Background
He is said to have been born in Liberty County, Ga. , in 1740.
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Richard Howley
Edit ProfileEducation
He studied law and practised in St. John's Parish.
Career
In 1779 he became a member of the Georgia legislature, established under the provisions of the constitution of 1777, and in January 1780 he was elected governor by the same body, which also selected four men to serve as an executive council. On Feb. 5, 1780, the executive council met at Heard's Fort, requested Howley to take his seat in the Continental Congress, to which he had been lately elected, and vested George Wells, president of the council, and certain associate members, with the executive functions. He set out for Philadelphia, accompanied by most of the civil and military officers of the republican government. Georgia was thereby left with only the semblance of a government and with "scarcely a regiment of soldiers to defend its territory. " Howley took the archives of the state to New Bern, N. C. They were subsequently removed to Baltimore and remained there until the close of the Revolution.
As a member of the Continental Congress Howley performed a service of some importance by issuing, along with George Walton and William Few (these three being Georgia's representatives in that body), a pamphlet under the title Observations upon the Effects of Certain Late Political Suggestions by the Delegates of Georgia (Philadelphia, 1781). The occasion of this brochure was the current discussion of possible bases of peace with Great Britain. It was being bruited about that since Great Britain had conquered Georgia and South Carolina, she might fairly insist upon retaining them, while recognizing the freedom of the other revolting colonies. The Observations protested against this suggestion. In a letter of Jan. 2, 1781, to Henry Laurens, American minister to France, Howley said that the sacrifice of Georgia and South Carolina, in addition to Florida, would result in Great Britain's retaining in her northern and southern possessions in America "the greatest part of the wealth and commerce in that continent from which wisdom and policy direct [she] should be entirely expelled". Upon the conclusion of peace, Howley returned to the South, became chief justice of Georgia (1782 - 83), and died in Savannah in December 1784.
Achievements
Connections
In 1775 he married Sarah Fuller of Charleston, South Carolina, the widow of William Fuller and mother of two daughters. Subsequently, the couple had two daughters of their own, only one of whom reached adulthood.
