His ancestors were Puritans and were among  the  early  settlers of Boston, Massachusetts.  His father,
  Earl  Douglas Howard, was a farmer in one of the southern counties of Vermont, and emigrated to the 
  Mohawk Valley in 1814.  His mother, Elizabeth  Barlow, belonged to the  Barlow family of  New Eng-
  land.   Earl   Douglas Howard  served in  the War of 1812, and  died  in 1818.   His wife,  left a widow
  with seven children, moved first to  New Hartford, Oneida Co New York;  hen to Rochester; and,  fin-
  ally, to Fredonia, Chautauqua Co.   She died in 1852,  in Alleghany Co Pennsylvania.

  The  subject of  this  sketch  received his early  education in  Fredonia Academy, an institution supported by State 
  funds and tuition fees.

  In the spring of 1836,  Mr. Howard moved to  Detroit, under the care of  Doctor  Douglas Houghton, State Geo-
  logist, by whom he was placed in the law office of Walker & Douglass.   Soon after, he was offered a situation in a
  shipping and commission house in Detroit.

  In  1838  he was  enrolled  in  the 1st  Regiment  of  State Militia, and, for  a week,  patrolled  the city  with  the
  troops, under the direction of  the Mayor, in order to  protect  the citizens and property from  what was termed the
  "patriotic war."   About this time he became a member of the celebrated military organization known as the "Brady
  Guards."

  From  this  duty he was  soon relieved,  by being  appointed  Deputy  United  States  Marshal of Michigan.   This
  office he held  for nearly two years.   Through the position of  Deputy Marshal,  he became acquainted with nearly
  all  the  prominent political  men of the State,  being  thrown  into social   intercourse  with   the  late   Governor
  Stevens  T.  Mason,  from  whom  he  imbibed  the principles of the Democratic party.

  Mr. Howard  was married,  July 23, 1846, to  Sarah Stevens,  eldest  daughter of  the  late John  Jex  Bardwell, of
  Suffolk  County,  England, and a  niece of the late Sir John Thwaites, for  many  years Chairman  of  the London
  Metropolitan  Board of  Public Works.    After  five  years -- from 1842 to 1847 --  spent as a member of a promi-
  nent produce and commission  house at Detroit,  Mr.  Howard removed to Ann Arbor.   Here  he  remained  seven
  years, spending most of the  time in reading  law in the office  of  the late Oliver W. Moore, of that city.    At that
  time he took  great interest in political affairs.

  In  1854, his eye-sight having  partially failed,  he made  arrangements to  engage in  the lumber business, in  and 
  near  Holland,  where  he  owned  considerable  pine  and  other  land.

  In  1862  he  was  authorized by the  Government  to  raise  a company of men, who,  when  enlisted, constituted
  Company I,  25th  Michigan  Infantry.    This  company  was  composed, largely,  of residents  of  Holland.  Poor
  health  and  business  engagements  prevented  his  leading them  to service.   Mr. Howard  was elected,  as  a War
  Democrat,  to  the  positions  of  Acting  Supervisor, member of  the  Board of Supervisors,  and, in 1862, to the
  Lower House in the State Legislature, to which he was re-elected in 1864.   While  filling this position,  he was a
  member of  the Committee  on  State  Affairs, Harbors,  etc., and on  several of the important special committees
  of the House.  On  the  final  passage, by the State  legislative  body of  which he  was a member, of the Fifteenth
  Constitutional  Amendment, he  demanded a  division of  the  question, and voted for the  abolition of slavery,  in
  opposition  to  his Democratic colleagues, but against giving Congress authority  to legislate on the same.  For the
  first vote he was censured by a few radical Democrats.   He  made a  successful  appeal to the House, just before its
  final session,  to  sustain  the State  institutions -- particularly  the University  and  Agricultural   College   --   by 
  voting  them  the  usual  annual appropriations.   Mr. Howard  was elected a delegate to the Baltimore Convention
  in 1872, as he had been to that at Chicago in 1864, but was prevented, by ill-health, from attending.   He heartily
  indorsed the nomination of Horace Greeley.   While in the Legislature, he  succeeded  in  perfecting  the title to a
  grant of about ten thousand acres of land, in aid of Black Harbor improvements; and was,  for  many  years, Secre- 
  tary  of the Harbor Board, under whose direction the improvements were accomplished.

  In  1867  he secured the  passage of a  bill for a railroad  from Grand  Haven, through the  village of  Holland, to
  Buffalo, on the line of the Michigan Central Railroad.  This road has been successfully built, and is now known as
  the Chicago and  Michigan Lake  Shore Railroad.   He  aided  in  the construction  of   the  Allegan and Holland,
  the Holland and  Grand Haven, and  the Grand  Haven and Muskegon  Railroads, and was a Director of  the  first 
  named company.  He also assisted in  the organization   of  the  Grand  Rapids  and  Holland  Railroad  Company, 
  and  became  one  of  its Directors.

  In 1843 he became a member of  the  Odd-Fellows, in Lodge No. 2, at Detroit.   In  1845 he  helped to organize
  Washtenaw Lodge, No. 9.   He joined the Masonic Fraternity in 1865.

  Being  for  some  time  the  only  professional  man  except  a  physician, within  twenty  miles  of  Holland,  Mr.
  Howard's knowledge of the law was  frequently called  into requisition.   For many years  he  practiced  gratuitous-
  ly;  but,  as  time  wore  on, a certain amount of practice  became a necessity,  and,  in  1867,  he closed  his mills 
  and lumber  business, and  opened a  law  office,  in connection  with  his land collections and  insurance business, 
  in which he had been engaged, to some extent, since 1856.

  He   has  always  attended  the Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and,  while  in  Ann  Arbor,  was Treasurer  of  St.
  Andrew's  Episcopal  Society.    He helped to organize  Grace Church, in  Holland, and,  for many  years,  was  its 
  Senior Warden.

  His  success  in  business  has  been  satisfactory,  notwithstanding  a number of reverses at  the outset.   In  all his 
  engagements, he has been  upright,  energetic,  and  prudent.    He is a constant  attendant  upon  all  the political
   conventions of  his  party,  and  is  familiar  with  the  political  history of  the State since 1840.   Though he has
  continued, during the last fifteen years, to refuse all public preferment,  his  influence is  felt, and his name is well
  known to most of  the prominent men of the State, particularly in the western and central counties.