Timothy O. Howe

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19th century American politician

title: "Timothy O. Howe" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1816-births", "1883-deaths", "politicians-from-green-bay,-wisconsin", "people-from-livermore,-maine", "united-states-postmasters-general", "members-of-the-maine-house-of-representatives", "wisconsin-circuit-court-judges", "people-of-wisconsin-in-the-american-civil-war", "people-of-the-six-years'-war", "justices-of-the-wisconsin-supreme-court", "wisconsin-republicans", "wisconsin-whigs", "maine-whigs", "republican-party-united-states-senators-from-wisconsin", "arthur-administration-cabinet-members", "people-from-readfield,-maine", "kents-hill-school-alumni", "wisconsin-pioneers", "19th-century-wisconsin-state-court-judges", "burials-at-woodlawn-cemetery-(green-bay,-wisconsin)", "19th-century-united-states-senators", "19th-century-members-of-the-maine-legislature"] description: "19th century American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_O._Howe" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 19th century American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Honorable
name	Timothy O. Howe
image	Timothy O. Howe - Brady-Handy.jpg
order	30th
office	United States Postmaster General
president	Chester A. Arthur
term_start	December 20, 1881
term_end	March 25, 1883
predecessor	Thomas Lemuel James
successor	Walter Q. Gresham
jr/sr1	United States Senator
state1	Wisconsin
term_start1	March 4, 1861
term_end1	March 3, 1879
predecessor1	Charles Durkee
successor1	Matthew H. Carpenter
office2	Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
status2	ex officio
term_start2	January 1, 1851
term_end2	June 1, 1853
office3	Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 4th Circuit
term_start3	January 1, 1851
term_end3	1855
predecessor3	Alexander W. Stow
successor3	William R. Gorsline
birth_name	Timothy Otis Howe
birth_date
birth_place	Livermore, District of Maine, Massachusetts, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
restingplace	Woodlawn Cemetery
Green Bay, Wisconsin
party	{{unbulleted list
spouse	{{unbulleted list
children	{{unbulleted list
relatives	James Henry Howe (nephew)
education	Maine Wesleyan Seminary
::

|honorific-prefix = The Honorable |name = Timothy O. Howe |image = Timothy O. Howe - Brady-Handy.jpg |order = 30th |office = United States Postmaster General | president = Chester A. Arthur | term_start = December 20, 1881 | term_end = March 25, 1883 | predecessor = Thomas Lemuel James | successor = Walter Q. Gresham |jr/sr1 = United States Senator |state1 = Wisconsin | term_start1 = March 4, 1861 | term_end1 = March 3, 1879 | predecessor1 = Charles Durkee | successor1 = Matthew H. Carpenter |office2 = Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court | status2 = ex officio | term_start2 = January 1, 1851 | term_end2 = June 1, 1853 |office3 = Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 4th Circuit | term_start3 = January 1, 1851 | term_end3 = 1855 | predecessor3 = Alexander W. Stow | successor3 = William R. Gorsline |birth_name = Timothy Otis Howe |birth_date = |birth_place = Livermore, District of Maine, Massachusetts, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. |restingplace = Woodlawn Cemetery Green Bay, Wisconsin |party = {{unbulleted list| | Republican | Whig (before 1854) |spouse = {{unbulleted list | Linda Ann Haines | (died 1881) |children = {{unbulleted list | Mary (Totten) | | Frank Howard Howe | |relatives = James Henry Howe (nephew) |education = Maine Wesleyan Seminary Timothy Otis Howe (February 24, 1816March 25, 1883) was an American lawyer, jurist, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a United States senator for three terms, representing the state of Wisconsin from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1879. He later served as the 30th U.S. Postmaster General under President Chester A. Arthur, from 1881 until his death in 1883. While he was serving as U.S. senator, President Ulysses S. Grant offered to appoint Howe as Chief Justice of the United States, following the death of Salmon P. Chase, but Howe declined because he believed that it would result in his U.S. Senate seat being claimed by a Democrat.

Earlier in his career, he was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, at the time that the Wisconsin Supreme Court was simply a panel of the state's circuit court judges.

His nephew, James Henry Howe, became a United States district judge in Wisconsin.

Biography

Howe was born in Livermore, Maine (then, part of the commonwealth of Massachusetts), to Timothy Howe and Betsey Howard, attended Readfield Seminary now Kents Hill School, in Readfield, Maine, and studied law with local judges. In 1839, Howe was admitted to the Maine Bar and began practicing law in Readfield. In 1845, he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Shortly thereafter, Howe moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and opened a law office. He was an ardent Whig and ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Congress in 1848.

Howe married Linda Ann Haines and together the couple had 2 children, Mary E. Howe and Frank K. Howe.

Howe was elected circuit judge in Wisconsin and served in that position from 1851 to 1855. As a circuit judge, he also served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court until a separate Supreme Court was organized in 1853.

In 1857, Howe ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. In 1861, Howe ran again and won election to the Senate, serving during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. During his time in the Senate, he was an abolitionist and supporter of the Fifteenth Amendment. Howe argued against the claims of contemporary Democrats that blacks were inherently racially inferior, and remarked that their claim that abolition would cause a war of racial extermination was "a libel upon humanity, black or white." During this time he was considered one of the "Radical Republicans" due to his support for racial equality and his opposition to discrimination.

1865 Congressional Hearings chaired by Senator Doolittle looked into Sioux Complaints from the Yankton and Dakota tribes. The Senator found: "Many agents, teachers, and employees of the government, are inefficient, faithless, and even guilty of peculations are fraudulent practices upon the government and upon the Indians." Yankton Chief Medicine Cow testified that Government Agents were the cause of the Minnesota problems. What those agents did in Minnesota was a harbinger of the history coming for the other tribes of the plains.

While in the Senate, President Ulysses S. Grant offered Howe the position of Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Howe declined the offer because he feared his successor to the Senate would be a Democrat. Howe lost his senate seat in 1879 to fellow Republican Matthew H. Carpenter. In 1881, he was appointed United States Postmaster General by President Chester A. Arthur, a position he held until his death in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on March 25, 1883.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1848)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (1849)

U.S. Senate (1861)

Sources consulted

Wisconsin Supreme Court biographical sketch

Footnotes

References

"www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2270&search_term=howe".
"Kents Hill School Notables".
[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/howarth-howe.html politicalgraveyard.com/bio/howarth-howe.html]
(March 29, 1883). "Post Master General Howe Dead". Greensboro North State.
Oakes, James. (2013). "Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865". [[W.W. Norton]].
War and Taxes By Steven A. Bank, Kirk J. Stark, Joseph J. Thorndike pg. 39
Speeches to the Special Joint Committee on the Condition Of the Indian Tribes, 1865, Senator James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin sub-committee chairman [https://www.stolaf.edu//people/fitz/COURSES/Siouxcomplaints.htm]
"Wisconsin U.S. House Election Results". Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
(December 15, 1849). "Official Canvass". Wisconsin Democrat.
(January 23, 1861). "Joint Convention—Election of a Senator". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].

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