William Howe (architect)

William Howe
William Howe
Born	(1803-05-12)May 12, 1803 Spencer, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 19, 1852(1852-09-19) (aged 49) Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Architect, engineer

William Howe (May 12, 1803 – September 9, 1852) was an American architect and bridge builder famous for patenting the Howe truss design for bridges in 1840.^[1]

William Howe was born on May 12, 1803, in Spencer, Massachusetts,^[2] to Elijah and Fanny (née Bemis) Howe.^[3] His father owned a sawmill,^[4] He was a hard-working child, and learned carpentry and construction at an early age. After successfully completing an apprenticeship in carpentry, he enrolled and graduated from Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts.^[2]

Howe married Azubah Stone, daughter of a Charlton, Massachusetts, farmer (and sister of Amasa Stone) in 1828.^[5] The Howe family was an inventive one. Howe's nephew, Elias Howe, patented the first viable sewing machine. Howe's older brother, Tyler Howe, invented the box spring bed.^[6] William Howe established a career as a construction contractor, building homes and churches. He was particularly well-known for his churches.^[2] But bridges were his primary interest, and he founded the Howe Bridge Works in 1840.^[7]

In 1840, Howe was engaged to build a railroad bridge over the Connecticut River in Springfield, Massachusetts. This famous bridge was of a new, influential design—the Howe truss bridge, which Howe patented in 1840.^[6] One of Howe's workmen, Amasa Stone, purchased for $40,000^[8] ($1,220,800 in 2023 dollars) in 1842 the rights to Howe's patented bridge design. (Amasa Stone received financial backing from Azariah Boody, a Springfield businessman.)^[9] The rights to the patent extended to bridges and structures erected only in New England.^[8] That same year, the two men formed a bridge-building firm, Boody, Stone & Co.,^[10] which erected a large number of Howe truss bridges throughout New England.^[8]

Howe made additional improvements, and patented a second Howe truss design in 1846.^[2]

William Howe suffered a severe carriage accident and died on September 19, 1852. He was buried in Springfield.^[3]

• Allen, Richard Sanders (1943). Covered Bridge Topics. Holliston, Mass.: National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges.
• Daughters of the American Revolution (1898). Lineage Book. Washington, D.C.: National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
• Epler, Percy H. (January 1911). "Little Visits to the Home's of Worcester County's Famous Sons and Daughters". The Worcester Magazine Illustrated. pp. 349–357.
• Haddad, Gladys (2007). Flora Stone Mather: Daughter of Cleveland's Euclid Avenue and Ohio's Western Reserve. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-899-3.
• Hendrickson, Kenneth E. (2015). The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World History. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810888883.
• Johnson, Crisfield (1879). History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: D.W. Ensign.
• Knoblock, Glenn A. (2012). Historic Iron and Steel Bridges in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786448432.