Capt. Gideon Howland, Jr.

History

Much has been written of Capt. Gideon Howland, Jr., his father's fourth son. It was through his marriage with a relative, Mehitable, daughter of his partner and cousin, Isaac Howland, Jr., that the fortune of Sylvia Ann Howland was founded. At one time a whaling captain, he became a member of the celebrated shipping firm of I. Howland, Jr., & Co., in which Edward Mott Robinson and Miss Howland were subsequent partners. How this firm waxed prosperous is familiar New Bedford history. Gideon Howland, Jr., had but two daughters, Abby, who married Mr. Robinson, and Sylvia Ann. Hence at the latter's death in 1865, Hetty, the only child of Mrs. Abby Robinson, was the only niece of Sylvia Ann Howland, only granddaughter of Gideon Howland, Jr., and only great granddaughter of Isaac Howland, Jr., and thus was heir at law to all of them, as well as to her father. Isaac Howland had died in 1833, leaving an estate of $248,000; Gideon, Jr., died in 1847, having multiplied this to $800,000,- and Sylvia Ann's fortune was placed at $2,025,000.

The Gideon, Jr., line is the smallest among the Howland heirs. There are only two descendants, Mrs. Green's children, Col. Edward H. R. Green and Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilks of New York. Abby Slocum (daughter of Gideon, Jr.) born in 1809, died in 1860. Married Edward Mott Robinson, and had but one daughter, whom they left about $5,000,000, and who became famous as "Hetty Green," the richest woman in America.

Hetty Howland Robinson married Edward H. Green of New York City; died July 3, 1916. Had three children, two of whom are now living, Col. Edward H. R. Green, who married recently in Chicago, and Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilks of New York. Neither has children.

Source: "The Massachusetts Magazine"

Namesakes

Howland Island, an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,700 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu; was named after Capt Gideon Howland, Jr and Isaac Howland, Jr.

Source: "The Naming of Howland Island"