Major Howe had first settled near Boston, Massachusetts, but his adventurous spirit led him to seek a home in the wild forests of Southwest Virginia, and he was one of the three first settlers west of New River. He was a courtly and elegant gentleman, a first cousin of Lord Howe and General Wayne, and nearly related to Elias Howe, the inventor. he met on the vessel that brought him from England a beautiful girl, Ellen Dunbar, and they fell in love with each other and married soon after landing in Massachusetts – a little romantic feature similar to that of William Hoge
and Barbara Hume
Joseph How, who settled in what is now Pulaski Co., Va., was of English birth and parentage. He is said to have made two trips to this country before settling, first coming about the year 1737, returning soon after. His second visit, made shortly after his return to England, resulted in his settlement in this country. Tradition has it that he ran away from home to join his brother who was an officer in the British Army, but finding that his brother was dead, he drifted southward and finally settled in Virginia. On his second trip over, he met with his future wife, Ellen Dunbar, a Scotch lady, whom he married shortly after his arrival in Boston, near which place he resided for a while. During the French and Indian war, or near its termination, he moved into Virginia, and was engaged for awhile in the construction of a line of forts then being built from Fort Du Quesne southward for the protection of the Virginia frontier.
There was preserved for a long time in the family a curious metal tag or ornament taken from the nose of a hostile Indian killed by him, from one of these forts. These ornaments were furnished by the French to the Indians, and worn by them to distinguish them as friendly to the French cause.
Mr. How finally settled on Back Creek, in what was then Augusta, afterwards Montgomery, and is now Pulaski County, Virginia; as nearly as can be ascertained in 1758 or 1760. He first purchased a place owned by John Daye, who afterwards became his son-in-law, but soon moved to land adjoining and built his residence "Sunnyside" where he spent the remainder of his days. At the time of his settlement at "Sunnyside" there were but few white people living in that part of the country, and as late as 1755 only three or four families are reported as living south of New River, until the settlements on the Holstien were reached.
The old homestead is now in the possession of Mrs. Agnes Howe De Jarnette
, great granddaughter of its first owner, and wife of Captain Eugene De Jarnette
. The old house still retains its main features of construction, but some additions have been made by its present occupants. The door and window sills are of poplar, and so carefully joined together and fastened with wooded pins, and so well preserved, that great difficulty was experienced in making recent alterations for the purpose of putting in windows of modern construction. The woodwork is held together by wooden pins and wrought iron nails in use at the time the house was built, and then sold in that part of the country by number. The place which Joseph How first purchased of John Daye, is now in possession of, and owned by J. Hoge Tyler, a great grandson, late Lieut. Governor of the State.
Nothing is now known of the general appearance of Joseph How, save that he was a man of robust physique, and well suited for a pioneer life on the frontiers. The family traditions are sufficiently definite to warrant the statement that his English home was one of wealth and refinement, after the type of that of the English gentlemen of that period, and that he left home at an early period, and under circumstances which would be apt to prevent frequent communication with his relatives at home, while the prominence of his relatives on the British side in the Revolution would tend still further to this result. He lived to be quite and old man, and was buried with his wife, in the cemetery on the old homestead.
Daniel Wait Howe – 1929
"...as to the lineage if not as to the exact re