Henry W. Howgate

Henry Williamson Howgate (March 24, 1835 – June 1, 1901) was an American Army Signal Corps officer and Arctic explorer who embezzled over $133,000 from the U.S. Government. He escaped custody while on trial and evaded the Secret Service and Pinkerton Detective Agency for 13 years, during which time he worked as a reporter and ran a New York bookstore.

Early life

Howgate was the son of a British shopkeeper. At age 21, Howgate immigrated to the United States and worked as a reporter. In 1866, he married Cordelia Day of Macomb County, Michigan. Howgate and Cordelia had one daughter, Ida, born in 1866.

Howgate met Nellie Pollard (alias "Burrell"; alias "Nettie Burrill") of Nebraska, or Massachusetts, early in his military career. She got a job working as a hostess in the Treasury Department in Washington through the influence of Senator Algernon Paddock. She remained Howgate's mistress for most of his life.

Career

In 1862, Howgate became a second lieutenant with the 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In 1863, he became a first lieutenant in the U.S. Signal Corps. In 1867, he joined the 20th Infantry before re-joining the Signal Corps where he served as a property and disbursing officer before becoming responsible for planning all polar expeditions. Under his auspices, he was responsible for polar expeditions at a time when several countries were also supporting polar exploration and scientific studies. Fascinated with the Arctic, Howgate developed an extensive library of Arctic literature.

Preliminary expedition

The Howgate Preliminary Polar Expedition had two phases. The 1877 phase was tasked with establishing relationships with local Inuit promoting scientific experiments, and whaling as a source of revenue. Its vessel, the schooner ''Florence'', was a fair sea-boat, but too small for the mission at 56 ton fore and aft. The ''Florence'' was captained by George Emory Tyson, Master, who had been assistant master and navigator of the ''Polaris'' under Charles Francis Hall. The ''Florence'' crew included Ludwig Kumlien, Orray Taft Sherman, and New London mariners.

The 1878 phase, to be captained by Howgate, was to join forces with the first crew and establish polar colonization. The ''Florence'' left New London on August 2, 1877, and first anchored at Niantilic Harbour, western Cumberland Sound, on September 12. It reached the winter harbor of Annanactook on October 6. While at Annanactook, Mr. Kumlien and Mr. Sherman engaged in notable scientific work, assisted by local Inuit.

The ''Florence'' was unable to leave Annanactook until early July, and when it did embark, on July 5, 1878, it was pressed ten miles east by an ice floe before making Kickatiue Island. The expedition arrived in Godhavn Harbor on July 31. There, Tyson learned that the government expedition steamer they were expecting to join forces with had been deferred. With phase one complete and phase two abandoned, the ''Florence'' sailed home on August 22, reaching Boston harbor on October 30.

Arctic expedition

The Howgate Arctic Expedition was tasked with scientific and geographical exploration of Greenland in preparation for an 1881 International Polar Year expeditionary force and Arctic colonization. However, the Army and Navy decided, in June 1880, to withdraw support of the Howgate Arctic Expedition as the expeditionary vessel, the steamship ''Gulnare'', was unseaworthy. Howgate, not to be deterred, found private funding.

The ''Gulnare'' departed in July, captained by Lieutenant Gustavus A. Doane. The crew included Sergeant David Legge Brainard, George W. Rice, Dr. Octave Pavy and Henry Clay. On August 3, in a heavy gale, the ''Gulnare'' was damaged and lost a deck boat and her entire deck load. The steamer reached Disko on August 8 and repairs lasted through August 21. Pavy did not join the crew for the home voyage, instead staying in Greenland to continue scientific studies. Doane reported ironically:

International Polar Year

Howgate was active in soliciting international support, including with the ''Société de Géographie'', for the Howgate Plan, his vision of an Arctic colony. Karl Weyprecht, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who co-led, with Julius von Payer, the 1872–1874 Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition that discovered Franz Josef Land, made a presentation at the 48th Meeting of German Scientists and Physicians in 1875 where he, too, made recommendations for establishment of fixed Arctic observation stations. The Smithsonian Museum's Spencer Fullerton Baird, in his 1877 Annual Record of Science and Industry, says that Weyprecht, and others, made recommendations for manned polar stations at that year's International Congress of Meteorologists, adding:

While the Howgate Expedition of 1880 was ultimately a failure, Howgate was able to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars to plan a new expedition to coincide with the First International Polar Year. Named the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, its purpose was to establish and sustain, with adequate supplies, an Arctic colony near the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island. It was based on assumptions that Lady Franklin Bay could be reached every summer by ship, and that ships hindered Arctic adaptation. The colony was to be dropped off and left on its own in 1881 near the coal seam found previously by George Nares, relief supplies were to arrive in 1882, and the expeditionary team was to be picked up in 1883.

Though it was clear that some shared Howgate's enthusiasm for manned Arctic Circle stations, others did not. Captain Sir Frederick John Owen Evans commented:

Legal issues

Fearing his embezzlement of government funds would soon be discovered, Howgate resigned his military commission on December 7, 1880. In 1881, the Signal Corps was in turmoil over allegations of fraud, scandals, and embezzlement. An investigation began into Howgate's handling of fraudulent U.S. Government vouchers, totaling up to $237,000. Some alleged that Signal Service employees assisted Howgate with the embezzlement which amounted to between $370,000 and $380,000. On August 15, Howgate was arrested at the Avery House in Mount Clemens, Michigan. The government began actions on August 24 to recover $133,000 from Howgate. Plans for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition continued despite Howgate's sudden departure and the subsequent investigation.

Indictment

Howgate was indicted for embezzlement in 1882, but slipped away from authorities on April 13, 1882, while on a court-supervised visit to his home where his daughter sang to the marshal for an hour while he was supposed to be changing his underwear but in fact was fleeing across the Potomac River. A judgment against Howgate was made in absentia on May 24, 1883, in the amount of $101,000 plus interest.

Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln authorized Secret Service operatives to stake out Howgate's possible hiding place in New Orleans, but, spotting them, Howgate and his mistress departed quickly for Nebraska City. There, Howgate visited former Signal Corps officer, now attorney, Albert S. Cole for assistance to file a claim that the government actually owed Howgate money. Howgate moved on to Escanaba, Michigan, where he assumed the alias and worked as a reporter. Afraid that the Secret Service could not capture Howgate, Lincoln hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency, who tried but failed to bribe Cole for information on Howgate's whereabouts.

Capture

Howgate was captured September 28, 1894, in New York City, and spent the night at the Ludlow Street Jail. He was using the alias "Henry Williams" and had been leading the life of an old book and print dealer at 80 Fourth Avenue since 1888. Howgate was living with Burrell (alias "Mrs. Williams") on West Tenth Street. During this period he also claimed to have worked as a talesman to have been a juror before Judge Fitzgreald. Howgate was brought before Judge Charles L. Benedict, who signed the arrest warrant. ''The New York Times'' reported that Howgate was accused of embezzling $370,000 from the U.S. Government. Found guilty of numerous crimes, Howgate served time in Albany Penitentiary.

Later life

Upon release in December 1900, Howgate moved to his daughter Ida's home in Washington, D.C., where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1901.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

Henry W. Howgate Manuscript
at Dartmouth College Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howgate, Henry Williamson
1835 births
1901 deaths
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American white-collar criminals
Antiquarian booksellers
British emigrants to the United States
Criminals from Michigan
Exploration of the Arctic
History of Greenland
Military personnel from Michigan
People of Michigan in the American Civil War
Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)
Union Army officers
United States Army officers