Howard, James M. (James Merriam), 1886-1971

Ordained as a minister in 1914 and installed at Bedford Park Presbyterian Church; in 1917 was commissioned Chaplain and assigned to the 304th Field Artillery; in 1919 promoted to Captain, and served as Acting Senior Chaplain of the 77th Division; in 1918 moved from Bedford Park to the South Street Presbyterian Church of Morristown, New Jersey, remaining until 1936.

James Merriam Howard was born in 1886 in Montclair, New Jersey. He attended the public schools there, spent a year and a half at Andover, and received his B.A. from Yale in 1909. Following graduation he served for one year as Secretary of the Yale University Christian Association ("Dwight Hall") He then spent a year in Europe as a private tutor to an American schoolboy. After his return to the United States Howard prepared for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary, receiving his B.D. in 1914. He was ordained to the ministry on June 21st of that year and was installed soon thereafter as pastor at Bedford Park Presbyterian Church.

On September 11, 1917, Howard was commissioned Chaplain (with the rank of First Lieutenant) and was assigned to the 304th Field Artillery. He was promoted to Captain in March 1919, and served as Acting Senior Chaplain of the 77th Division from March 10th to May 10th of that year. Following his discharge from the United States Army Howard returned to his Bedford Park pastorate and was then called to the South Street Presbyterian Church of Morristown, New Jersey, where he served as pastor until 1936. From that date, and until his retirement in 1951, Howard was associated with the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Pierce, Florida.