G3 Row G, place 3

ZEBEDEE HOWLAND

Sergeant Major, 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored). Barber of Providence. Died March 13, 1883. Reinterred here September 8, 1886.

The stone reads

ZEBEDEE HOWLAND
Co. A. 14th R.I.H.Arty.
Died March 13, 1883.

Rectangular white marble, government pattern; chipped and weathered; legible. Photograph IMG_1211 (B. Brennan, 2026). [18]

The stone gives his company and omits the rank of sergeant major. He held that rank for eight months and was mustered out a private, so the stone is not wrong; it records his discharge grade. [8][9] Who ordered it, and on what form, is not known.

Life

Zebedee Howland was a barber in Providence for more than thirty years. [3][4] In 1857 he drilled with the Providence National Guards, a Black militia company the State of Rhode Island refused to recognize. [5]

He enlisted in the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored) as a private on August 27, 1863. [8] On November 5 he was appointed sergeant major, the senior enlisted soldier of the regiment. [9]

In June 1864, at Carrollton, Louisiana, a court-martial of white officers tried him on two charges from one morning, June 5, at Camp Parapet. The first was that he failed to pass two orders from the acting adjutant, Lieutenant Zephaniah Brown, to two sergeants. The second was that, sent to carry the day's orders to each company, he came back before finishing and told Brown he ought to make out a copy for each captain, as they had no time to copy it. [10]

Asked whether Howland's manner was disrespectful, Brown answered: "He gave me the idea that he was instructing me in my duties." [10]

Howland pleaded not guilty and submitted two statements over his signature. In the second he wrote that a captain had said to him, "we ought to have a copy of these orders"; that he went back at once and told the adjutant so; and that Brown "told me to go to my Quarters under arrest." [10]

The court found him guilty on both charges and sentenced him "to be reduced to the ranks, and forfeit all pay for a period of two months." Brigadier General T. W. Sherman approved the sentence on June 29. [10][11]

Twelve days after the reduction took effect, his company made him a sergeant again. [8] In December, at Fort Jackson, his captain had him reduced a second time, by order and without a hearing, "for incompetency and continual neglect of duty." [12]

In July 1865 a regimental court fined him half a month's pay for absence without leave; he pleaded guilty. [13] He mustered out on October 2, 1865, a private. [8]

In Providence he returned to his shop. [3] He rose to major commanding the Burnside National Guards, a Black militia company; in 1875 the State enrolled the Guards in the Rhode Island Militia. [14][15] He belonged to Ives Post No. 13 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and on Decoration Day 1875 was one of the state G.A.R.'s assistant inspectors in the parade. [16]

His wife Esther died in February 1883. [17] On March 13 he died suddenly at his house, 44 Union Street. A newspaper gave the cause as heart disease. [24] The City buried him at its own expense in the Colored Free Ground. A state law of 1885 required the City to move honorably discharged soldiers out of pauper ground. [25] On September 8, 1886, his body was raised and reburied here, in the Prescott Post lot. The clerk wrote one word beside the order: "Soldier." [2]

His stone gives his company and regiment. It does not give his rank. [18]

A reading of the record

What follows is interpretation by the researcher, not a finding in the documents.

Three months before Howland's trial, in March–April 1864, non-commissioned officers of this regiment at Matagorda Island, Texas, were broken in rank for a silent protest at roll call over unequal pay. [19] Howland's case file does not mention Matagorda or pay. The connection rests on chronology and on the same officers appearing in both episodes. Readers should weigh it as implied, not stated. [10]

The three punishments of 1864–65 descend in process as the man descends in rank: a general court over a remark; then no court at all; then the lowest court for a day's absence. [10][12][13]

Providence then gave back what the Army had taken. The rank came from a Black militia company, and in 1875 the State recognized that company, as it had refused to recognize his first one in 1857. [5][14][15]

The records

• Headstone photograph (shown above) — Headstone, G3, 2026 (IMG_1211). [18]

• 1883-burial-ledger-detail.jpg (shown above) — City burial ledger, March 1883, detail of the place-of-interment column with Howland's struck entry and the 1886 annotation. Courtesy City of Providence. [2]

• 

• records/G3/1883-death-notice.jpg — Newspaper notice of his death, March 1883. [24] ⟨paper and date; public domain if pre-1930⟩ (not yet hosted)
• records/G3/1875-morning-star.jpg — Providence Morning Star, 31 May 1875, p. 1, detail: Howland listed as assistant inspector, Ives Post No. 13. [16] (not yet hosted)

• 

• records/G3/cmsr-*.pdf — Compiled military service record, NARA RG 94. [8] ⟨BB: scans from Aug. 2026 trip⟩ (not yet hosted)

• nara-ll2229-charges.jpg (shown above) — LL 2229: arraignment, charges and specifications (NARA IMG_1195). [10]

• nara-ll2229-brown-testimony.jpg (shown above) — LL 2229: testimony of 1st Lt. Zephaniah Brown, acting adjutant (NARA IMG_1199). [10]

• nara-ll2229-statement-b.jpg (shown above) — LL 2229: Howland's statement in answer to the second charge, signed (NARA IMG_1225). [10]

• nara-ll2229-sentence.jpg (shown above) — LL 2229: findings, sentence, and approval by Brig. Gen. T. W. Sherman, 29 June 1864 (NARA IMG_1222). [10]

• records/G3/go19-1864.pdf — General Orders No. 19, 4 July 1864, publishing the sentence. [11] (not yet hosted)

• nara-so36-1864.jpg (shown above) — Special Orders No. 36, 1st Battalion, Fort Jackson, 15 Dec. 1864 (NARA IMG_1260). [12]

• nara-go6-1865.jpg (shown above) — General Orders No. 6, 1st Battalion, Brashear City, July 1865, item VII (NARA IMG_1277). [13]

• records/G3/directory-*.jpg — Providence directory entries, 1852–1862. [3] ⟨public domain; scan or link⟩ (not yet hosted)

What we don't know

• Where he was born. No source names a birthplace.
• His birth year. The chronology gives 1828; the City ledger recorded his age at death as 58, which puts it about 1825; the death notice says "about 50," about 1833. [1][2][24]
• Why the City ledger gives 52 Meeting Street. The death notice says he died at his house, 44 Union Street, and that is followed here; the ledger field may be an informant's or undertaker's address. [2][24]
• His parents. "Son of" Lydia A. Howland Brown (d. 1844) and grandson of Philip Howland (d. 1820) are a working hypothesis from death notices. [1]
• What he was doing from October 1862 to July 1863, about five months away from Providence in a unit or commissary role that predates the 14th, and whether as a soldier or a civilian. A draft record of 1 June 1863 precedes his enlistment by two months and has not been reconciled with it. [1][6]
• Where he was from January to May 1864: with Company A at Matagorda Island, or on the regimental staff at New Orleans. [1]
• When he joined Ives Post, and the date of his Masonic membership. He was a member by May 1875. [16]
• When he held the majority of the Burnside National Guards. In May 1875 the Guards marched under Col. J. M. Munroe, and Howland marched with Ives Post. [14][16]
• Whether he held municipal office. The claim has circulated; no document supports it. It is not on this page.
• Who identified him as a soldier for the 1886 removal, and whether Ives Post or Prescott Post asked for it. The 1885 law and the City's enlargement of the lot in June 1886 explain the year; the ledger records the move and the City's charge; neither names who asked. The Prescott Post records at the Rhode Island Historical Society should. [2][25][26]
• Who "Christiana" in his 1880 household was: a second wife, or another daughter. [1]
• Whether any descendant is living. Daughter Caroline Lydia Poole died in Providence in 1901; daughter Nellie was born in 1864. If a descendant is identified, this page is not to be published without the editor's review. [1][17]
• Whether he or Esther applied for a federal pension. No pension index entry has been cited.

Sources

Conflicts: Birth year: [1] gives 1828, [2] implies c. 1825, [24] implies c. 1833; none is preferred, and [24]'s "about" makes it the weakest. Place of death: [24], a contemporary notice that says "at his house," is weighted over [2], whose address field is of uncertain meaning; both are shown. [17] gives the wife's name as "Mary"; the daughter's 1901 obituary gives "Esther Ann"; the obituary is weighted as the fuller family source.

1. Bernard Brennan, Zebedee Howland Chronology, working document, corrected 23 Oct. 2026 (Drive › 1 Working Docs); and Zebedee Howland: Facts and Interpretation for a Web Bio, 30 Oct. 2026. ⟨Replace each citation to [1] with the underlying record before publication: census 1850, 1880; death notices; deeds; probate.⟩
2. City of Providence, North Burial Ground, Superintendent's Record of Burials, 1883, entry of 18 March 1883 (Zebedee Howland, "Col.," age 58, 52 Meeting St., undertaker B. P. Swarts, Colored Free Ground 555), with marginal annotation of 8 September 1886 ("Soldier. Raised Sept. 8/86 & Int. in Prov. G.A.R. Lot Grave 23. Chg. City."). Photograph by Bernard Brennan, 2026 (IMG_2550), courtesy City of Providence, Department of Parks, North Burial Ground. ⟨volume and page⟩
3. Providence city directories, 1852–53 (19 Orange St.), 1856 (4 Post Office), 1857 (77 Broad St.), 1858–60 (50 Benevolent St.), 1860–61 (26½), 1862 (11½ Market Square). ⟨publisher and page for each⟩
4. U.S. Census, 1850, Providence, R.I., Zebedee Howland, barber. ⟨ward, page, dwelling; NARA M432 roll⟩
5. ⟨Source for the Providence National Guards, 1857, and the State's refusal of recognition — General Assembly record or newspaper, with date⟩
6. Draft registration record for Zebedee Howland, 1 June 1863. ⟨BB: NARA RG 110, Consolidated Lists, Rhode Island, district and page⟩
7. William H. Chenery, The Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored) in the War to Preserve the Union, 1861–1865 (Providence: Snow & Farnham, 1898), 10, 40, 154. ⟨verify page wording⟩
8. Compiled Military Service Record of Zebedee Howland, Co. A, 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery). National Archives, Washington, D.C., RG 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops, ⟨entry and file⟩; including muster rolls (enlisted 27 Aug. 1863; reduced 19 July 1864; sergeant 31 July 1864; mustered out 2 Oct. 1865) and the regimental letter book entry on pay at three grades. Consulted by Bernard Brennan, Aug. 2026.
9. 14th R.I. Heavy Artillery, General Orders No. 13, 5 Nov. 1863 (appointing Howland sergeant major); 1st Battalion, General Orders No. 1, Dutch Island, 7 Dec. 1863 (Sgt. Lewis J. Fry acting battalion sergeant major). NARA RG 94, Regimental Books, 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, ⟨volume⟩.
10. Proceedings of a General Court-Martial in the case of Sgt. Maj. Zebedee Howland, 14th R.I. Heavy Artillery, convened by Special Orders No. 131, Defences of New Orleans, 2 June 1864; tried at Carrollton, La., 10–16 June 1864; Capt. Henry K. Southwick, judge advocate; testimony of 1st Lt. Zephaniah Brown; two written statements of the accused. National Archives, Washington, D.C., RG 153, Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army), Court-Martial Case Files, file LL 2229. Consulted and photographed by Bernard Brennan, 12 Aug. 2026 (NARA IMG_1192–1226; pages shown here: IMG_1195, 1199, 1222, 1225). The file wrapper dates the trial "June 10–15" and names the regiment by its federal designation at the time, 8th U.S. Heavy Artillery (Colored).
11. General Orders No. 19, Defences of New Orleans, 4 July 1864, publishing the sentence as approved by Brig. Gen. T. W. Sherman, 29 June 1864. ⟨in LL 2229 or RG 393⟩
12. Special Orders No. 36, 1st Battalion, 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Fort Jackson, La., 15 Dec. 1864, signed Zephaniah Brown, adjutant, at the request of Capt. J. W. Fry, Co. A. NARA, RG 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Book Records of Volunteer Union Organizations, 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Entries 112–115 (PI-17), order book ⟨volume⟩. Photograph by Bernard Brennan, 12 Aug. 2026 (NARA IMG_1260). The Descriptive Book dates the reduction 13 Dec.
13. General Orders No. 6, 1st Battalion, 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Brashear City, La., July 1865, item VII (regimental court-martial; absence without leave 5 July; plea guilty; forfeiture of one half of one month's pay). NARA, RG 94, Book Records of Volunteer Union Organizations, 11th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Entries 112–115 (PI-17), order book ⟨volume⟩. Photograph by Bernard Brennan, 12 Aug. 2026 (NARA IMG_1277). ⟨date: the order book reads July 18 [?] in IMG_1277; this entry had 11 July; reconcile⟩
14. Providence Morning Star, 31 Oct. 1871 (Burnside National Guards parade in honor of Maj. Howland, with the What Cheer Band). ⟨page⟩ ⟨BB: source for captaincy and for "major commanding by 1867"⟩
15. Rhode Island Militia, General Orders No. 5, 1 May 1875 (Burnside National Guards enrolled as Sixth Battalion of Infantry). ⟨Adjutant General's report or order book⟩
16. "The Laureled Dead," Providence Morning Star, 31 May 1875, 1, order of procession for Decoration Day, 29 May 1875: "Zebedee Howland, Ives Post, No. 13," among the Department's assistant inspectors; Ives Post No. 13, Commander David Howard, forty men; Burnside National Guards, Col. J. M. Munroe commanding.
17. Providence Evening Bulletin, 1 Feb. 1883, "Death of an Unfortunate" (death of Howland's wife, there called "Mary"); obituary of Caroline Lydia Poole, Providence, Aug. 1901 (naming her mother Esther Ann Howland). ⟨paper and page for the 1901 obituary⟩
18. Headstone of Zebedee Howland, Prescott Post lot, grid G3, North Burial Ground, Providence. Photograph by Bernard Brennan, 2026 (IMG_1211).
19. ⟨Source for the Matagorda Island reductions, March–April 1864 — regimental orders in RG 94 Regimental Books, or Chenery, with pages⟩
20. Boston Evening Transcript, 17 Oct. 1873 (Howland named in the 14th R.I.H.A. Veteran Association's arrangements for a regimental monument). ⟨page⟩
21. Providence land evidence, deeds to Zebedee Howland, Manning Street, 1878 and 1880; Providence Probate Court, inventory of the estate of Zebedee Howland, 1883–84. ⟨book and page; docket⟩
22. National Park Service, Soldiers and Sailors Database, Zebedee Howland, 14th R.I. Heavy Artillery. ⟨link once verified⟩
23. Find a Grave, memorial for Zebedee Howland, North Burial Ground. ⟨link once verified; link only⟩
24. Death notice of Zebedee Howland ("a colored barber, aged about 50 years, died suddenly last night, at 11 o'clock, at his house, No. 44 Union street, of heart disease. He was a member of several societies."). ⟨BB: newspaper, date (14 March 1883?), page⟩
25. City of Providence, ⟨title of printed volume⟩, 1886, No. 272, "Report of the Joint Committee on the North Burial Ground, relative to the Enlargement of the 'Prescott Post Lot,'" presented 7 June 1886 (citing "the statute passed by the general assembly, at the May session, 1885," requiring removal of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors from pauper ground), ⟨329⟩–330; No. 273, Resolution approved 28 June 1886, 330–⟨331⟩. ⟨Add the statute itself: R.I. Acts and Resolves, May Session 1885, chapter⟩
26. Prescott Post No. 1 Records, Grand Army of the Republic Records (Division of Rhode Island), MSS 448, Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence. Cited in Andrew Evans, "Black Memory of the Civil War in New England, 1865–1877" (PhD diss., Brandeis University, 2026), 249 n. 69. ⟨not yet consulted⟩
27. "Parade of the Colored Soldiers," Providence Journal, 28 Aug. 1863, 2 ("Sergeants Jenkins, Phenix, and Howland, of this city, are well known and capable men, and well drilled soldiers"), as quoted in Evans, "Black Memory," 176–77. ⟨BB: verify against the original; note it calls him sergeant the day after his enlistment as a private [8]⟩

Credits

Researched and written by Bernard Brennan. Second reader: none yet. Burial records courtesy of the City of Providence, Department of Parks, North Burial Ground (Annalisa Heppner, director). Revised 2026-11-01.