Thomas Howe Papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MS-936

Staff Only

Scope and Contents Note

Papers, 1852-2011, documenting the life of Thomas Howe, his family, and descendants, including original handwritten materials. The collection consists of materials produced for descendant reunions and biographical information, as well as copies of Howe family photographs and materials related to Howe's Civil War experience. Two sepia-toned photographic portraits of Thomas Howe and MaryAnn Palmer Howe are included. Original, handwritten personal and business letters document correspondence between local operators of the Cliff Mine and Howe, as well as real-estate concerns and Howe's personal correspondence with his wife. The land grant deeds record his acquisition of land in the Upper Peninsula and were signed by President Abraham Lincoln's assistant secretary William O. Stoddard, who served during Lincoln's first term, 1861-1864. It is worthwhile to note that the land grant deeds are original deeds to the land.

Dates

1852-2011
Majority of material found within 1852 - 1869

Language of Material

English

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is currently under revision due to a donor concern. Please see the university archivist for further details.

Conditions Governing Use

Various copying restrictions apply. Guidelines are available from Michigan Technological University Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

General Thomas Marshall Howe was born in Williamstown, Vermont on April 20, 1808, and died in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1877. Howe's accomplishments include building an economic empire based on copper mining and copper and steel manufacturing, serving in the US military as an assistant adjutant general during the Civil War, and winning appointment to Congress in the House of Representatives, representing Pennsylvania's 21st and 22nd districts. Furthermore, Howe was an organizer and the first president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Howe and his wife, MaryAnn Palmer Howe, had fourteen children. Of primary interest locally, Howe served as Director and Treasurer of the Pittsburgh and Boston Mining Company, which was active in Keweenaw County, Michigan, particularly in operating the Cliff Mine.