Eliza Newton Woolsey Howland (1835 – 1917) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and the wife of

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," ...

Joseph Howland Joseph Howland (December 3, 1834 in New York City – March 31, 1886 in Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, France) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, politician and philanthropist. Early life Howland was born into a prominent merchant ...

Life

Howland was born in 1835"The Howlands During The Civil War", The Howland Cultural Center
to a prominent

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

family active in

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and social reform, especially

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and the decent care of the

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

. Her parents were Charles William Woolsey, a descendant of an early English settler in what was then the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colony of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, and Jane Eliza Newton of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

."The Woolsey Family", Daily Observations from the Civil War
/ref> At the age of nineteen, she married

, the son of Samuel Shaw Howland, a New York City shipping magnate. The couple honeymooned in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Ho ...

. During the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

leg of their trip, the couple commissioned marble busts of themselves from the neoclassical sculptor,

Giovanni Maria Benzoni Giovanni Maria Benzoni (28 August 1809 – 28 April 1873) was an Italian neoclassical sculptor. He was trained in Rome, where he later set up his own workshop. Benzoni designed some of his sculptures with a production line in mind using ot ...

. After their honeymoon, Joseph and Eliza Howland moved to Tioronda, an estate Joseph bought along the banks of the

Fishkill Creek Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch ''vis kille'', for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataT ...

Matteawan, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as we ...

, present-day

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as wel ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Joseph joined the Sixteenth New York Volunteers and served until he was seriously wounded during the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, comman ...

of the Peninsular Campaign. According to family letters, she began her contribution to the war effort by making pillowcases and hospital gowns for the army.

Works

During her husband's absence, Howland and her sister

Georgeanna Woolsey Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey Bacon (often shorted to Georgeanna Woolsey or Georgy Woolsey) was an American author and nurse. She is most notable for her nursing activities during the American Civil War and for her personal correspondence during the ...

wrote constantly to each other, their correspondence being eventually published in 1899 as ''Letters of a family during the Civil War, 1861-1865''. This book was republished in 2001 as ''My Heart Towards Home: letters of a family during the Civil War.'' Bacon, Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey; Howland, Eliza Newton Woolsey, and Hoisington, Daniel John. ''My Heart Towards Home: letters of a family during the Civil War.'', Edinborough Press, 2001
/ref> Howland also wrote and privately printed ''Family records: being some account of the ancestry of my mother and father Charles William Woolsey and Jane Eliza Newton'' in 1900. In 1885, Joseph Howland died while on a trip to Menton,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Eliza Howland left their estate at Tioronda and never returned to it, claiming that the memories of her husband made staying in the house too difficult. She died in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...

, in 1917 at the age of 82. After her death the family's estate at Tioronda became Craig House, a hospital for the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howland, Eliza 1835 births 1917 deaths Writers from New York City Woolsey family Howland family