Bibb County AlArchives Biographies.....Howison, Allen P. July 10 1848 - after 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 13, 2004, 11:13 am

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    THE HowISON FAMILY.-In these days when so much that is old and venerable is
melting away before the destroying touch of radical philosophy, and when all the
tendencies of the times are to teach children that they are better than their
ancestors, it may be well, occasionally, to recall the past and to unearth an
old family record, which will remind us that our generation is not the first
that has lived on the earth. In the elaborate compilation of John Burke,
entitled, "Commoners of Great Britain," we find some interesting memorials of
the Virginia family mentioned above. We believe this is the only family of the
name in the United States and that it can be traced back to the old Scottish
parentage from whom they descended. Mr. Burke's works, known as the "History of
the Peerage," and "Baronetage of the extinct and dormant Peerage," and
"Commoners of Great Britain," have long been regarded as very high authority -
in fact as perfectly reliable sources of information on the subjects he
presents. In his second volume, from page 231 to 236, he traces the times of the
Howison and Crawford families - which were united by the marriage of Elizabeth
Crawford with John Howison of Brackhead, in Midlothian, on the 3d of June, 1744.
Elizabeth was lineally descended from Sir Reginald De Crawford, the ancestor of
Sir William Wallace of the Howisons. Mr. Burke says; "The families of all those
that have lived with repute in the district of Cromind, in Midlothian, is by far
the most ancient, having continued there for more than three centuries and a
half. The first mentioned by name of John Howison, a burgess of Edinburgh, born
in 1450, nearly half a century before the discovery of America by Columbus. A
well sustained tradition informs us that the family were from early times
devoted to agriculture and that some of its members once saved the life of a
Scottish king. When, in 1424, King James the first of Scotland returned from his
long captivity in England, he spent his brief reign with great energy in
subduing to order the turbulence of his nobles and commoners, who were in
constant feuds. On one occasion he was attacked by assassins and would have been
slain but for the sturdy courage of the Howisons, who advanced from a
neighboring field with their flails and effectually aided the king's guards in
his defense. After the affray the king accompanied them to their home and one of
them presented to him a basin and napkin for his hands. In honor of their
courage and simple hospitality his majesty granted specal privileges to the
family - the memory of which was perpetuated in their coat of arms and in a
singular ceremony which has been repeated in modern times, and which we will
presently notice. After the intermarriage of Elizabeth Crawford and John Howison
the heraldic symbols of the two famlies were united in one coat of arms - which
Burke thus describes: Crawford crest - A marble pillar surmounting Mamores'
heart. Howison crest-A right hand erect, coupled at the wrist by left hand,
supports two husbandmen in the dress of the fourteenth century, one holding a
flail, the other, a basin and napkin. Mottoes: Crawford "Stant innexa." Def.:
"Supported by God, they stand." Howison- "Sursum corda." Def.: "Hearts upright."
On the 4th of August, 1822, King George the fourth of Enlgand attended a banquet
in the' city of Edinburg and repeated the ceremonial honors granted to the
Howison family by the chivalrous James, 400 years previously. The scene in this
instance is thus described by Burke, page 235. Soon as the king had dined, a
silver basin, containing rose water, was brought to his majesty by William
Howison Crawford of Brackhead, who, in right of his mother, as proprietress of
Brackhead in the county of Midlothian, claims the privilege, the service
performed being the ancient tenure by which the estate of Brackhead is held. He
was attended by Masters Charles and Walter Scott (the one a son and the other a
nephew of Sir Walter Scott, baronet), as pages attired in splendid dresses of
scarlet and white satin-the former holding a silver ewer and the other a salver,
with a damask napkin of Scottish manufacture and of the finest texture. Mr.
Howison Crawford knelt down to his majesty, who, after he had dipped his fingers
in the water and wiped them with the napkin, acknowledged the service with
affability and grace. Members of this family occasionally visited America, and
one of them, upon his return, published a book which was very popular in its
day. His description of Niagara Falls-although somewhat inflated in style-is so
full of pictorial power, that it has been inserted in many books of descriptive
scenes intended for children. As far as is known, only one branch of the family
ever settled in the United States. They bought land in Prince William county,
Va., where many of their descendants still live. Of these, Allen Howison of
Effingham, is best known. From the Prince William branch, the Fredericksburg
family is descended. Samuel Howison, from Prince William county, settled in
Fredericksburg as a merchant, and in 1801, married Helen Moore, daughter of an
English merchant who had conducted business in Falmouth for many years. To that
marriage eleven children were born, and they or their descendants are now widely
known in our country. One son, Neil Howison, was a United States naval officer,
whose art and delightful conversational powers made him a general favorite. He
rose to a command in the Pacific, but died in 1848, comparatively young. Another
son, John Howison, inherited the ancestral fondness for agriculture. His farm
near Fredericksburg was beautiful and productive before the war, but during the
terrible struggle between the Confederate armies under Gen. Lee and the Federals
under Gens. Burnside, Hooker and Grant, it was nearly the center of the strip
and was, of course, greatly devastated. Since the war it has begun to flourish
again, and, we believe the old Scottish name "Brackhead" has been continued in
the family seat. Another son is Robert R. Howison, a member of the Richmond bar.
He has been laborious and successful as a lawyer and his contributions to
history have made him generally known. The oldest son was William, who died in
1849. He was a lawyer of brilliant talents and his mind was richly stored with
the spoils of time which he gathered by his wide range of reading. Another son
is James R. Howison, a resident of Annapolis, who was long secretary of the
Naval academy there, and now holds a judicial position in the city government.
The two youngest sons are Samuel and Edward, both of whom sought their fortunes
in California. Samuel, after meeting with considerable success, returned to
Virginia. Edward has continued to stay in California, and is now the chief clerk
in the comptroller's office there. The daughters of the family are : Ann, wife
of Commodore Darwin of the United States navy; Helen, who married Commander
Thorburn of the navy, and who died in 1865; Jane, the wife of the late William
C. Beale, an upright and enterprising merchant of Fredericksburg, and Marion,
the wife of Prof. Richard Sterling of Greensboro, N. C. Allen P. Howison, of
Randolph, Bibb county, Ala., is a native of Prince William county, Va., born
July 10, 1848, a son of James and Amanda M. (Farrow) Howison-she a daughter of
Benjamin and Amanda Farrow and a granddaughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Farrow.
James Howison was the father of five children, viz.: James B., a farmer and
stock raiser and ex-president of Gallatin bank, Sumner county, Tenn.; Emma, wife
of J. N. Keyser of Dallas county, Ala., a planter; Allen P., alluded to above;
Lizzie, unmarried, and Lucy, deceased. James Howison was a planter of princely
wealth and both he and wife died in Prince William county, Va. Allen P. Howison
was reared upon a farm until fourteen years of age. He received a business
education, and in 1862, was attached to a corps of scouts in the Confederate
army; he was captured a short time afterward in citizen's clothes, and was held
as a citizen, with charges preferred against him as a spy. He was in close
connfiement for nine months at the old Capitol or Carroll prison, but the
charges were not sustained and he was sent as a prisoner of war to Point Lookout
on Chesapeake bay and Potomac river. Md., with "not for exchange" written across
his name, to remain there for the balance of the war. He remained there fourteen
months and eighteen days, making an imprisonment of twenty-three months and
eighteen days. While there he was made a sergeant and, in command of a company
of Confederate prisoners of whom one died suddenly; he changed names with the
dead prisoner as W. W. Wilson of the Seventh North Carolina regiment and thus
secured his exchange. He then returned to his father's home in Prince William
county, Va., where he remained a short time, thence moved to Albemarle county,
Va., and engaged in farming and stock raising with an aunt, Mrs. George A.
Farrow, remaining some three years. He then went to work on a construction train
on a railroad until 1873, when he got into a difficulty with an ex-Federal
officer in a discussion upon the late war, and left there under an assumed
name-going to Texas, and from thence to California, where he remained about a
year, returning again to Texas and engaging in stock raising on the Rio Grande.
In 1876, he removed to Bibb county, Ala., where he engaged extensively in saw
milling, and lumbering. His business assumed large proportions; he invested in
land, speculating largely, and today is recognized as the "Land King of
Alabama," owning some 45,000 acres, with numerous saw-mills, cotton-gins, a
mercantile business, livery stable and hotel at Randolph. Since locating there
he has been closely connected with the interests of Bibb county, and has been
tendered, but refused to accept, any political offices, with the exception of
acting as one of the board of state democratic executive committee, which office
he now holds. Mr. Howison seems to have inherited the Howison family traits,
courage to do right, quickness of intellect and apprehension and a reverential
regard for divine guidance and protection, which have been their characteristics
for four centuries. There are but few families whose mental and moral traits
have been more uniform and - more true to a worthy ancestry than this of the
sturdy Howisons.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 484-488

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