Editors
John F. Howerton
Bryan R. Howerton
Volume Two, Issue Three Summer 1997
A Howerton Family in World War II
Miss Kate: Katherine Powell Howerton
Army Nurse: Margaret Calvin Howerton
Vance Bryan Howerton, U. S. Navy (left), Edgar Weldon Howerton,
and Levi Milton Howerton
This picture was taken after WWII, probably sometime in early 1946. Edgar and his two sons are posing in front of the Howerton farm house in Guilford County, North Carolina. The family lived near Gibsonville, a small textile town. Levi also served in the U. S. Navy and saw action in the Pacific while serving on the LST 1101. One of Levi’s first jobs after the war was with the railroad as a freight clerk. Vance made a career in the US Navy, after serving during World War II, during which time he was captured on Corregidor by the Japanese and held prisoner of war for three years and four months. He was liberated in September 1945, by American forces.
A HOWERTON
FAMILY IN WORLD WAR II
By Bryan R. Howerton
A correction to this article is published in our Summer 2002 Issue. Editor
Edgar Weldon Howerton ( born 7 March 1893 - died 25 March 1948) and Harriett Jeanette Gerringer (born 12 May 1895 - died 11 March 1971) raised a family of eight children in Guilford County, North Carolina. Their family was unique in that four of their sons: Edgar Woodrow Wilson Howerton, Vance Bryan Howerton, William Howerton, and Levi Milton Howerton served in the armed forces during World War II.
Our story begins in the depths of the great depression on 16 March 1934. Jobs were scarce and pay was extremely low. Faced with these conditions, Edgar Woodrow Wilson Howerton and his brother, Vance Bryan enlisted in the U. S. Navy. The pay was small, but work was steady and the possibilities of travel to exotic places were factors undoubtedly considered in making their decision. They could not realize the impact that decision would have on their lives in the near future.
The two brothers completed basic training and technical schools, and in due time were assigned to ships in the Pacific fleet. The brothers were fortunate that a part of their service was spent together on the same ship. The assignment of family members to the same ship was to be forbidden following the loss of the five Sullivan brothers on the USS Juneau during the naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. Wilson and Vance were together for a time aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Lexington operating from Pearl Harbor. In May 1941 Vance transferred to the USS Vega, a part of the Asiatic Fleet operating under the 16th Naval District at Cavite, Philippine Islands.
The Japanese launched their sneak attack upon Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and sinking or severely damaged the battleships stationed there. Many of the smaller naval vessels moored in Pearl Harbor were also sunk or damaged. The other military and naval facilities on the island were also severely damaged. Damage to maintenance and port facilities would soon be repaired and all but three of the battleships were recovered and would help carry the war against the Japanese Empire to a victorious conclusion. The Japanese had planned to strike on a Sunday morning, when the Americans were expected to be least alert. The intention was to catch the capital warships; carriers, battleships and cruisers in port and destroy them. The plan was to hinder all efforts by the United States to interfere with Japanese expansion into the Southwest Pacific. The Japanese planned the conquest of a large part of the Pacific Ocean area stretching from Japan to Australia and Indonesia to Wake Island -- their so-called “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”
At the time of the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor the only two aircraft carriers in the Hawaiian area were the USS Lexington and USS Enterprise. Both ships were absent from Hawaii on 7 December 1941. Wilson was aboard the Lexington which, was a part of Task Force 12, transporting fighter aircraft to the Marines on Midway Island. The Enterprise, part of Task Force 8, was returning from Wake Island after delivering twelve fighter planes to the Marines at that location. Actually, the Enterprise had been scheduled to return to Pearl Harbor on 6 December, but Admiral Halsey, task force commander, had slowed the speed of the task force due to bad weather conditions. That decision probably saved the carrier. At 7:58 a.m. on Sunday morning, 7 December 1941, a message arrived in the radio shack of the Lexington: “Intercept and destroy [the] enemy [Japanese] believed retreating on a course between Pearl Harbor and Jaluit. Intercept and destroy.” At 8:15 a.m. the same day Enterprise received a message: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor . . . This is no drill.” The two carriers then rendezvoused and conducted a fruitless search in the wrong area for enemy ships and aircraft.
The USS Yorktown was at Norfolk, Virginia undergoing maintenance at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. Less than nine days after the attack she departed for the Pacific theater. After a short stop, the ship left San Diego, California on 6 January 1942 to cover troop ships carrying Marine reinforcements to Samoa. Afterwards, she mounted air strikes against Jaluit, Mili, and Makin Islands, then returned to Pearl Harbor. Wilson was transferred from the Lexington to the Yorktown at about that time. During this period Wilson enjoyed little rest. America’s few aircraft carriers represented the only real naval strength in the Pacific at that time. Despite the importance of the survival of the carriers they were employed on frequent raids at widely separated points in the theater. Finally, the Yorktown and the Lexington became engaged in the first great carrier air battle on 8 May 1942 -- the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the first sea battle during which the opposing ships were never within sight of each other. The battle culminated in a strategic victory for the Americans and forced the Japanese to halt their movement toward Australia, However, it was a tactical victory for the enemy as the Lexington was lost, having taken torpedoes into each side of the ship. Neither did Wilson’s Yorktown escape unscathed -- she maneuvered to dodge eight torpedoes and numerous dive bomb attacks; but one 880-pound bomb hit the flight deck doing severe damage, killing 43 men and wounding a larger number. Another American carrier, The USS Hornet, had returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April 1942 after launching Doolittle’s B-25 raid on the Japanese home islands from a distance of 620 miles. Preparations were immediately begun to prepare the Hornet to join the Yorktown and the Lexington in offensive operations in the South Pacific; however, she arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Coral Sea.
Immediately upon return to Pearl Harbor, urgently needed repairs to Wilson’s carrier were estimated to required three months under peacetime conditions. However, only two days could be spent in repairs before she had to depart to participate in the upcoming Battle of Midway. That battle is said to have been the turning point in the war against Japan as the Americans inflicted enormous losses upon the Japanese. Enemy losses included aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu and heavy cruiser Mikuma. Severe damage was inflicted upon other enemy ships and Japan also lost a large percentage of their experienced pilots. Japan was forced to cancel their scheduled invasions of Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. From that point, Japan was engaged in a defensive war -- primarily trying to hold on to what they had grabbed in their near simultaneous sneak attacks upon Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Indo-China, and Indonesia. The American victory at Battle of Midway was not without tremendous cost to the Americans in men, aircraft, and damage to ships. All aircraft in Torpedo Squadron 8 flying off the USS Hornet was shot down and Ensign George H. Gay was the sole survivor of the squadron. The greatest loss was the proud ship, USS Yorktown. Happily, Wilson Howerton survived the sinking.
Across the international date line it was 8 December in the Philippine Islands when Pearl Harbor was attacked. On that day the Japanese attack to capture the Philippines began. With America’s traditional allies in Europe engaged in a war of survival, our attention had been seriously diverted toward the Atlantic area and adequate preparation for a war in the Pacific Ocean area had not been made. The country was focusing of supplying arms, materiel, food and various supplies to our beleaguered European friends. Those considerations led to inadequate preparation for the defense of the distant Pacific islands and their ultimate loss. In spite of the hopeless position in which they had been placed, the members of the American armed forces conducted a uniformly valiant, although hopeless, defense at the many locations attacked by the Japanese. We should all forever honor the dedication and sacrifice of those great Americans who held the line while our country regained the strength to retaliate.
Vance Howerton found himself in the middle of this. He was serving on the USS Vega, a support ship in the Asiatic fleet, based at Cavite, Philippine Islands when the Japanese launched their attack. It is unclear as to exactly when or why he left the Vega; but, it was probably in early April 1942. As conditions continued to deteriorate, a large group of naval personnel, including Vance, was formed into a unit that was called the Navy Brigade or Naval Battalion. Records show this group was attached to the 4th Regiment, U. S. Marine Corps on Corregidor in April 1942. On 9 April 1942 the U. S. armed forces on the Bataan Peninsula surrendered -- some of the troops on Bataan managed to reach Corregidor, at the mouth of Manila Bay. Vance joined in the defensive efforts on Corregidor. Exactly how he got from Bataan to Corregidor is uncertain. Perhaps he moved with some of the defenders at Bataan or was sent directly from Cavite, on the opposite side of Manila Bay from Bataan. Regardless, we know that he was wounded on Corregidor on 29 April 1942 by artillery or naval gunfire. The Americans were under incessant attack and shelling on Corregidor was intense. The sick, wounded, and starving troops maintained a heroic defense from within the tunnels, corridors and caverns of Corregidor. Finally, with medical supplies exhausted, food rationed at less than subsistence level, and munitions practically exhausted, the island fortress was surrendered on 6 May 1942.
It became immediately apparent that the Japanese were not observing the standards of treatment that was supposed to be accorded prisoners of war as prescribed by the Geneva Convention of 1929. It is true that Japan had not signed that convention; but, they had signed the Hague Convention of 1907. American prisoners were arbitrarily beaten, starved, tortured, murdered, and routinely deprived of medical treatment. Upon removal from Corregidor, Vance was taken to Bilibid prison for a short time and then removed to Cabanatuan where a complex of three Prisoner of War camps were located and maintained within a few miles of each other. Over the next few months, Vance was moved between these camps at various intervals. There were never enough food and the little amounts provided was poorly prepared, if at all. Prisoners were required to work long days regardless of their physical condition. Those who were unable to work or those who fell during their movement to and from a work site were beaten and frequently killed.
Vance was moved from the Philippines to Japan, reportedly
early in 1943. The mode of travel was on ships known by the
POWs as the “Hell Ships.” The ships used were
cargo vessels which had delivered supplies from Japan to the
Japanese military and were returning home. Statements of
survivors record that great numbers of POWS’ were forced
into barren, empty holds below decks. Hatches were
then sealed and the POW’s would not see the sun until their
destination in Japan was reached. Treatment was absolutely
brutal. In transit, very little water was supplied and the
food rations consisted of one rice ball every two days.
Survivors of those voyages have stated that many prisoners failed
to obtain the rations every other day as the food was dropped
into the hold and each prisoner caught what he could. The
condition of those too sick or weak to compete for food steadily
grew worse. According to reports by survivors at least twenty-five
prisoners died each day. The danger was not just limited to
the barbarity of the Japanese -- there was also the risk of
bombing or torpedoes from American forces as the Japanese had
refused to mark the ships to indicate that POWS’ were aboard.
A large number of the freighters transporting American POWS’
were bombed by allied aircraft and many Americans were killed and
injured. In at least one documented case, the Japanese
freighter Arisan Maru sailed from Manila on 10 October 1944
carrying 1,800 American prisoners, mostly officers. She was
sunk by the American submarine USS Snook on 24 October while
crossing the South China Sea, 200 miles south of the Formosa
Strait. The submarine had no way of knowing that POWS’
were aboard the freighter. As the Japanese were abandoning
the sinking ship, they took the time to cut the rope ladder
leading into one of the holds containing POWs. Undoubtedly,
this barbaric act prevented survival of many POWS. One
survivor stated that the few POW’s who escaped from the
sinking ship were ignored by the Japanese destroyers picking up
Japanese survivors. The American POW’s were abandoned
to their fate. It was estimated that not more than ten
prisoners survived.
Vance arrived safely in Japan and was imprisoned at POW Camp
No. 5, located five miles from Niigata, on the west coast of the
island of Honshu. Inmates at that camp were used strictly
as a labor force which was daily formed into a group of four
abreast and marched five miles into Niigata. They would
leave Camp No. 5 at 5:00 a.m. and return at 8:00 p.m. The
POW’s were divided into three labor details; most
worked for the Rinko Coal Company; one group worked in a foundry;
and the balance was assigned as stevedores, loading and unloading
ships at the docks. The coal detail was the hardest -- a
part of the detail would fill a steel net with coal from a
ship’s hold, the net was then unloaded onto a barge and it
was shoveled from the barge to a conveyor belt and finally placed
into small rail cars. Working with coal is dirty work, so
those on that detail were allowed to bathe with the coolies once
a week in a large bath house. All the details were onerous,
but the stevedore detail was considered the best of the sorry lot.
This was because some would work in the holds of ships and were
protected from temperatures as low as 25 degrees during the
winter. The POW’s were supposed to be rotated between
the different details but survivors reported that work was never
rotated.
Vance was “lucky” under the circumstances as he was assigned to the stevedore detail. The primary benefit of working as a stevedore was the opportunity to occasionally pilfer a piece of fruit or something edible. This was extremely risky as they were subject to search at any time. Prisoners were subjected to brutal beatings, often beaten to death, for infraction of rules. Many of the infractions were minor, such as turning to the left when told to turn right, which sometimes occurred simply because the prisoner was not proficient in the Japanese language. Needless to say, quickly learning enough of the language to avoid beatings became a high priority with the prisoners of war. The prisoners grew weaker and felt they could only survive by obtaining more food. Those found with contraband of any kind were severely beaten or otherwise punished, often dying as a result. Survivors from Niigata stated that once weekly they received a piece of some type of fish, usually boiled. Almost every day, they were fed boiled soybeans in a soup and about a teacup full of steamed rice. Records show that the prisoners of the Japanese in the Philippines received a daily ration of about 420 grams of rice, rice and barley, or corn and barley. Food was much more plentiful in the Philippines than in Japan as the war progressed, so one can imagine how low the food supply became for the POW’s in Japan.
At midnight, 8 May 1945, German emissaries signed the articles of unconditional surrender, ending the war in Europe. The war in Europe over, all Allied resources could be used against Japan and the great war could be concluded. Following the Battle of Okinawa, the next and, hopefully, the final invasion of the war was scheduled for late 1945 on the Japanese home islands. The liberation of Vance and his fellow prisoners of war was getting closer, if they could just survive long enough. Intensive planning, training and assembly began for what was to be the largest invasion fleet in the history of the world. Tremendous losses to both the invading force and the Japanese Empire were expected. Such expectation was well justified by experience with the adversary in numerous island campaigns and sea battles since 7 December 1941.
Fortunately, America had recently developed and tested a secret weapon that was believed capable of ending that terrible war. We also had a president who placed a high value on American life and possessed the will and character to employ the weapon. Therefore, after refusing to unconditionally surrender, Japan was subjected to the first hostile use of atomic weapons when a single bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, effectively destroying the city. Again, surrender was requested and denied. On 9 August 1945 a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and that convinced the Japanese to surrender. Vance’s luck was not all bad -- Niigata was on the short list of candidate targets for the atomic bomb, but farther down than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. NOTE: With estimated losses in the millions on both sides for the Japanese home island invasion, it would have been criminal not to use the bomb. By the time the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing had been reached, some history “revisionists” were condemning the United States for using the weapon. This writer, having already served one tour in the Pacific, was back in the U.S. with a new unit preparing to return to the Pacific theater when the bomb was dropped. One wonders what the “politically correct” opinion of critics would have been in 1945, had they been preparing to invade Japan proper under the conditions prevailing at the time. BRH
On 6 September 1945 Vance was liberated from POW Camp No. 5, outside Niigata, Japan. He had been a prisoner of the Japanese for three years and four months and suffered terribly. As the Japanese did not provide prisoner information, Vance’s family believed he had been killed in 1942. They knew nothing of his capture in the Philippines and subsequent imprisonment in Japan. He weighed less than 100 pounds upon release. He was placed in the Naval Hospital, Oahu, Hawaii where he was treated for malnutrition and other disorders resulting from imprisonment. One can imagine the rejoicing in Gibsonville, North Carolina several weeks later when Vance returned home “from the dead.”
Wilson and Vance both decided to continue their careers in the U. S. Navy. Wilson had to retire in the late 1940’s due to health reasons. Vance continued in the navy and was appointed Warrant Officer (W-1) on 10 July 1946. He served in combat again during the Korean War and was aboard an LST participating in the amphibious landing at Inchon on 15 October 1950. Vance continued in various assignments until retirement on 30 September 1958 at which time he was a Chief Warrant Officer (W3) serving as an Operations Officer, Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. Vance died in January 1987 in West Virginia. His son, Vance, Jr. continued the family’s military service to our country. He served as a U. S. Marine Corps officer, flying as a reconnaissance pilot in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He died of cancer three years after completing his tour of duty in Southeast Asia.
William Howerton chose to serve his country in the U. S.
Army Air Corps during World War II. He volunteered for
service and served in Europe as a tail gunner flying in B-17
“Flying Fortress” Bombers. No details of his
service are known to the writer.
Levi Milton Howerton, youngest of the four brothers was a
junior in high school when America entered World War II. He began
his senior year in August of 1942 and by December, realized he
would not graduate with his class due to poor grades in English.
He left school early and volunteered for the Naval service. When
he left home, his father gave him $17.00 (all the cash available),
and he walked up the dirt road from the family farm to meet the
bus. He rode the bus to the basic training station at
Little Creek in Tidewater Virginia. Upon completion of
basic training he was assigned to the Naval Amphibious Warfare
School at Little Creek, and completed that training late in 1943.
He was then assigned to a new ship, nearing the completion of construction, at Chicago, Illinois. As a member of the original crew he qualified as a “plank owner” of the new ship, LST 1101. An LST (Landing Ship, Tank) was the largest naval vessel used in World War II to actually carry troops, tanks, etc., up to the beach. He sailed with his new ship on her maiden voyage and shakedown cruise down the Mississippi River, through New Orleans, across the Gulf of Mexico, and through the Panama Canal into the Pacific in early 1944. They continued to Pearl Harbor where the ship joined the invasion fleet being assembled for the recovery of the Mariana Islands. Three of those islands, Guam, Saipan, and Tinian would be used for air bases from which to launch repeated bombing missions against the Japanese home islands using the B-29 aircraft, the new super-fortress bomber.
LST 1101 participated in the conquest of Saipan. Following the Marianas campaign she joined an amphibious assault force that invaded the Philippines, participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in late 1944. Following the landings in the Philippines, Levi’s ship proceeded to participate in the landings on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands and Okinawa in the Ryukus. During the invasion of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa the Japanese increasingly employed kamikaze aircraft in attacks upon American ships. Several ships were sunk by these suicide attacks and many more were severely damaged. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Levi’s ship was the target of more than 40 unsuccessful kamikaze attacks in the thirty days his ship was on station. Levi’s ship next participated in the invasion of Okinawa. That battle was more costly than any other in the Pacific theater, both to the Americans and the Japanese. The closer the Americans moved toward the Japanese home islands, the more stubborn became the defense.
Levi’s ship arrived in Tokyo Bay in time for the formal surrender of the Japanese Empire aboard the USS Missouri. For the next month or so, rather than participating in another invasion, he performed shore patrol duties in Tokyo.
A little more than a month after the Japanese surrender, Levi’s ship was ordered to Puget Sound Naval base, where LST 1101 was decommissioned and placed in mothballs. He rode a train cross-country to North Carolina, arriving back home a few weeks before his brother, Vance, showed up on the front porch in Gibsonville, having unexpectedly returned from the war alive.
Levi was discharged from the U. S. Navy in early 1946. He became a dispatch clerk for Southern Railways at the Gibsonville, North Carolina depot.
A Note From a Grandson
I just wanted to thank you for all your time and effort put into this site. My name is Jason Howerton and my grandfather was Vance Bryan Howerton. The article about the Howerton brothers was amazing. Since my dad (Vance Bryan Howerton Jr.) died of cancer when I was three and my grandfather passed when I was fourteen I have very little knowledge of their past. The ironic thing is I was trying to look up some past history on my father’s military career when I stumbled upon your site. The only info I can add about the Japanese attack regarding my grandfather’s capture is that he told me that they were surrounded and fought until they didn’t have any ammunition left. He also said that he wasn’t treated that bad but I think he may of said that to make my brother and I feel better. My grandfather didn’t discuss the war that much because it took a long time for him to recover from the POW life. IF what I was told is true one good thing did come out of his ordeal. When he returned to the states he met his future wife (Dorothy Jackson) at the hospital while he was being treated. Dorothy was a military nurse. To make a long story short (too late) my grandparents had only one child (Vance Jr.). My dad was introduced to my mom while they were in college in West Virginia. They married and had two children (Vance III and me…Jason). We were both born at the Camp Lejeune military hospital in Jacksonville NC. My brother Vance (who I call Bryan) was 5 and I was 3 when our dad died of cancer. My mother raised us proudly and the government paid for my college tuition on the GI Bill (out of respect for the loss of our father). I graduated from North Carolina State University and am employed in the automotive industry. My mother has remarried and my brother and I both reside in Greensboro, NC. I just wanted to thank you again for all your efforts to inform people about their history. With almost everyone on my father’s side of the family gone to heaven it leaves me with very little resources to find out about their lives and our history. Your dedication and hard work has given me priceless information that I will always cherish.
Thank you so much,
Jason Howerton
April 28, 2004
“MISS
KATE”
by John F. Howerton
Miss Kate P. Howerton
Portrait is hung in West Point High
School
West Point, Virginia
Katherine Powell Howerton (born 11 January 1875 -- died 21 March 1960) was the daughter of Robert Gaines Howerton and Kate Powell Martin. Like her father, she was born in King & Queen County, Virginia.
Between 1906 and 1918, the West Point High School in West Point, Virginia had ten different principals. According to Alonzo Dill in York River Yesterday (1984), “In 1918 Miss Katherine P. Howerton, who had begun her teaching career in West Point in September 1893, was made principal. “Miss Kate” served in that post for twenty-one years.”
On 24 March 1960, The Tidewater Review (Devoted to the Interests and News of the Counties of King William, King and Queen, New Kent and Charles City) of West Point, Virginia, published the following article:
Local Educator Dies at Age 85
“Miss Katherine Powell Howerton, 85, who spent her entire 53-year career as an educator in West Point schools, died Monday at a Denbigh hospital. Known as “Miss Kate” to several generations of West Point students, she began her career as an elementary teacher. She started teaching high school students in 1906 and from 1918 to 1939 was principal of the West Point High School. During the final years of her career she was associate principal and librarian at the high school.
Upon her retirement in 1948, the town school board noted that “no person has had more far-reaching influence” on the lives of West Point residents. As a tribute to Miss Kate, the board named the West Point High School building the Howerton building.
A native of Owenton, King and Queen county, Miss Howerton moved to West Point with her parents when she was 13 years old. She was a graduate of the old West Point Female Institute. Four years ago the Parent-Teacher Association honored her by establishing the Katherine P. Howerton Scholarship Fund for students planning to enter the teaching profession.
Miss Howerton was a member of First Baptist Church here. She was a deaconess and was a member of the building committee for the new building dedicated in 1927. She taught the Convention Bible Class for many years.
Miss Howerton was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the 20th Century Woman’s Club of West Point.
A graveside funeral service was held at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday in Sunny Slope Cemetery here. The Rev. Welford A. Brooks, pastor of First Baptist Church, officiated. She is survived by three nieces and three nephews.”
Note! The article above was sent by a Howerton descendant, Marge Kidd, who attached the following note, “She taught me Latin and History and also taught my Dad at West Point, Virginia.”
ARMY
NURSE
Margaret Calvin Howerton
Margaret Calvine Howerton was born 9 July 1876 at Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina. She was a daughter of William Henry Howerton and Amanda J. Koonce.
During the Spanish-American War, on 22 September 1898 she enlisted at Washington, D.C. as a nurse in the 7th Army Corps, U. S. Army. She was described as 5' 5" tall, light complexion, brown eyes, brown hair and weighing 120 pounds. She was assigned to Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, Florida, where she served from 22 September 1898 to 18 November 1898 as a nurse with the 3rd Division Hospital, 7th Army Corps.
Margaret was discharged at Jacksonville, Florida. Following her discharge she moved back to Washington, D.C., where in 1900 she was living at 1736 Corcoran as a roomer in the home of Theador F. Schmuck. Subsequently, she moved to Pocomoke, Maryland, were she engaged in farming at Cellar House Farm.
She applied for a pension for her services as a nurse in the Medical Department of the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. The pension was denied because she had served less than 70 days. On 4 October 1934 her nearest relative was Frances J. Howerton of New Bern, North Carolina. She died on 9 December 1945 at Cellar House Farm, Pocomoke City, Maryland, never having married.
How many “John Wesley Howertons” are there in the
Howerton family? We know of nine for sure, and some
of the John W. Howertons could probably be added to the group.
One John Wesley was born on 24 November 1806 in the
Laurens District, South Carolina, to James Howerton. He
moved to Henry County, Alabama, about 1827 and settled about four
miles northeast of Abbeville, Alabama, where he was married to
Jane Chester by Justice of the Peace, Abner Chester, on 16
September 1831. John became a property owner in 1839 when
he purchased a forty acre farm in Henry County for $75.00.
John and Jane had eleven known children between between 25
December 1832 and 1 October 1856. Only two of the children
are known to have lived past thirty years of age. Jane, who
died on 30 September 1897, outlived nine of her children.
Thomas Jefferson Howerton lived until 1929 in Abbeville where he
and Mary Catherine Whatley had a large family. Rhydonia
Howerton lived to be ninety-four and died in 1947. Her twin
sister, Caledona lived only five years.
Their second child, and oldest son, James M. Howerton was born 26 May 1835 and died just before the end of the Civil War on 29 March 1865. From his military records, Bryan Howerton, has written, “James M. Howerton enlisted as 4/Sergeant in Company A, 6th Regiment Alabama Infantry on 16 May 1861 at Abbeville, Henry County, Alabama for 12 months. He was reduced in rank from Sergeant to Private at his own request on 24 August 1861 in order to take leave. In December 1861 he was encamped with his unit at Davis Ford, Virginia, and held the rank of First Lieutenant. He was admitted to General Hospital, Orange Court House, Virginia, on 22 March 1862 with chronic diarrhea. The surgeon recommended he resign his commission due to ill health 11 April 1862. He was retired for disability on 18 April 1862.
James again enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private
in Company E, 6th Alabama Cavalry on 8 August 1862 at Abbeville,
Henry County, Alabama. At the time of enlistment he was
described as: Age 28, Black eyes, Dark Hair, Dark Complexion, 5'10"
Tall, a Farmer by occupation, born in Henry County, Alabama.
He was wounded and captured in Escambia County, Florida, on 25
March 1865 by Union troops under the command of Brigadier General
T. J. Lucas.”
After his death, James was buried in the Ebenezer Churchyard
Cemetery, northeast of Abbeville, Alabama. On his
gravestone are carved the words, “James M. Howerton, son of
John W. and Jane Howerton. Died in defense of his country
29 March 1865 - Age 29 years, 10 months, 3 days.”
The fourth child and second son of John and Jane, John W. Howerton, served as a private in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. On 10 November 1863 he enlisted as a private in Company E, 60th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, CSA, at Abbeville for a period of three years. He was still in the Confederate Army in 1865. Nothing more is known about John W. Howerton who was born 7 March 1843.
Thomas Jefferson Howerton, born 16 June 1848 in Henry County, Alabama, entered Confederate service in 1864 at Talladega, Alabama. He enlisted in the 6th Alabama Calvary, Clayton Brigade. He continued until 30 March 1865. His unit surrendered on 4 May 1865 and he was paroled at Gainesville, Alabama, on 14 May 1865. He was assigned to a detail to bring Captain James McRae’s horses home to Shorterville, Alabama, after he was captured. He never returned to military service.
John Wesley Howerton died in 1874 and when his will was
probated, his wife and two surviving children, Thomas Jefferson
and Rhydonia were named.
An obituary on John provides an excellent summary of his life.
“John Wesley Howerton died at his late residence near
Abbeville on the 10th instant. John Wesley Howerton in the
68th year of his age. The deceased was born in Laurens
District, South Carolina on 24 November 1860 and came to Alabama
in 1827 and resided in the county continously up to the time of
his death, bringing with him his aged mother whom he provided for
during the remnant of her days.
It will thus be said that another of the old settlers of Henry [County] has gone from among us. On 15 September 1831 he was wedded to Miss Jane Chester who is the half sister of the Honorable James Murphy who in time passed represented Henry County in the legislature. The deceased has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South for 30 years and during his long membership deported himself as a true and faithful Christian, dying with implicit faith in the religion he had cherished so long. By his honest and generous bearing toward his fellowman he had endeared himself to all who knew him and no one stood higher for honesty and integrity in the estimation of his acquaintenances [sic] than John Wesley Howerton. He was a kind father and husband as well as a sincere and steadfast friend. When speaking of Mr. Howerton’s admirable traits of character it would be almost impossible for one confining himself within the limits of reason to overdraw the delineation for it is conceded by all who know him that he was indeed a patriot, an honest man, and a sincere Christian with a warm and sympathetic heart. Industrious and economical he accumulated when his soul winged its way to the spirit world there was left for his grieving widow and sorrowing children a comfortable home and liberal means of support, not needed, however, by his son Thomas, who, emulating the example of his worthy father, has already placed himself in easy circumstances.
The deceased was buried in the family graveyard by the side of his eldest son, John [sic - James M.] Howerton who died in March 1865 from the effects of a wound received while fighting for his native South under the command of the brave and lamented Clanton and when “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust” crumbles with its muffled sound from the coffin of the honest and noble John Wesley Howerton there were present those with there [their] “tribute of tears o’er worth to shed.”
To the sad hearted widow and children we tender our sympathy and in common with all the many friends of the deceased joined with them in lamenting the death of so good a man, so generous a friend, and so kind a husband and father.”
John’s wife, Jane, lived until 1897, when she died at
the age of 81. John and Jane are buried together in the old
Ebenezer Churchyard Cemetery of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Henry County. (Note! According to the Henry County
Tombstone Record, compiled by Mrs. M. Scott in 1958, the Ebenezer
Churchyard Cemetery was located “about 6 miles from the
river [Chattahootchee] on the old John W. Howerton farm.
The Howerton line of John and Jane survived through their son
Thomas Jefferson Howerton.
On 27 June 1869, Thomas Howerton and Mary Whatley were married. They had 10 children. After Mary’s death in 1883, Thomas married Mrs. Anna Virginia Rish (nee Malone) and they had three children. Their youngest, Donie Mae Howerton, was born 15 December 1900 and was still living in 1996. Many of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson Howerton and Mary Catherine Whatley still live in Abbeville and Henry County, Alabama.
According to a note from Mary Frances Howerton Stinson and Walter Howerton, the many descendants of Thomas Jefferson Howerton will hold their “Howerton Family Reunion” on Saturday, 21 June 1997, at the Judson Baptist Church Fellowship Hall northeast of Abbeville, Alabama.
(Note! We hope to write an article on Thomas and his descendants in a future issue. JFH)
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