Bezaleel Howard

Bezaleel Howard
Born	(1753-11-22)November 22, 1753 Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Died	January 20, 1837(1837-01-20) (aged 83)
Spouses	Lucinda Dwight (1785-1788) Prudence Williams
Children	5

Bezaleel Howard (November 22, 1753 – January 20, 1837) was an American Congregationalist minister.

Life

Howard was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts to Jane and farmer Nathan Howard.[1][2] Bezaleel worked on the family farm until age 21.[2]

He enrolled at Harvard in 1777, after about nine months of preparation. He graduated in 1781. Following this, he began studying theology under a Dr. Gay while teaching at a school in Hingham.[2] From 1783 until 1785, he was a tutor at Harvard.[3]

In 1784, he was invited to preach at First Church in Springfield, Massachusetts for six weeks.[2][3] He was well-received, and in November 1784 they asked him to become their new pastor. He was ordained at the Springfield church on April 27, 1785.[2]

In the late 1780s, Howard criticized both the insurgents of Shay's Rebellion and local authorities, whom he saw as abusing their power.[4][5]

He resigned from First Church in September 1803, due to ill health.[2] He was succeeded by Samuel Osgood.[6]

In February 1808, Howard bought a home on Elm Street, where he lived until his death.[3]

In 1809, Howard led a group of 18 other Springfield residents in raising money to purchase the freedom of a woman named Jenny, who had escaped from slavery in New York. Howard had officiated the wedding of Jenny and a freeman named Jack Williams several years prior, in 1802.[7][8]

In 1819, Howard joined a splinter group of Unitarian congregation members in forming the new Third Congregational Society of Springfield, and remained with that church until his death.[2][3][6]

He died in 1837 at the age of 83.[2]

Family

In December 1785, he married Lucinda Dwight (b. 1767), the daughter of a prominent congregation member.[2][9] She died in March 1788, leaving Howard with a daughter.[2][9] Two years after her death, he married Prudence Williams (d. 1853), from Wethersfield, Connecticut.[2] The couple went on to have four children (three sons and one daughter), including John and Charles (b. 1794).[2][3][9]

In 1802, Howard became the guardian of Mary Lyman following the death of her parents.[10]

Organizations and honors

In 1793, Howard co-directed a "select school for young ladies". He was also president of the Hampton Bible Society.[3]

In 1818, Howard was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[11]

In 1824, he received the Doctor of Divinity degree from Harvard.[2]

Legacy

Howard Street in Springfield is named after Howard and his family.[12]

References

1. Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (1912). Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College: September 1805-September 1815. Holt. p. 340.
2. Sprague, William Buell (1865). Annals of the American Pulpit: Unitarian Congregational. 1865. R. Carter and brothers. pp. 181–183.
3. Chapin, Charles Wells (1893). Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme". Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company. pp. 223–225, 330.
4. Beeman, Richard; Botein, Stephen; II, Edward C. Carter (2013-04-01). Beyond Confederation: Origins of the Constitution and American National Identity. UNC Press Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8078-3932-4.
5. Richards, Leonard L. (2014-11-29). Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8122-0319-6.
6. The Unitarian. T.F. Pruett. 1908. p. 383.
7. Society, Connecticut Valley Historical (1881). Papers and Proceedings of the Connecticut Valley Historical Society. 1876-19. The Society. pp. 213–214.
8. "Bill of Sale for Jenny, 16 February 1808". Springfield Museums. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
9. Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge (1874). The History of the Descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass. J. F. Trow & son, printers and bookbinders. pp. 831, 865.
10. Floyd, Emily (2013-05-24). "Mary Lyman's Mourning Piece". mavcor.yale.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
11. "Bezaleel Howard". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
12. Lockwood, John Hoyt (1926). Western Massachusetts: A History, 1636-1925. Lewis historical publishing Company, Incorporated. p. 845.