Politics / Business & brands
Henry Howard
1801–1878 · merchant, lumberman, mayor of Detroit, state treasurer
Lumber and dry-goods partner who was Detroit's mayor in 1837, the year of statehood, and the first treasurer of the State of Michigan.
- Born
Hinsdale, Massachusetts- Died
Buffalo, New York
aged 76- Detroit years
- 1827–1840
- Field
- Politics, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Henry Howard was born in Massachusetts in 1801 and came to Detroit in 1827 to run the firm of Howard and Wadhams, which combined a dry-goods store in the Smart Block at Jefferson and Woodward with timberland and a sawmill in St. Clair County and a warehouse at the foot of Randolph Street. A Democrat, he served as a city alderman in 1833–1834 and as mayor in 1837, the year Michigan joined the Union. He was also the first treasurer of the new state, from 1836 to 1839, and state auditor general in 1839–1840. The Panic of 1837 hit the firm hard: its debts forced it to hand assets to creditors in 1839. In 1840 Howard left for Buffalo, where he spent nearly thirty years as treasurer of the Buffalo Savings Bank, and he died there in 1878. He is often confused with a Port Huron businessman and mayor of the same name.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit in 1837
- First treasurer of the State of Michigan, 1836–1839
- Auditor general of Michigan, 1839–1840
- Treasurer of the Buffalo Savings Bank for nearly thirty years