Representative Benjamin Franklin Howey

Benjamin Franklin Howey (March 17, 1828 – February 6, 1893) was an American lawyer, businessman, and Republican politician who represented New Jersey’s 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for one term from 1883 to 1885. He was born at Pleasant Meadows, near Swedesboro, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, where he spent his early years in a rural setting typical of southern New Jersey in the mid-nineteenth century.

As a young man, Howey entered commercial life rather than pursuing an immediate professional or political career. In 1847 he engaged in business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a flour and grain commission merchant, participating in the regional trade that linked New Jersey’s agricultural production with the growing urban markets of the Mid-Atlantic. He later expanded his business interests into quarrying and the manufacturing of slate, an industry that was significant in the building trades of the period. Alongside his business pursuits, he studied law and became a lawyer, adding a professional legal background to his commercial experience.

During the Civil War, Howey entered military service for the Union. He served as captain of Company G, Thirty-first Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, from September 3, 1862, to June 26, 1863. His regiment was part of the short-term volunteer forces raised by New Jersey to support the Union war effort during a critical phase of the conflict. This period of military service added to his public standing and provided him with leadership experience that would later support his entry into elective office.

Following the war, Howey continued his business and legal activities and became increasingly involved in local public affairs. He was elected sheriff of Warren County, New Jersey, serving from November 13, 1878, to November 15, 1881. In this role he was responsible for law enforcement and the administration of the county’s courts and corrections system, gaining practical experience in public administration and further establishing his reputation within the Republican Party and among the voters of northwestern New Jersey.

Howey’s prominence in local politics led to his election as a Republican to the Forty-eighth Congress. He represented New Jersey’s 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. As a member of the Republican Party representing New Jersey, Benjamin Franklin Howey contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history marked by industrial expansion, debates over tariffs, and continuing post–Civil War adjustment. Although he served only a single term, his congressional service placed him among the leading Republican figures of his region in the early 1880s.

After leaving Congress, Howey remained active in state politics. In 1886 he became the Republican candidate for governor in the New Jersey gubernatorial election. Running on the Republican ticket, he sought to extend his public service to the state’s highest office but was defeated by the Democratic candidate, Robert S. Green. This gubernatorial race marked the peak of his statewide political ambitions, and although unsuccessful, it underscored his continued influence within the party and his standing as a prominent Republican in New Jersey.

Benjamin Franklin Howey spent his later years in New Jersey, maintaining his connections to the communities in which he had lived and served. He died in Columbia, Warren County, New Jersey, on February 6, 1893. He was interred in Trinity Church Cemetery in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, returning in death to the region near his birthplace at Pleasant Meadows.