Howe, John Sr.

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: J. Murray Beck, “HOWE, JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/howe_john_6E.html
  • DCB profile:
    • Printer, newspaperman, jp, and office holder; b. 14 Oct. 1754 in Boston, son of Joseph Howe and Rebecca Hart; d. 29 Dec. 1835 in Halifax. 
    • Member of a fifth-generation family in the Thirteen Colonies, John Howe was just “out of his time” as an apprentice printer when the American revolution began and, according to his son Joseph, witnessed the Boston Tea Party in December 1773. Because of it, Margaret Draper, who had like political sympathies, made him a junior partner at age 20 in the Massachusetts Gazette; and the Boston Weekly News-Letter, of which she was publisher.
    • On the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, Howe went to Halifax, but by January 1777 he was in Newport, R.I., publishing the Newport Gazette in support of the British cause. There, on 7 June 1778, he married 16-year-old Martha Minns, known for her beauty. When Newport was evacuated in October 1779, he moved to New York and later to Halifax, his home for his remaining 55 years.
    • Although most loyalists expected to be well rewarded for their allegiance, John Howe declined to press his claims and not until 1801, almost by default, did he become king’s printer and hence publisher of the Nova-Scotia Royal Gazette, succeeding Anthony Henry. The returns from this office were hardly great, since prior to 1809 the yearly allowances were a meagre £140 and subsequently only £175.
    • The son could not understand why a man of talent, who consorted with governors, ambassadors, and even a president, should be so self-effacing as his father. In the world of politics, for example, should he not occasionally have put his great talents to work in “hammering some of our great folks”? But John Howe remained a quiet, sedate man who rarely meddled in political matters and made no enemies, altogether unobtrusive and unambitious.
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=9751
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42356946/john-howe