He was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Joseph and Lydia Bill Howland. His brother was Samuel Shaw, they were prominent among the descendants of John Howland of the Mayflower. The father, a prominent shipowner and merchant, moved to New York with his family shortly after 1800.
Gardiner received his early commercial training in his father's business and with LeRoy, Bayard & McEvers (later LeRoy, Bayard & Company).
In 1816 he and his younger brother formed the house of G. G. & S. Howland. Beginning with a schooner in the Matanzas trade, the firm made rapid progress. In 1825 the Howlands agreed to build the frigate Liberator for the revolutionary Greeks for about $250, 000, while LeRoy, Bayard & Company were to build the Hope, for a similar sum. The frigates cost nearly double the original amount estimated; only one reached the Greeks, and the whole affair aroused popular indignation as "a barefaced grab game" on the part of the two houses. The following year saw the failure of the sons of William Bayard, and the Howlands replaced LeRoy, Bayard & Company in the primacy of New York commercial circles. While trading with all parts of the world, they specialized in the commerce with Latin America. In almost every port from Vera Cruz and Havana around to Valparaiso and Mazatl n there were agents in their service and ships bearing their flag. They ran two lines of packets to Venezuela, where they had a special hold on the trade through an understanding with President Paez, and their mixed cargoes to the Pacific ports were sometimes worth a quarter of a million.
In 1834 the elder Howlands retired from active direction of the firm, retaining only a special interest. The control descended to Gardiner's son, William Edgar Howland, and to their nephew, William H. Aspinwall. The senior Howland became interested in railroads, at first in the New York & Harlem, and more particularly in the Hudson River Railroad. He was one of the principal promoters of the latter road and was one of the thirteen original directors in 1847. His fortune, estimated at a half million in 1845, was reckoned at twice that amount at the time of his death, while Samuel was also rated as a millionaire.
Much of his time was spent at his "noble farm" at Flushing. He died suddenly of heart disease at his home on Washington Square upon hearing of the death of a friend.
In politics he was a Whig.
Quotes from others about the person
Scoville says that he realized his sole ambition, to be a "Prince upon 'Change, " but Scoville and the obituary writers dwelt more upon his business success than upon any charitable qualities he may have possessed.
His marriage to Louisa, daughter of William Edgar, on December 16, 1812, brought him capital and credit for an independent start.
After the death of his first wife in 1826, he married three years later Louisa Meredith, the reigning belle of Baltimore.
1750–1836
1753–1838
1789–1826
1810–1888
1834–1903
1817–1851
1831–1876
1834–1903
1833–1912
1849–1925
1820–1887
1813–1885
(1790 – 1853)
