Reuben Haworth, Jr., was born on May 7, 1846, in Stockport, England, to Reuben and Ann Haworth. The family immigrated to America around 1849 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father worked as a brass finisher, and by 1860, the family owned $1,300 of real estate and $200 of personal property. They moved to South Newmarket (modern-day Newfields), New Hampshire, in the 1850s, and Haworth attended school there. He enlisted in the Union army on December 9, 1861, claiming that he was 18 years old.
He mustered in as a private in Company B of the 8th New Hampshire Infantry on December 20. The regiment spent the next few years in the Department of the Gulf. Haworth was wounded on June 14, 1863, in the siege of Port Hudson. In July 1863, he celebrated the Union victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, noting “now this is done the back-bone of the rebellion is broken…the Confederacy is about drawing its last breath. I hope so.” He also observed that “the negro can fight very well it speaks well for there courage.” The army transferred him to the 1st Veteran Reserve Corps on July 1, 1864, and he mustered out on December 19, 1864. He applied for a federal pension eight days later and eventually secured one.
Haworth returned to South Newmarket after the war, and he married Louisa Stickney there on February 4, 1874. They had at least two children: Bertha, born around 1875; and Marion, born around 1880. The family moved to Chelsea, Massachusetts, around 1875, and Haworth worked in a foundry there. He was naturalized in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 13, 1880.
His wife apparently died in the late 1800s, and by 1900, he was working as a janitor in Everett, Massachusetts. He married Emma Pease there on August 18, 1900. By 1910, he was working as a machinist at a naval yard. He died around 1918.