# Eber D. Howe

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{{short description|American journalist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
thumb|300px|Frontispiece and title page from ''Mormonism Unvailed''
'''Eber Dudley Howe''' (June 9, 1798 – November 10, 1885)<ref name=JSP>{{cite web|url=http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/eber-dudley-howe|title=Howe, Eber Dudley: Biography|work=The Joseph Smith Papers|access-date=September 18, 2017}}</ref> was the founder and editor of the ''Painesville Telegraph'', a newspaper that published in [Painesville, Ohio](/source/Painesville%2C_Ohio), starting in 1822. Howe was the author of one of the first books that was critical of the spiritual claims of [Joseph Smith Jr](/source/Joseph_Smith), founder of the [Latter Day Saint movement](/source/Latter_Day_Saint_movement). His 1834 book ''[Mormonism Unvailed](/source/Mormonism_Unvailed)'' {{sic}} was based largely on [affidavit](/source/affidavit)s collected by Latter Day Saint dissenter [Doctor Philastus Hurlbut](/source/Doctor_Philastus_Hurlbut) and on the letters of dissenter [Ezra Booth](/source/Ezra_Booth), which in 1831 had been published in the ''Ohio Star''.

==Life==
Howe was born to Samuel William Howe and Mabel Dudley in [Clifton Park](/source/Clifton_Park%2C_New_York), [Saratoga County](/source/Saratoga_County%2C_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). In 1804, the family moved to [Ovid, New York](/source/Ovid%2C_New_York) and in 1811 relocated to [Upper Canada](/source/Upper_Canada), living a few miles west of [Niagara Falls](/source/Niagara_Falls%2C_Ontario). During the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812), Howe joined the [U.S. Army](/source/U.S._Army) in [Batavia, New York](/source/Batavia%2C_New_York). After the war, Howe became involved in the newspaper business, working at the ''Buffalo Gazette'' in [Buffalo, New York](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York), the ''Erie Gazette'' in [Erie, Pennsylvania](/source/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania), and the ''Cleveland Herald'' in [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland%2C_Ohio). In 1822, he moved to [Painesville, Ohio](/source/Painesville%2C_Ohio) and began publishing the ''Painesville Telegraph''. Under Howe's editorship, the ''Telegraph'' had a strongly [abolitionist](/source/Abolitionism_in_the_United_States) editorial perspective. Howe's home was used as a station on the [Underground Railroad](/source/Underground_Railroad), assisting fugitive slaves. The Eber Howe house and property, known as The House at Liberty Hollow, are maintained as a park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lakemetroparks.com/parks-trails/big-creek-at-liberty-hollow |title=Big Creek at Liberty Hollow |publisher=Lake Metroparks |access-date=September 4, 2019}}</ref> In June 1823, he married Sophia Hull of Clarence, Ohio.<ref name=JSP/>

While living in Painesville, Howe's wife, sister, and niece converted to [Mormonism](/source/Mormonism).{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} On January 11, 1831, Howe wrote a letter to [W. W. Phelps](/source/W._W._Phelps_(Mormon)), a newspaper publisher in [Canandaigua, New York](/source/Canandaigua_(city)%2C_New_York), asking about the origins of the new religion. Phelps, who had read the [Book of Mormon](/source/Book_of_Mormon) and met [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith), responded to Howe by writing that "we have nothing by which we can positively detect it as an imposition", but that "if it is false, it will fall, and if of God, God will sustain it." Phelps was baptized into the [Latter Day Saint church](/source/Church_of_Christ_(Latter_Day_Saints)) a few months later. Howe continued to be interested in the [Mormons](/source/Mormons), and in November 1834 he published ''[Mormonism Unvailed](/source/Mormonism_Unvailed)'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Howe |first=E. D. |date=1834 |title=Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of that Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time, With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=20876378 |location=Painesville, Ohio |publisher=Printed and Published by the Author}}</ref> which he described as "a history of the Mormon imposition, from its rise to the present time, with many other peculiarities of the sect."

In January 1835, Howe sold the ''Painesville Telegraph'' to his younger brother for $600 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=600|start_year=1835}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}). After leaving the newspaper, Howe remained a publisher and a manufacturer of woollen goods.

Howe considered himself a [skeptic](/source/Skepticism) on religious matters. However, after his wife died of [stomach cancer](/source/stomach_cancer) in 1866, he became an avid believer in [spiritualism](/source/Spiritualism_(movement)).

==See also==
*[Abner Cole](/source/Abner_Cole)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/b/howe_ed.phtml Saints Without Halos: Eber D. Howe (1798–1885)]
*[http://solomonspalding.com/NEWSP/HOWE/Ex02a.htm Selections From The Writings of Eber D. Howe]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Eber D.}}
Category:1798 births
Category:1885 deaths
Category:19th-century American male writers
Category:19th-century American newspaper editors
Category:19th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:Activists from New York (state)
Category:Abolitionists from Ohio
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American newspaper founders
Category:American spiritualists
Category:Critics of Mormonism
Category:History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Category:Journalists from Ohio
Category:Mormonism-related controversies
Category:People from Clifton Park, New York
Category:People from Ovid, New York
Category:People from Painesville, Ohio

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eber D. Howe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eber_D._Howe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eber_D._Howe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.