William Hill Howcott (1847-1927) |
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He served in Captain Addison Harvey’s
Scouts during the Civil War. Most of the members of this Confederate unit
were recruited from Madison county. Union forces destroyed the Howcott
home at Canton during the War, resulting in Elizabeth Howcott sharing her
slaves' quarters. In the 1890s, William Hill paid for a
20-foot high granite obelisk, which has in recent years been moved to s site
in the burial ground between East Academy Street and the Old Madison County
Jail in East Fulton Street. The monument commemorates his body servant Willis
Howcott, who was of a similar age and accompanied him to war, where Willis
lost his life in combat. Its inscription includes these words: “A
tribute to my faithful servant and friend, Willis Howcott, a colored boy of
rare loyalty and faithfulness, whose memory I cherish with deep gratitude”. W H Howcott, a clerk, is recorded at 186 Common in Gardner’s
Directory of New Orleans, 1869. He was later involved in the cotton business
and went on to become highly successful in dealing in real estate in
Louisiana.
· Harley Alexander Watt (1878-1930) · Louise (1879-1890) · Edith Elizabeth Mary Delgado (1882-1965) · William Hill (1891-1907) · Gladys (1891-1976) · Constance (1893-1895) Mary Edith Watt Howcott died 14 May 1893 at the old John Watt
residence, Carondelet Street. This was less than one month after she gave
birth to her youngest child.
The parish house of Trinity Episcopal Church, New Orleans was
sponsored by William Hill Howcott in memory of his son of the same name, who had
died of Wrights Disease. The building includes a chapel on the ground
floor and further accommodation on the upper floor. A portrait of William
Hill Howcott junior hangs on one of the walls. In 1917, he also provided a stained glass window at Grace Episcopal Church, Canton, in memory of his mother Elizabeth W Howcott.
William Hill Howcott died at New Orleans on 12 December 1927
and, like his wife, was buried in the John Watt family tomb at Metairie
Cemetery. Notes The following pictures are included by kind permission of those
who supplied me with them:
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