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| Affiliation | Republican |
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1894-11-01 |
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| Name | Milford W. Howard |
| Address |
Fort Payne, Alabama , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
December 18, 1862
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| Died | December 29, 1937
(75 years)
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| Contributor | Chronicler |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Jul 22, 2015 03:54am |
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| Info | Milward W. Howard was an attorney and politician. He stood six feet four inches tall and weighed between 200 to 250 pounds. He possessed a brilliant, searching mind and an amazing memory. A great speaker, he could instantly recall some suitable quotation from the world's greatest writers and thinkers or recite whole chapters of the Bible.
Born on December 18, 1862, on a farm near Rome, Georgia, Milford was the first of six children born to Stephen Oliver and Martha Maddry Howard. When he was five years old his family moved to Randolph County, Arkansas. There was little opportunity for attending school and by the time Milford was 14 years old he had only two terms of school, each lasting three months.
When he was fourteen, the family moved to Georgia, where Howard attended school for one three-month term.
At age 18, with little more than 11 month's formal schooling to his credit, Howard presented himself to Joseph A. Blanche, a lawyer of Cedartown. Howard was admitted to the bar one year later and began to practice in Fort Payne AL.
Howard married Sallie Lankford in 1883; they had three children: Clyde, Clarence, and Claude, but their middle son died at the age of 11 months.
Soon he took his first step into politics, accepting appointment to the chairmanship of the county Democratic executive committee, and organizing the first Democratic primary ever held in Dekalb County. He was later appointed by Governor Thomas Seay as the first county solicitor of Dekalb County.
Howard became interested in lecturing and studied oration and drama at a school in Washington DC. After making and losing a fortune during the Fort Payne boom period, he turned to lecturing where he found a satisfying intoxication in holding great audiences in rapt attention as he spoke.
After his lecture tour, he wrote his first book, based upon stories he had heard of corruption and scandal among Washington leaders. If Christ Came To Congress was published in 1894. The book became an immediate sensation in the press and was widely quoted.
U.S. Representative (Pop-AL) 1895-1897
Turning down a lucrative offer to join a New York law firm, Howard returned to Fort Payne and again prospered at law, achieving particular success in criminal practice. He also bought a local newspaper and became editor, feature, and short story writer.
When his family became tired of farm life and yearned for the city, Howard moved to Birmingham and practiced law there for two years. Howard then became involved in a series of investments which all failed: a Mexican mine, a Louisiana oil field, and a cannery in Alaska.
Howard returned to Fort Payne AL for a year, then moved to California, then moved back to AL in 1923 to start a school for underprivileged children which quickly failed. Howard held a public auction to sell the property, but rejected the only bid. A former British sailor helped Howard construct a dam and a clubhouse on the property.
His first wife having died, Howard married Stella Vivian Harper in 1926. After her death, Howard traveled to California, where he died on 12/29/1937.
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