William D. M. Howard

William D. M. Howard
Born1818
Boston, Massachusetts
Died1856
California
Spouse(s)Mary Warren, Agnes Poett

William Davis Merry Howard (1818–1856), known in Spanish as Don Guillermo Howard,[1][2] was an American businessman, known as one of San Francisco's wealthiest men during the California Gold Rush.[3][4][5]

Howard was a native of Boston, Massachusetts who came to California in 1839 as a cabin boy on a sailing ship. For several years he worked on ships trading hides and tallow along the Pacific coast. In 1845 he formed the San Francisco merchant business of Mellus & Howard.

  1. ^ With My Own Eyes: Five Memoirs of Old California
  2. ^ aking the Land to Make the City: A Bicoastal History of North America
  3. ^ Whitwell, Gertrude Howard (1948). "William Davis Merry Howard". California Historical Society Quarterly. 27 (2): 105–112. doi:10.2307/25156093. JSTOR 25156093.
  4. ^ Whitwell, Gertrude Howard (1948). "William Davis Merry Howard (Continued)". California Historical Society Quarterly. 27 (3): 249–255. doi:10.2307/25156114. JSTOR 25156114.
  5. ^ Whitwell, Gertrude Howard (1948). "William Davis Merry Howard (Concluded)". California Historical Society Quarterly. 27 (4): 319–332. doi:10.2307/25156130. JSTOR 25156130.