| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Howland, Charles Roscoe |
| Title: | Charles Roscoe Howland Papers |
| Dates: | 1667-1945 |
| Dates: | 1906-1945 |
| Extent: | 5.00 linear feet (11 containers and 6 oversize volumes) |
| Abstract: | Charles Roscoe Howland (1871-1946) was a United States Army officer, lawyer, author, and amateur genealogist. He served as a judge advocate of the United States Army and as commander of the disciplinary barracks at Alcatraz Island, and taught in the Army General Staff School. Among his writings are "The Road to One Man Rule" and a family history. The collection consists of genealogical materials, journals, appointment books, manuscripts of books, and scrapbooks. |
| MS Number | MS 3360 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Charles Roscoe Howland (1871-1946) had a distinguished career in the United States military and was the author of several books on military and political history. Born in 1871 in Jefferson, Ohio, Howland was the son of Judge William P. and Esther Howland. In 1890 he enrolled in Oberlin College but in the following year won an appointment to study at West Point. Graduating in 1895, Howland began his military career as a 2nd Lieutenant. Between 1899 and 1902 he served as aide-de-camp to Major General Lloyd Wheaton in the Philippines, where Howland won promotions and a number of decorations, including the Medal of Honor. Between 1903 and 1905 he served on the West Coast, for a time as an aide to Major General Arthur MacArthur.
In 1907 Howland was appointed a judge advocate of the Army and made a significant contribution to military jurisprudence by writing A Digest of Opinions of the Judge Advocate General of the Army, to guide commanders distant from Washington, D. C., in court martial procedures. Howland received his L.L.B. degree from National University Law School in Washington, D. C. in 1909 and an honorary A. M. from Oberlin College in 1912. In 1914 he continued his career in military jurisprudence as commander of the disciplinary barracks at Alcatraz Island, leaving that post in 1917.
During World War I, Howland commanded an infantry regiment in France and Germany from 1918-1919. After the war, he enrolled in the General Service School and the Army General Staff School, eventually becaming an instructor there. His interest in military history and scholarship were soon manifested in his second book, Military History of the World War (1923). After serving in the Canal Zone for three years (1923-1926) and graduating from the Army War College in 1926, Howland commanded several army forts in the West and Southwest from 1927 until his retirement from the Army as a Brigadier General in 1937.
Retirement from the Army provided Howland with more time for writing. In 1940 while living at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D. C., he wrote "The Road to One Man Rule," which was never published, and in 1946 completed A Brief Genealogical and Biographical Record of Charles Roscoe Howland, Brothers and Forebears, which attempted to prove his descent from John Howland, a Mayflower Pilgrim. Howland moved from Washington, D. C. in 1942 and resided in the University Club in Cleveland, Ohio, until his death in 1946. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Charles Roscoe Howland Papers, 1667-1945, bulk 1906-1945, consist of genealogical materials, journals, appointment books, manuscripts of books, and scrapbooks. The genealogical material includes abstracts of wills, deeds, charts, correspondence, and notes from genealogical records.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the life and military career of Charles R. Howland, Most of the collection consists of genealogical material of the Howland and related families. The appointment books and bound journals include Howland's views on national and international topics such as the New Deal, the candidacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt for a third Presidential term, and the beginning of World War II. The collection also includes drafts of "Liberty's Last Chance," which was later retitled as "The Road to One Man Rule," but was never published. Howland's correspondence with Eugene D. Lysle, a close personal friend since 1895, discusses personal and family matters, as well as opinions on political and news topics of the period. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings relating almost exclusively to Howland's military career.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 4425 Charles Roscoe Howland Family Papers; and PG 173 Charles Roscoe Howland Family Photographs.
Separated MaterialAll photographs have been removed to PG 173 Charles Roscoe Howland Family Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3360 Charles Roscoe Howland Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Provenance unrecorded.
Processed by Sheldon Harris in 1976.
A family tree chart of the Howland family is available at the Reference Desk of the WRHS Research Library.
Charles Roscoe Howland Papers 1667-1945 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1-3 | Baker line genealogy, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 1 | 4-5 | Leonard line genealogy, England, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 1 | 6-7 | Leonard line genealogy, 1st through 7th generation in America, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Leonard, Baker, and collateral Porter lines, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Smith genealogy, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Damon family genealogy, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 3-5 | Brown family genealogy, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Robert Fitz-Walter family genealogy, (maternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 7-9 | Correspondence, notes, and deeds concerning the Howland family in colonial America, including correspondence between F. R. Sears (genealogist) and Howland dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | "Pilgrim" John Howland genealogy, 1892-1672, (paternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | John Howland, land deeds (paternal line of the Howland family) dates vary | |||||||||
| 3 | 3-4 | Henry Howland (?-1861) genealogy and descendents (paternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Arthur Howland (?-1675) and descendents genealogy, (paternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 3 | 6-7 | Howland, Vermont branch, genealogy, (paternal line of the Howland family), including correspondence, notes, charts, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 3 | 8-9 | Correspondence, notes, and other genealogical data pertaining to Howland genealogy and settlement in colonial America dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Collateral Howland lines in colonial America, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Bacon line genealogy, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Carver and Tilley line genealogy, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | V. R. Marshfield, V. R. Duxbury, V. R. Freetown, and the Tilley line, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | Emerson-Pratt line genealogy, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 6-7 | Magna Carta Baron, Emerson line collateral, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 8 | Genealogical material and correspondence with Glocester, Burrillville, Scituate, Douglas, and Worcester County, Rhode Island, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 9 | Genealogical material and correspondence with Providence, Foster, and Swansea, Rhode Island, including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Genealogical material, 7th Howland generation, including correspondence, notes, and charts: Ellis line dates vary | |||||||||
| 5 | 2-4 | Genealogical material, 7th Howland generation, including correspondence, notes, and charts: Perry line dates vary | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Genealogical material, 11th Howland generation, including correspondence, notes, and charts: Paul Howland (1795-1854) dates vary | |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | Genealogical material, Judge William Perry Howland (1832-1900) and Mrs. William Perry Howland (1835-1890), including correspondence, notes, and charts dates vary | |||||||||
| 5 | 7 | Notes from Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers by Alexander Young dates vary | |||||||||
| 5 | 8 | Miscellaneous correspondence and notes of Charles Howland concerning books to be purchased, organizations such as the Daughters of the American Colonists, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century, and Lincoln family genealogy dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1-2 | Genealogical material on Anson Perry Howland (brother of Charles Roscoe Howland) and family, including correspondence, notes, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 6 | 3-4 | Genealogical material on Leonard Paul Howland and family (brother of Charles Roscoe Howland), including correspondence, notes, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 6 | 5-6 | Ward line genealogy (in-laws of William Seth Howland, brother of Charles Roscoe Howland), research by F. R. Sears (genealogist), including correspondence, notes, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| 6 | 7-8 | Ward line genealogy (in-laws of William Seth Howland, brother of Charles Roscoe Howland), including correspondence, notes, wills, and deeds dates vary | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1-4 | Typescripts and rough carbon copies of "Liberty's Last Chance" (later retitled "The Road to One Man Rule") undated | |||||||||
| 7 | 5-7 | Typescripts and related correspondence, "The Road to One Man Rule" undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1-3 | Pocket appointment books 1938-1940 | |||||||||
| 8 | 4-6 | Journals 1936-1938 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1-4 | Bound journals, generally pertaining to Howland's daily activities but also including observations of the political scene in Washington, D. C. 1939-1942 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1-3 | Bound journals relating to Howland's daily routines 1943-1945 | |||||||||
| 10 | 4 | Retiring Board Proceedings, incomplete, in which Captian Charles R. Howland was counsel to the defendant (Volume 4) 1912 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 11 | 1 | Copies of deeds and wills of Joseph, Samuel, Jabez, Rachel, and Josiah Howland of Bristol County, Massachusetts 1709-1748 | |||||||||
| 11 | 2 | Copies of deeds of the Howland line in Glocester, Rhode Island 1752-1814 | |||||||||
| 11 | 3 | Copies of deeds of Thomas Howland, John Emerson, Joseph Howland, and Abner Yates of Douglas, Massachusetts 1754-1830 | |||||||||
| 11 | 4-5 | Correspondence, Charles Roscoe Howland with Eugene and Grace I. Lysle, including obituaries and memorials 1927-1941 | |||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 1 | Charles R. Howland scrapbook 1902-1912 | ||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 2 | Charles R. Howland scrapbook 1912-1917 | ||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 3 | Charles R. Howland scrapbook 1929 | ||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 4 | Charles R. Howland scrapbook 1930-1931 | ||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 5 | Charles R. Howland scrapbook 1932-1935 | ||||||||||
| Volume | |||||||||||
| 6 | Army-Navy Minor Joint exercise, First Corps Area (Report of Commander of First Army, Black Expeditionary Force) 1927 | ||||||||||