was designed by architect

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the par ...

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

. In 1901, a two-story Tudor-style

carriage house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...

was built that features a two-story, polygonal bay with a polygonal roof. ''See also:''

Society life

In February 1892, Howard and his newly married wife were included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of America, widely accepted as the authority to which families could be classified as the cream of New York society ( The Fou ...

's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties A circle is divided into 400 grads. Integers from 401 to 499 400s 401 401 is a prime number, tetranacci number, Chen prime, prime index p ...

", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. According to ''

'', Howard, a member of the prestigious

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most Aristocracy (class), aristocratic gent ...

, was one of the "best known men in New York society and the leader of many cotillions." In

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, the Howards stayed at

Rough Point Rough Point is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It is an English Manorial style home designed by architectural firm Peabody & Stearns for Frederick William Vanderbilt. Construction o ...

, the Vanderbilt cottage designed by

Peabody & Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns ...

and owned by Rose's aunt and uncle and completed in 1892.

Personal life

On January 19, 1892, Howard was married to Rose Anthony Post (d. 1949), who was known as "Miss Spriggie Post", at the

Church of the Heavenly Rest The Church of the Heavenly Rest is an Episcopal church located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 90th Street, opposite Central Park and the Carnegie Mansion, on the Upper East Side of New York City. The church is noted for the architecture of ...

in New York City. Rose was the daughter of William Post and Rosalie DeWolfe (née Anthony) Post and the sister of William Post and

Margaret Van Alen Bruguiére Margaret "Daisy" Van Alen Bruguière (''née'' Post; July 15, 1876 – January 20, 1969) was an American socialite, art collector and the niece of Frederick Vanderbilt. From the 1940s until her death, she was the leader of the social scene in Ne ...

(who married James Laurens Van Alen, a grandson of

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was an American socialite who led the Four Hundred, high society of New York City in the Gilded Age. Referred to later in life as "the Mrs. Astor" or simply "Mr ...

in 1900). Rose was also the niece of Louise Vanderbilt (née Anthony), 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: * Elizabeth Stuyvesant Howard (1897–1988), who married U.S. Representative

Robert Winthrop Kean Robert Winthrop Kean (September 28, 1893 – September 21, 1980) was an American Republican Party politician from the state of New Jersey. Kean represented parts of Essex County, New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

(1893–1980). * Thomas Howard Howard (b. 1899) Howard died in Hyde Park on June 4, 1904. 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 Sara Ann Roosevelt ( Delano; September 21, 1854 – September 7, 1941) was the second wife of James Roosevelt I (from 1880), the mother of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States and her only child, and subsequently th ...

, the mother of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, who also lived along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

in Hyde Park. 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.

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 The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

, 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 The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Thomas 1862 births 1904 deaths Thomas H. Howard Thomas H. Howard