JOSEPH A. HOWELLS Joseph A. Howells was born at St. Clairsville, Bel- mont County, Ohio, September 1, 1832. He was the son of William C. and Mary (Dean) Howells and a |
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brother of William Dean Howells. For fifty-seven years he was foreman, editor and proprietor of the Ashtabula Sentinel. He was appointed American Con- (549) |
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
sul to Turk Islands, British West
Indies, October 30,
1905. He died August 10, 1912.
On July 19, 1913, there was placed at
the head of
his grave in the cemetery at Jefferson,
Ohio, a rather
remarkable but appropriate monument. It
is the im-
posing stone on which for more than
fifty years Joseph
A. Howells, "with hands of boy and
man," made up the
forms of the Ashtabula Sentinel. On
it is engraved the
following commemorative verse, written
by his brother,
William Dean Howells:
Stone, upon which with hands of boy and
man,
He framed the history of his time until,
Week after week, the varying record ran
To its half-centuried tale of well and
ill,
Remember now how true through all those
days
He was -- friend, brother, husband, son
--
Fill the whole limit of your space with
praise.
There needs no room for blame -- blame
there was none.
This verse was widely noted and
reproduced at the
time of the erection of the stone on
which it is engraved.
It is an object of interest to those
visiting historic Jef-
ferson, the former home of Benjamin F.
Wade and
Joshua R. Giddings.