Howlett, Handy
Item
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Title
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Howlett, Handy
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Alias
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Hallet, Handy
Howlett, Andy
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Gender
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Male
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Biography
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Handy Howlett was a Free African American man living in Verona in 1860, working as a laborer on the Norman farm. He appeared in the tax list in Boone County in 1865 as the owner of two horses. In 1866, he was renting a property in Covington that was used as a one-room Freedmen's Bureau school.
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Handy was very active in politics during Reconstruction. He led several committees, organized fundraisers for existing and proposed Colored Schools in Kenton County.
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Concerning Handy's Free status, no manumission documentation has been found. Despite this, many other details lead to the conclusion that Handy was freed by Mary Jane Lynch, the widow of his enslaver.
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He is the same age as the enslaved man named Handy, who was mentioned in William H. Lynch's will, and neither the widow nor the other named heir, Lysander Howlett, appear as enslavers in the tax list after 1860. It's possible Handy worked to earn his freedom.
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Coincidentally, Handy's former enslaver was an educator.
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An 1859 inventory of estate of William H Lynch listed thirty-eight-year-old Handy with a value given of $800. Settlement states that Handy went to the widow for her lifetime, and then to Lysander Howlett.
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Birth date
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Circa 1820
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Spouse(s)
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Wolford, Rosana
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Child(ren)
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Howlett, Ezra
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Howlett, Simon
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Howlett, Alice
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Howlett, Mary Eliza
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Howlett, Harmon
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Death date
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1887-07-03
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Bibliographic citation(s)
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Kentucky. Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872
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The Cincinnati Enquirer; July 30, 1872
The Cincinnati Enquirer; Aug 27, 1875
The Cincinnati Start; Sep 4, 1877
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Kenton County Death Records, 1887; page 378
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Boone County Will Book G, pages 316, 340
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Boone County Tax Lists, 1859-1865
Boone County (Ky.)