James was born in Hallowell, then Lincoln Co., Mass. (now Kennebec Co., Maine), the son of James Howard Sr. and Susanna Johnson. His father died before he was four years old in May 1787, and his older sister Ibbey--his only full sibling--died a month later. According to midwife Martha Ballard's diary, James Jr. himself survived scarlet fever that same year.
Under his father's will, young James was heir to vast land holdings in Kennebec Co., Me. However, his older half-brothers Capt. Samuel and Col. William Howard were determined to divest him of the same. Samuel and William, with control of their father's estate and the court, and also as guardians of their insane older brother Capt. John Howard, succeeded in preventing James Howard Jr. from receiving what his father had intended for him. Essentially, they charged their father's estate for the costs of caring for their brother John over a period of decades, with compounded interest, regardless of the fact that John had been cared for by their father in his lifetime and was provided for separately by their father. To "reimburse" themselves, they liquidated their father's lands.
Simple greed aside, this was purportedly done by Samuel and William out of a hatred of James Jr.'s mother, their father's second wife Susanna (Johnson) Cony Howard. Susanna was several years younger than her own stepsons, being over 40 years younger than James Howard Sr., who is thought to have been in his mid-70s when he started his second family. A year after James Howard Sr. died, James Jr.'s mother Susanna was married a third time, to William Brooks, a local justice of the peace.
In 1799, at the age of 16, James Howard Jr. chose his step-father William Brooks and Daniel Cony as his legal guardians. The following year, on 28 Oct. 1800, he revoked that choice and put in their stead his half-brother Hartson Cony along with Enoch Coffin, a master mariner in Farmington, Kennebec Co. According to family tradition, James's step-father William Brooks had abused his power to act on James's and/or his mother's behalf. This probably accounts for the change of guardians. Enoch Coffin, one of the new guardians, was also James's future father-in-law. Three days after the second guardianship order, on 31 Oct. 1800 in Farmington, James married Enoch's 19-year-old daughter Ann C. "Nancy" Coffin.
James and Nancy had two daughters, Isabella (b. 1801) and Adeline (b. 1805). Meanwhile, Enoch Coffin died at sea in Oct. 1801. Thus, after 1801, James Howard Jr. at 19 probably relied most on his Cony relatives for support in his efforts to recover his inheritance. His half-sister Margaret (Howard) Patterson's family might also have been sympathetic to James Jr.'s cause.
Tragically, James--who had probably become a mariner like his father-in-law--also died at sea in the Fall of 1807 at the age of 24, amid legal disputes with his half-brother William Howard over his father's estate. He was survived by his 26-year-old wife and two little girls, aged 6 and 2. The young widow Nancy (Coffin) Howard, her widowed mother Huldah (Norton) Coffin, and Nancy's brothers and sisters, all returned to their native Martha's Vineyard with the Howard girls and left their lives in Maine behind them. Nancy's heirs, however, were still trying to legally recover their lost estate in 1850, when they actually filed suit. Ultimately, the court ruled that too many years and transfers of land titles had occurred since James Howard Sr.'s death in 1787, making it imprudent for the court to consider the case. For further details, see the West Memorandum on file in the Maine State Library.
Out of the tragedy recounted above, by providence, the Howard bloodline survives today--not only through two hateful old men, but also through their father's precious little boy, whom they sought, so nefariously, to destroy.
Under his father's will, young James was heir to vast land holdings in Kennebec Co., Me. However, his older half-brothers Capt. Samuel and Col. William Howard were determined to divest him of the same. Samuel and William, with control of their father's estate and the court, and also as guardians of their insane older brother Capt. John Howard, succeeded in preventing James Howard Jr. from receiving what his father had intended for him. Essentially, they charged their father's estate for the costs of caring for their brother John over a period of decades, with compounded interest, regardless of the fact that John had been cared for by their father in his lifetime and was provided for separately by their father. To "reimburse" themselves, they liquidated their father's lands.
Simple greed aside, this was purportedly done by Samuel and William out of a hatred of James Jr.'s mother, their father's second wife Susanna (Johnson) Cony Howard. Susanna was several years younger than her own stepsons, being over 40 years younger than James Howard Sr., who is thought to have been in his mid-70s when he started his second family. A year after James Howard Sr. died, James Jr.'s mother Susanna was married a third time, to William Brooks, a local justice of the peace.
In 1799, at the age of 16, James Howard Jr. chose his step-father William Brooks and Daniel Cony as his legal guardians. The following year, on 28 Oct. 1800, he revoked that choice and put in their stead his half-brother Hartson Cony along with Enoch Coffin, a master mariner in Farmington, Kennebec Co. According to family tradition, James's step-father William Brooks had abused his power to act on James's and/or his mother's behalf. This probably accounts for the change of guardians. Enoch Coffin, one of the new guardians, was also James's future father-in-law. Three days after the second guardianship order, on 31 Oct. 1800 in Farmington, James married Enoch's 19-year-old daughter Ann C. "Nancy" Coffin.
James and Nancy had two daughters, Isabella (b. 1801) and Adeline (b. 1805). Meanwhile, Enoch Coffin died at sea in Oct. 1801. Thus, after 1801, James Howard Jr. at 19 probably relied most on his Cony relatives for support in his efforts to recover his inheritance. His half-sister Margaret (Howard) Patterson's family might also have been sympathetic to James Jr.'s cause.
Tragically, James--who had probably become a mariner like his father-in-law--also died at sea in the Fall of 1807 at the age of 24, amid legal disputes with his half-brother William Howard over his father's estate. He was survived by his 26-year-old wife and two little girls, aged 6 and 2. The young widow Nancy (Coffin) Howard, her widowed mother Huldah (Norton) Coffin, and Nancy's brothers and sisters, all returned to their native Martha's Vineyard with the Howard girls and left their lives in Maine behind them. Nancy's heirs, however, were still trying to legally recover their lost estate in 1850, when they actually filed suit. Ultimately, the court ruled that too many years and transfers of land titles had occurred since James Howard Sr.'s death in 1787, making it imprudent for the court to consider the case. For further details, see the West Memorandum on file in the Maine State Library.
Out of the tragedy recounted above, by providence, the Howard bloodline survives today--not only through two hateful old men, but also through their father's precious little boy, whom they sought, so nefariously, to destroy.
James was born in Hallowell, then Lincoln Co., Mass. (now Kennebec Co., Maine), the son of James Howard Sr. and Susanna Johnson. His father died before he was four years old in May 1787, and his older sister Ibbey--his only full sibling--died a month later. According to midwife Martha Ballard's diary, James Jr. himself survived scarlet fever that same year.
Under his father's will, young James was heir to vast land holdings in Kennebec Co., Me. However, his older half-brothers Capt. Samuel and Col. William Howard were determined to divest him of the same. Samuel and William, with control of their father's estate and the court, and also as guardians of their insane older brother Capt. John Howard, succeeded in preventing James Howard Jr. from receiving what his father had intended for him. Essentially, they charged their father's estate for the costs of caring for their brother John over a period of decades, with compounded interest, regardless of the fact that John had been cared for by their father in his lifetime and was provided for separately by their father. To "reimburse" themselves, they liquidated their father's lands.
Simple greed aside, this was purportedly done by Samuel and William out of a hatred of James Jr.'s mother, their father's second wife Susanna (Johnson) Cony Howard. Susanna was several years younger than her own stepsons, being over 40 years younger than James Howard Sr., who is thought to have been in his mid-70s when he started his second family. A year after James Howard Sr. died, James Jr.'s mother Susanna was married a third time, to William Brooks, a local justice of the peace.
In 1799, at the age of 16, James Howard Jr. chose his step-father William Brooks and Daniel Cony as his legal guardians. The following year, on 28 Oct. 1800, he revoked that choice and put in their stead his half-brother Hartson Cony along with Enoch Coffin, a master mariner in Farmington, Kennebec Co. According to family tradition, James's step-father William Brooks had abused his power to act on James's and/or his mother's behalf. This probably accounts for the change of guardians. Enoch Coffin, one of the new guardians, was also James's future father-in-law. Three days after the second guardianship order, on 31 Oct. 1800 in Farmington, James married Enoch's 19-year-old daughter Ann C. "Nancy" Coffin.
James and Nancy had two daughters, Isabella (b. 1801) and Adeline (b. 1805). Meanwhile, Enoch Coffin died at sea in Oct. 1801. Thus, after 1801, James Howard Jr. at 19 probably relied most on his Cony relatives for support in his efforts to recover his inheritance. His half-sister Margaret (Howard) Patterson's family might also have been sympathetic to James Jr.'s cause.
Tragically, James--who had probably become a mariner like his father-in-law--also died at sea in the Fall of 1807 at the age of 24, amid legal disputes with his half-brother William Howard over his father's estate. He was survived by his 26-year-old wife and two little girls, aged 6 and 2. The young widow Nancy (Coffin) Howard, her widowed mother Huldah (Norton) Coffin, and Nancy's brothers and sisters, all returned to their native Martha's Vineyard with the Howard girls and left their lives in Maine behind them. Nancy's heirs, however, were still trying to legally recover their lost estate in 1850, when they actually filed suit. Ultimately, the court ruled that too many years and transfers of land titles had occurred since James Howard Sr.'s death in 1787, making it imprudent for the court to consider the case. For further details, see the West Memorandum on file in the Maine State Library.
Out of the tragedy recounted above, by providence, the Howard bloodline survives today--not only through two hateful old men, but also through their father's precious little boy, whom they sought, so nefariously, to destroy.
Under his father's will, young James was heir to vast land holdings in Kennebec Co., Me. However, his older half-brothers Capt. Samuel and Col. William Howard were determined to divest him of the same. Samuel and William, with control of their father's estate and the court, and also as guardians of their insane older brother Capt. John Howard, succeeded in preventing James Howard Jr. from receiving what his father had intended for him. Essentially, they charged their father's estate for the costs of caring for their brother John over a period of decades, with compounded interest, regardless of the fact that John had been cared for by their father in his lifetime and was provided for separately by their father. To "reimburse" themselves, they liquidated their father's lands.
Simple greed aside, this was purportedly done by Samuel and William out of a hatred of James Jr.'s mother, their father's second wife Susanna (Johnson) Cony Howard. Susanna was several years younger than her own stepsons, being over 40 years younger than James Howard Sr., who is thought to have been in his mid-70s when he started his second family. A year after James Howard Sr. died, James Jr.'s mother Susanna was married a third time, to William Brooks, a local justice of the peace.
In 1799, at the age of 16, James Howard Jr. chose his step-father William Brooks and Daniel Cony as his legal guardians. The following year, on 28 Oct. 1800, he revoked that choice and put in their stead his half-brother Hartson Cony along with Enoch Coffin, a master mariner in Farmington, Kennebec Co. According to family tradition, James's step-father William Brooks had abused his power to act on James's and/or his mother's behalf. This probably accounts for the change of guardians. Enoch Coffin, one of the new guardians, was also James's future father-in-law. Three days after the second guardianship order, on 31 Oct. 1800 in Farmington, James married Enoch's 19-year-old daughter Ann C. "Nancy" Coffin.
James and Nancy had two daughters, Isabella (b. 1801) and Adeline (b. 1805). Meanwhile, Enoch Coffin died at sea in Oct. 1801. Thus, after 1801, James Howard Jr. at 19 probably relied most on his Cony relatives for support in his efforts to recover his inheritance. His half-sister Margaret (Howard) Patterson's family might also have been sympathetic to James Jr.'s cause.
Tragically, James--who had probably become a mariner like his father-in-law--also died at sea in the Fall of 1807 at the age of 24, amid legal disputes with his half-brother William Howard over his father's estate. He was survived by his 26-year-old wife and two little girls, aged 6 and 2. The young widow Nancy (Coffin) Howard, her widowed mother Huldah (Norton) Coffin, and Nancy's brothers and sisters, all returned to their native Martha's Vineyard with the Howard girls and left their lives in Maine behind them. Nancy's heirs, however, were still trying to legally recover their lost estate in 1850, when they actually filed suit. Ultimately, the court ruled that too many years and transfers of land titles had occurred since James Howard Sr.'s death in 1787, making it imprudent for the court to consider the case. For further details, see the West Memorandum on file in the Maine State Library.
Out of the tragedy recounted above, by providence, the Howard bloodline survives today--not only through two hateful old men, but also through their father's precious little boy, whom they sought, so nefariously, to destroy.
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