William Cooper Howells

William Cooper Howells
Name	William Cooper Howells
Birth date	17 September 1807
Birth place	Welshpool, Wales
Death date	25 August 1894
Death place	Jefferson, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Printer, Newspaper editor, Postmaster
Known for	Father of William Dean Howells; Utopian socialist; Abolitionist
Spouse	Mary Dean
Children	10, including William Dean Howells

William Cooper Howells was a Welsh-American printer, newspaper editor, and political figure whose life embodied the intellectual and reformist currents of the 19th-century United States. A committed Utopian socialist and devout Swedenborgian, his ideals deeply influenced his renowned son, the novelist William Dean Howells. His career spanned Ohio and beyond, where he edited several newspapers, served as a U.S. Consul, and was actively involved in the Anti-Masonic and early Republican political movements.

Early life and family

Born in Welshpool, Wales, in 1807, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1808, settling initially in New York. The family moved westward to Ohio in 1813, a journey emblematic of the early American frontier. His father, also named William Howells, was a miller. In 1831, he married Mary Dean in Hamilton, Ohio; she was the daughter of a local Quaker family. The couple would have ten children, with their second son, born in 1837, becoming the celebrated author William Dean Howells. The family's life was peripatetic, moving frequently within Ohio as William Cooper pursued various printing and editorial opportunities, instilling in his children a strong literary and moral sensibility.

Career and business ventures

Howells learned the printing trade as a young man, a skill that defined his professional life. He owned and operated several small newspapers in Ohio, including the Dayton Transcript and, most significantly, the Ashtabula Sentinel in Jefferson, Ashtabula County. Under his leadership, the Sentinel became a prominent voice for progressive causes. His business ventures were not limited to publishing; he also briefly operated a woolen mill in Eureka Mills, Ohio, though this enterprise was unsuccessful. His consistent work as a printer and editor, however, provided a modest but intellectually rich environment for his family.

Political and civic involvement

Howells was deeply engaged in the political life of antebellum America. He was initially a fervent supporter of the Anti-Masonic Party, attracted by its advocacy of openness and opposition to secret societies. Later, he became an ardent abolitionist, and his Ashtabula Sentinel was a staunch organ for the emerging Republican Party. His political service was recognized with an appointment as U.S. Consul to Quebec City in 1861, a post he held until 1865. He also served as the Postmaster of Jefferson, Ohio.

Religious and philosophical views

A defining aspect of his character was his devout adherence to the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, as interpreted by the General Church of the New Jerusalem. His Swedenborgian faith, with its emphasis on spiritual correspondences and social charity, merged seamlessly with his secular interest in Utopian socialism. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Fourierist socialist movement and an admirer of the Utopian experiments of his era, views he promoted vigorously in his newspapers. This blend of mystical Christianity and social reform philosophy formed the core of his worldview.

Relationship with William Dean Howells

His influence on his son William Dean Howells was profound and multifaceted. He provided the future novelist's early education, largely through access to his own extensive library and the print shop, where the younger Howells learned typesetting. The elder Howells's progressive ideals—his abolitionism, his socialist leanings, and his critical approach to orthodox Calvinism—were directly transmitted and would later permeate the social realism of novels like A Hazard of New Fortunes. Their relationship was close, with the son often portraying his father's character and principles in his autobiographical writings.

Later life and death

Following his consular service in Quebec City, Howells returned to Jefferson, Ohio, where he continued to write and occasionally edit. He remained a respected elder in the local Swedenborgian community and a commentator on public affairs. William Cooper Howells died at his home in Jefferson on August 25, 1894. His legacy is cemented less in personal achievement than in the intellectual and ethical foundation he laid for one of America's foremost literary figures.

Category:1807 births Category:1894 deaths Category:American newspaper editors Category:American printers Category:People from Ashtabula County, Ohio Category:Welsh emigrants to the United States