Howard, William Cyrus, 1812-1877.

William C. Howard, who is the principal correspondent of the Howard family papers and records, was a Civil War Veteran. He served in an Ohio regiment as he was from Brown County Ohio. After the war he acquired farm land in Miami, Jefferson and Douglas Counties in Kansas, while he maintained a farmstead near Ripley, Ohio. From 1868 to 1883 he was an absentee owner, hiring managers to run his farms in Kansas, visiting occasionally to check on the management and operation of his holdings. Howard was twice married, the first time to Lizzie H. King in 1866 at Ripley; two sons survived this union, James Harvey and Alfred Stevenson. Lizzie's father, James H. King, and uncle, John Harvey, were living near Baldwin and also helped Howard manage his affairs in Kansas. His first wife died in 1883, and it was probably at this time that Howard moved permanently to Kansas. In 1890 he was elected as state senator from the Seventeenth District. In that same year Howard married again, to Catherine Groh in Ohio. There were three sons from this marriage, one died in infancy and the two remaining, William Tecumseh and Lannes Dassaix managed the family farm after their Father's death in 1919.

From the guide to the Papers., 1858-1966, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)

William Cyrus Howard was born July 24, 1840 near the community of Ripley in Brown County, Ohio. His parents were William Cyrus Howard (1812-1877) and Mary (Stephenson) Howard (1816-1886). Howard served in the Civil War with the Fourth Independent Ohio Cavalry. He was wounded on May 12, 1863, in its advance on Vicksburg, Mississippi. He married Lizzie King of Brown County on May 12, 1866. Two sons were born to them: James Harvey Howard in 1867, and Alfred Stephenson Howard in 1874. After the war, Howard acquired farmland in several Kansas counties, including a farm in the Palmyra Township of Douglas County, Kansas, which he purchased in 1868. For some time, he hired managers for his Kansas farms, while personally overseeing a Brown County, Ohio farmstead. Howard's wife Lizzie died in 1883.

On March 6, 1890, Howard married Catharine Groh at Ripley, Ohio. Children born to them who lived to adulthood were their sons William Tecumseh Howard and Lannes Dassaix Howard. From 1888 to 1892, Howard represented the 17th District (Baldwin City, Kansas) in the Kansas Senate. He died in 1919, and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery, Baldwin City (Douglas County), Kansas.

From the guide to the William Cyrus Howard collection, 1835-1951 (bulk 1892-1919), (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)