Business & brands / Politics
Charles Howard
1804–1883 · shipping merchant, banker, mayor of Detroit
Former schooner captain and Great Lakes shipping agent who built railroad lines, ran two banks and was elected Detroit's mayor for 1849.
- Born
Chenango County, New York- Died
New York
aged 79- Detroit years
- 1840–1858
- Field
- Business & brands, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Charles Howard grew up in New York State, worked as a schooner captain out of Sackets Harbor and joined the forwarding firm of Alvin Bronson and Company in Oswego. In 1840 he came to Detroit as a partner in Bronson, Crocker and Howard to open the firm's agency in the booming lake port. From 1848, in partnership with N. P. Stewart, he combined shipping with railroad contracting and built large sections of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, though the job cost his firm heavily. He served at the same time as president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank and of the Peninsular Bank, and was elected mayor in 1848 for the 1849 term. The Panic of 1857 brought down the Peninsular Bank, and in 1858 he moved to New York City, where he and his brother Sebre ran a firearms business from 1863 to 1874. His son, Bronson Howard, became one of America's first professional playwrights.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1849
- Built large sections of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad
- President of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank and the Peninsular Bank
- Father of Detroit-born playwright Bronson Howard