Samuel Shaw Howland (August 15, 1790 – February 9, 1853) was a prominent American businessman who was a founding partner in the merchant firm of
Howland & Aspinwall and an incorporator of the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
Early life
Howland was born on August 15, 1790. He was a son of Joseph Howland Sr. (1749–1836) and Lydia (
née Bill) Howland (1753–1838), who married in
Norwich, Connecticut in 1772.[1] Among his siblings were Lydia Howland (wife of Levi Coit), Jane Abigail Howland (wife of George Muirson Woolsey and uncle to
Theodore Dwight Woolsey), Susan Howland (wife of John Aspinwall, a descendant of settler
William Aspinwall),[2][3] Harriet Howland (third wife of
AssemblymanJames Roosevelt),[4]Gardiner Greene Howland, and Mary Ann Howland (wife of Ezra Conklin Woodhull).[5]
Howland and his brother Gardiner Greene Howland founded the merchant firm of
G.G. & S.S. Howland,[4] which imported high-status goods such as
porcelain,
silk, and
tea from China, and sold them to Americans of means.[4] In 1832, upon the admission of two of his nephews, William Edgar Howland and
William Henry Aspinwall, the firm became known as Howland & Aspinwall.[8] Aspinwall assumed the presidency in 1835 and expanded trade to South America, China, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the East and West Indies. Howland & Aspinwall owned some of the most famous
clipper ships ever built.[9]
In 1845, while the firm owned the Ann McKim which was regarded as the fastest ship afloat, it built the Rainbow, which was even faster. The Rainbow was the high-tech racehorse of its day, and is considered to be the first of the extreme clippers. Instead of the bluff bow that was customary on ships up until that time, the Rainbow had a sharp bow, prompting on-lookers to joke that maybe she would sail better backwards. The next year, Howland & Aspinwall had the Sea Witch built, which set a speed record from China to New York which still stands.[10] The firm and its profits made the Howlands and Aspinwalls very wealthy,[11]
In 1840s, another nephew, John Lloyd Aspinwall, succeeded William Henry Aspinwall (John was William's younger brother) as president of the firm.[4] In 1848, the Howlands, along with William Henry Aspinwall and Samuel's son-in-law Henry Chauncey, founded the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company, to provide service to California.[12] This turned out to be a rather good year in which to start a steamship line to California, since the
Gold Rush started the next year. Howland & Aspinwall were also the recipients of a federal government subsidy to operate their trans-oceanic steamship line, against which they were forced to compete with the unsubsidized line owned by
Cornelius Vanderbilt.[13] The company's first vessel to make the trip was packed with passengers. Pacific Mail eventually became
American President Lines,[14] which is now part of
Neptune Orient Lines.[15]
Personal life
In 1818, Howland was married to Joanna Esther Hone (1799–1848), the daughter of John Hone. Joanna was a niece of
Philip Hone, the noted diarist and
mayor of New York City. Together, Joanna and Samuel were the parents of:[16]
Joanna Hone Howland (1820–1842), who married George Buckman Dorr (1806–1875), son of
Boston Selectmen Samuel Dorr, in 1837.[17]
Howland died in
Rome on February 9, 1853. At his death, he left an estate valued in excess of $11,000,000 that included stock in the New York Steam Sugar Refining Company, a gas company in New Orleans and an Alabama bank. To each of his six children (that survived him), five daughters and one son, Howland left a quarter of a million dollars.[26]
^
abWhittelsey, Charles Barney (1902).
The Roosevelt Genealogy, 1649-1902. Hartford, Connecticut: Press of J.B. Burr & Company. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
^"Roosevelt Genealogy". fdrlibrary.marist.edu. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from
the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
^Connecticut, General Society of Colonial Wars (U S. ); Connecticut, Society of Colonial Wars in the State of (1941).
Register of Pedigrees and Services of Ancestors. Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. p. 952. Retrieved 25 June 2021.