52 Ancestors: #43, Herbert Gardner Howes, Deceased on Halloween

Herbert Gardner Howes¹ was almost born on Halloween: he arrived just a day early, on 30 October 1868,² in Liberty, Waldo County, Maine.³ Herbert was the eighth child of Robert Everson Howes and Martha Sukeforth.⁴

Unlike several of his brothers, Herbert did not follow his father into farming. Instead, he became a carpenter and builder.⁵ He moved to Taunton, Massachusetts by 1893, where he married Annie L. Perry on the 11th of March.⁶ In 1902, he was admitted to membership in the Masonic Lodge of Massachusetts.⁷

Herbert Gardner Howes, Masonic membership card, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts

Annie died in childbirth on 27 April 1904,⁸ after giving birth to their only child, Everson Perry Howes⁹ (who survived, and indeed lived to the age of 76). Herbert remarried on Christmas Day the same year, to Oriola S. Boynton,¹⁰ who died in 1916.¹¹ Herbert and Oriola apparently had no children, at least none who lived. By the time of the 1920 census, Herbert had married for the third and final time, to Emily A. ______,¹² who also had no children. She died sometime after 1930; Herbert was a widower by 1940.¹³

He lived another 14 years after the 1940 census, dying at the age of 86 years and one day, on Halloween: 31 October 1954. He is buried with his first two wives in Westville Cemetery in Taunton.¹⁴

Monument for Herbert G. Howes and wives, Westville Cemetery, Taunton, Mass.²

Herbert G. Sukeforth is my second cousin twice removed, with Robert Suckforth as our common ancestor:

Relationship chart for Herbert Gardner Howes and The Down East Genealogist

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. His middle name was almost certainly from his uncle, Gardner E. Sukeforth, who captained the first steamship through the newly opened Panama Canal in 1914.
2. Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 Apr 2013), memorial #96280215 for Herbert G. Howes, with photo of family marker, memorial and digital photo by “jtb” (30 Aug 2012); citing Westville Cemetery (Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts).
3. “Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Membership Cards, 1733-1990,” database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors.org (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 29 Apr 2013), Herbert Gardner Howes membership card, Vol. Hol-Hyz Surnames, p. 5351; citing “records held by the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Massachusetts”.
4. Martha Sukeforth was only 17 when she married, and she gave birth to an astounding 14 children (eight boys and six girls) by the time she was 45. Even more astounding for the time, all 14 children lived to adulthood – many to ripe old ages in their 80s and 90s, with the earliest death at 40.
5. “Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Membership Cards, 1733-1990,” Herbert Gardner Howes membership card. Also, 1900 U.S. Census, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Taunton, ED 218, sheet 2D (penned), p. 124A (stamped), dwelling 30, family 34, Herbert G. Howes household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Apr 2013). Also, 1910 U.S. Census, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Taunton, ED 229, sheet 9A, dwelling 174, family 221, Herbert G. Howes household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Apr 2013).
6. “Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910,” database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors.org (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 29 Apr 2013), Vol. 433, p. 253, Herbert G. Howes-Annie L. Perry marriage, Taunton, MA, 1893; citing “original records held by the Massachusetts Archives”.
7. “Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Membership Cards, 1733-1990,” Herbert Gardner Howes membership card.
8. “Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910,” Vol. 1904/90, p. 489, Annie L. (Perry) Howes death, Taunton, MA, 1904.
9. Ibid., Vol. 542, p. 358, Everson Perry Howes, Taunton, MA, 1904.
10. Ibid., Vol. 548, p. 510, Herbert Gardner Howes-Oriola S. Boynton marriage, Worcester, MA, 1904; also Vol. 546, p. 314, Herbert G. Howes-Oriola S. Boynton marriage, registered Taunton, Mass., 1904.
11. Find A Grave, memorial #96280215 for Herbert G. Howes.
12. 1920 U.S. Census, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Taunton, ED 182, sheet 8B, dwelling 150, family 202, Herbert G. Howes household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Apr 2013).
13. 1930 U.S. Census, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Rehoboth, ED 3-205, sheet 3B, dwelling 68, family 69, Herbert G. Howes household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Apr 2013). Also, 1940 U.S. Census, Bristol County, Massachusetts, Rehoboth, ED 3-86, sheet 5B, household 106, Herbert G. Howes household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Apr 2013). Emily appears in the 1930 census and Herbert is widowed in the 1940 census.
14. Find A Grave, memorial #96280215 for Herbert G. Howes.