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Volney Howard

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Volney Erskine

Volney Erskine Howard (October 22, 1809 – May 14, 1889) was an American lawyer, statesman, and jurist.

Career

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Volney Erskine Howard was born in Norridgewock, Somerset County, Maine on October 22, 1809,[1] to Richard Howard, a prosperous farmer. He attended Bloomfield Academy, Skowhegan, Maine and Waterford College.[2] At the age of 22, Howard traveled to Mississippi to study law and he commenced law practice in Brandon, Mississippi.[1] He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1836; reporter of the supreme court of the State of Mississippi; unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for election in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress; and editor of the Mississippian,[1] a Democratic newspaper published at Vicksburg, Mississippi.[2]

After his unsuccessful run in 1840, he moved to New Orleans, practicing law there until December 1844, and then moved to San Antonio to serve in the Republic of Texas.[2] He was appointed the first Attorney General of the State of Texas in 1846 by Governor J. Pinckney Henderson, but he declined the appointment.[2] He represented Texas's District 2 in the U.S. Congress from 1849 to 1853 but lost a third re-election bid to Peter Hansborough Bell.[2]

Appointed attorney to the Land Commission of California by President Franklin Pierce, Howard left Texas to move to California.[2] He resigned after a few months to practice law in San Francisco. In 1856, he was appointed Adjutant General of California, following the resignation of William T. Sherman during the time of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance. His attempt to oppose the Committee by force failed.

Afterward, he moved to Sacramento in 1858[2] to practice law but decided to leave northern California because he had made too many enemies while battling the vigilantes in San Francisco. In 1861 he moved to Los Angeles, where he served as District Attorney from 1861 to 1870,[2] and served as one of the first judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court beginning in 1879.[1] He was a delegate to the California constitutional convention in 1878–1879.[2] His law firm included two of his lawyer sons, Charles Howard (killed in a gunfight with Daniel B. Nichols, son of a former mayor of Los Angeles, in 1869 in a saloon) and Frank H. Howard, who served as city attorney of Los Angeles. He served only one term on the bench, due to the ill health. He was nominated to a seat on the United States Supreme Court but declined because of failing health.[2]

Howard died in Santa Monica, California on May 14, 1889 and was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.[1][3] Howard County, Texas was named in his honor.[2][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "HOWARD, Volney Erskine: 1809 – 1889". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kemp, L. W. (July 20, 2022). "Howard, Volney Erskine (1809–1889)". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  3. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 15 May 1889 — California Digital Newspaper Collection".
  4. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 162.
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Legal offices
Preceded by
New Position
 Texas Attorney General
1846 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 2nd congressional district
1849–1853 		Succeeded by
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