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Richard Howly
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[[File:Richard Howly portrait.jpg|thumb|]] {{short description|American politician}} '''Richard Howly''' (1740 – December 1784), sometimes spelled '''Howley''', was an American planter and lawyer from [[Liberty County, Georgia]]. He served briefly as the [[List of governors of Georgia|governor]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] in 1780, as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] in 1780 and 1781, and as chief justice of Georgia in 1782 and 1783. ==Early life== Little is known about Howley's early life. 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Saunders|first1=R. F.|title=American National Biography|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88829269&site=eds-live&scope=site|accessdate=6 June 2016}}</ref> ==Revolutionary War== When the Revolution began, Howley was practicing law in [[Sunbury, Georgia|Sunbury]], where he also owned a small plantation and a few slaves. He was not prominent in the early stages of the [[American Revolution|Revolution]] in Georgia. Savannah fell to the British on [[Capture of Savannah|December 29, 1778]], and Colonel [[Augustine Prevost]] began a siege of Sunbury. When Fort Morris surrendered in January 1779, Howley and his family fled to [[Augusta, Georgia|Augusta]]. The British occupied eastern Georgia, and fighting moved into the back country. Georgia [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]], openly divided into radical and conservative factions since the [[Gwinnett–McIntosh duel]] in May 1777 between patriot leader [[Button Gwinnett]] and [[Lachlan McIntosh]], vied for political leadership as they tried to convene a new assembly in Augusta. After selecting an executive council to govern the sections of the state still under Whig control, this council, dominated by conservative Whigs, elected [[John Wereat]] president on August 6, 1779. Howley was associated with the radical Whig faction and a close ally of [[George Walton]] who, after the joint American and French [[siege of Savannah]] failed in October 1779, was sent to Augusta to hold new elections. Backed by Howley, George Wells, and their back country supporters, Walton organized a rival assembly in November 1779.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cashin|first1=Edward J.|title='The Famous Colonel Wells': Factionalism in Revolutionary Georgia|journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly|date=1974|volume=58|issue=Supplement|page=146|jstor=40579633}}</ref> This body elected Walton governor and Walton, Howley, and three others delegates to the [[Continental Congress]], in effect ousting Wereat from power. Within two months, Walton departed for Philadelphia. The assembly elected Howley governor on January 4, 1780 and empowered him to act on behalf of the government even if forced into exile. During these uncertain times he called on Georgians to be steadfast in their support of independence. As British raids increased, the council directed Howley to flee to the Carolinas. Howley and several council members transported the state archives and some paper money to New Bern, North Carolina. On July 1, 1780 he was among those listed under the British Disqualifying Act.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Saunders|first1=R. F.|title=Richard Howley|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88829269&site=eds-live&scope=site|accessdate=6 June 2016}}</ref> ==Political life== Howley took his seat in [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] in July 1780.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cashin|first1=Edward J.|title=The King's Ranger : Thomas Brown and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press USA|location=New York|isbn=9780820310930|url=https://archive.org/details/kingsrangerthoma00cash_0|accessdate=6 June 2016|url-access=registration}}</ref> He assisted in obtaining a new loan from France. His primary interest, however, was to guard against peace proposals that would allow Britain to retain control of Georgia. With Walton and [[William Few]], he published ''Observations upon the Effects of Certain Late Political Suggestions by the Delegates of Georgia''. Howley lost his re-election bid to Congress and returned to Georgia. He was elected to the [[Georgia General Assembly]] in 1782. He was able to acquire confiscated Tory property being sold in [[Chatham County, Georgia|Chatham]] and [[Liberty County, Georgia|Liberty]] counties. [[Aedanus Burke]] turned down an offer to become chief justice of Georgia, and in October 1782 Howley was appointed pro tempore chief justice. He represented Liberty County in the general assembly during 1783 and 1784, after which he moved his residence to Savannah. ==Death== A devout [[Roman Catholic]], Howley journeyed to [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] in December 1784 to receive sacraments of penance and holy communion that were not available in Georgia. While there, he wrote to Bishop Echevarrio of Cuba requesting that priests from Florida be sent to administer sacraments to Catholics in Georgia. Apparently ill when he returned from Florida, Howley died at his residence in Savannah.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Charles C.|title=Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress|date=1891|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|location=Boston|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalske00jonegoog/page/n141 123]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalske00jonegoog|quote=howley death.|accessdate=6 June 2016}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{CongBio|H000872}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before= [[George Walton]] | title= [[List of governors of Georgia|Governor of Georgia]] | years= 1780 | after= [[Stephen Heard]]}} {{s-end}} {{Governors of Georgia}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Howly, Richard}} [[Category:1740 births]] [[Category:1784 deaths]] [[Category:Continental Congressmen from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Governors of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:People from Liberty County, Georgia]] [[Category:Independent state governors of the United States]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) independents]] [[Category:18th-century American judges]] [[Category:Members of the Georgia General Assembly]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges]] [[Category:Catholics from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
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