Henry Howe

Henry Howe
photos from 1846 and 1886
Born	(1816-10-11)October 11, 1816 New Haven, Connecticut
Died	October 14, 1893(1893-10-14) (aged 77) Columbus, Ohio
Resting place	Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio

Henry Howe (October 11, 1816 – October 14, 1893) was an American author who wrote histories of several states in the United States. His most celebrated work is the three volume Historical Collections of Ohio.

Henry Howe was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a publisher and printer, whose bookstore was one of the most famous in the country. He learned the printing trade, and wrote for local newspapers. He went to New York to work in his uncle's bank.

A copy of Historical Collections of Connecticut by John Warner Barber came into the senior Howe's bookstore in 1838. Barber had traveled across the state making sketches and collecting material. This book impressed Henry Howe, who wrote later "Although born in an atmosphere of books, this impressed me more than any book I had ever seen, and I felt that I would like of all things to dedicate my life to traveling and making such books. ... Two years had passed; in the interim my father had died. ... The spring of 1840 had arrived, when one day I walked into Mr. Barber's office and inquired if he had thought of making a book on New York State." Thus began a partnership, where each would travel about the state, taking notes and drawing pictures.

The Historical Collections of New York came out in 1841, and was profitable at sale of 10,000. By 1842, Howe was crossing New Jersey, and the Historical Collections of New Jersey came out that year. After this point, Mr. Barber acted only as engraver for Mr. Howe. In 1845, Howe started his Virginia project. It came out in 1845, had good sales, but was not profitable.

The Ohio effort began January, 1846 in Marietta, Ohio, and Howe intended to walk across the state, but bought a broken-down horse after 100 miles. Howe always gave credit for the source of his information. With Ohio settled for only a half century, many of the original history makers were still around to interview. Howe returned to New Haven in February 1847, and published Historical Collections of Ohio in September. More than 18,000 copies were sold of this first edition, the best seller of histories in Ohio for the 19th century, besting even Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs.