Essex County NJ Archives Biographies.....John HOWE, 1846 - 1914
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 8, 2008, 4:19 pm

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

HOWE, John,
Enterprising Mannfacturer and Financier.

  John Howe, who was prominently identified with the manufacture of paper in
Nutley, was a native of England, his birth having occurred in Kingsbroncton,
Somersetshire, England, on January 13, 1846. His parents were Matthew and
Elizabeth Jane Howe. For forty-five years his father was superintendent of
public works in his native city of Cardiff, Wales, a position to which the
subject of this review could have succeeded had he cared to remain in that
country. His desires were otherwise, however, and led him to seek a home in
America. He obtained his education in the public schools and served an
apprenticeship at the papermaking trade in Cardiff, Wales, where he remained at
that pursuit for seven years. On the expiration of that period he removed to
Rumford, Essex county, England, where he was employed at the manufacture of
paper for a short time, after which he went to Belgium and then returned to
Cardiff. In that city, in 1865, Mr. Howe was united in marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Gibbons, whose parents had removed to Wales from Cheltenham, England.
To Mr. and Mrs. Howe were born four children, all natives of Cardiff. They were
James J., who was born September 8, 1866; Theressa Jane, who was born in 1870;
Edward John, who died at the age of six months; and John Matthew, who died at
the age of three years. The mother of this family died in 1871.

  In 1872, when Mr. Howe was twenty-six years old, he came to the United States,
and from that time until his death, May 13, 1914, he resided in the vicinity of
Nutley, New Jersey. He was married the second time in 1872, when Hester H.
Marshall became his wife. She is a daughter of John L. and Mary Houseman
Marshall, who had formerly resided on Staten Island. Two children grace the
union of our subject and his wife: Edith S., born September 28, 1873; ar|d
Albert E., born December 10, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Howe were members of Grace
Episcopal Church, Nutley, New Jersey. Mr. Howe was a faithful communicant of the
church, as well as a very generous supporter.

  The year of his arrival in this country he began a long association with the
paper manufacturing industry, securing a position in the J. & R. Kingsland
Mills, located between Nutley and Delawanna. Through succeeding grades of
service he rose to a responsible station in the operation of the mill, and when
it discontinued business he possessed a fund of knowledge, experience, and
capital that enabled him to establish himself as a manufacturer in partnership
with William R. Sergeant and Thomas J. O'Neil. The new organization was known as
the Kingsland Paper Mills Company, and from the inauguration of the enterprise
the manufacture of safety paper was its specialty, this paper particularly
valuable to organizations in which records and transaction papers must be
absolutely immutable. This firm enjoyed a successful and prosperous existence
until 1909, when it united with the LaMonte interests, whose mills were then the
only other source of like line of safety paper. In the reorganization of the La
Monte Company, Mr. Howe was elected to the office of secretary, and continued in
the administration of the affairs of the office until his death, always a potent
factor in directing its affairs and in determining its business policy.

  His business interests outside of the manufacturing of paper, to which he gave
much of his best effort, were many and important. Financially interested in the
Bank of Nutley, on April 28, 1914, he was the choice of the board of directors
to succeed General Bird W. Spencer as chief executive of the bank, but had held
office as president for but two weeks when his death occurred. He was a director
of the Washington Trust Company and of the Eagle Fire Insurance Company, both of
Newark, and was president of the Nutley Masonic Hall Association, also holding
the largest single amount of stock in the last named organization.

  A deep interest in the welfare of his town led him to accept election to the
Board of Freeholders of Essex county, in which he served two terms, and for the
same length of time he was a member of the Nutley council after the change from
township to town government. He was a member of the Masonic order and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A life of useful activity, made
valuable to his community by generously bestowed principles of strictest honor
in business as he faithfully discharged his obligations as a citizen, so, he
recognized and assumed his responsibility toward his fellows, and his helping,
sympathetic hand cheered and encouraged many whose spirit had been humbled by
misfortune. An editorial in the Nutley "Sun," bearing testimony to his worth and
printed soon after his death, said in part: "Friends of forty years standing say
that John Howe was never changed by success. He was the same friend always, and
stories are told now, by those he helped that never were known in his lifetime."

  Such was the character of the life and service of John Howe, that at his death
men in many walks of life realized a personal sorrow, a distinct sense of loss,
for in the four decades of his association with the Nutley district he had won
for himself secure position in the hearts of his fellows, even as he had gained
a prominent place in the world of business. Attaining a place of leadership in
the paper manufacturing industry, with which he was identified from the time of
coming to the United States from his English birthplace, he widened his
interests to include financial and real estate operations. He responded to the
calls of civic duty and held several offices, first under the township and
afterward under the town government of Nutley, was affiliated with the leading
fraternal organizations, and allied himself devotedly with the best influences
of the town for its most effective service. Honored and highly regarded during
an active and useful career, at his death every observance of respect and honor
was paid him, and in general regret of those who knew him, the closing of the
mills he founded, and the official action of the institutions with which he was
connected, all Nutley mourned the passing of one whose value to the community
stood beyond a price.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917


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