Rezin Gist Howell
Rezin Gist Howell was born around 1841 in Montgomery County, Kentucky, to David and Anna Howell. His father was a farmer who owned $34,500 of real estate and $16,760 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Montgomery County.
 
He enrolled at the United States Military Academy in 1860. When he arrived in June 1860, he described the community as a “perfect hotbed of Abolitionists,” and he “hope[d] I wont sprout soon.” He debated resigning from West Point when the Civil War began, but he ultimately remained loyal to the Union and remained enrolled at the institution. In January 1863, he celebrated General George B. McClellan’s “unexceptionable patriotism,” and he denounced the “baneful sentiments of abolitionism.” He denounced the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring, “Can we not crush this rebellion without violating our constitution? without stooping to negro equality…”
 
He graduated from West Point in June 1864, and he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the 2nd United States Artillery. He took part in the siege of Atlanta and the Battle of Nashville. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on March 1, 1865. In April 1865, he mourned the death of President Abraham Lincoln. “Although I disagreed with him on many points,” he wrote, “yet his assassination I think is the most disgraceful blot on our countries [sic] history.”
 
He remained in the army after the war, and he was stationed in Washington State from October 1865 until November 1868. He spent the next four years in San Francisco, California, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and he was stationed in North Carolina from November 1872 until May 1875. He served as professor of military science at the University of Kentucky from November 1877 until July 1881. He was promoted to captain in November 1882, and he spent the next five years stationed in Alabama. He married Emily D. Ayres on February 5, 1884, and they had at least two children: Anna, born around 1885; and Mary, born around 1886. He died of “acute gastric catarrh” at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, on May 2, 1887.
2696
DATABASE CONTENT
(2696)Howell, Rezin Gist18411887-05-02
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 33

  • (7661) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to George (?), 25 June 1860
  • (7662) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David G. Howell, 6 October 1860
  • (7663) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 19 October 1860
  • (7664) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David G. Howell, 11 January 1861
  • (7665) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 4 April 1861
  • (7666) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David Howell, 19 April 1861
  • (7667) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 2 January 1863
  • (7671) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 12 April 1862
  • (7672) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 1 September 1862
  • (7673) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 8 September 1862
  • (7674) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David Howell, 23 January 1863
  • (7675) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David Howell, 12 February 1863
  • (7676) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 22 March 1863
  • (7677) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Howard C. Howell, 19 April 1863
  • (7678) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Brother, 21 May 1863
  • (7682) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to David Howell, 30 July 1863
  • (7685) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 5 August 1864
  • (7686) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 23 September 1864
  • (7693) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, April 1865
  • (7709) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 10 February 1866
  • (7710) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 14 December 1870
  • (7711) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Howard C. Howell, 22 July 1871
  • (7784) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, November 1875
  • (7791) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 28 March 1882
  • (7792) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 9 June 1882
  • (7793) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 25 November 1882
  • (7794) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 26 October 1883
  • (7893) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 3 December 1883
  • (7894) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 7 March 1884
  • (7895) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 28 December 1884
  • (7896) [writer] ~ Rezin G. Howell to Nettie Howell, 10 September 1885
  • (7897) [associated with] ~ Eugenia McDonald to Nettie Howell, 2 May 1887
  • (7898) [associated with] ~ Eugenia McDonald to Nettie Howell, 3 May 1887

People - Records: 8

  • (2695) Ayres, Emily is the [parent-in-law of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2697) (?), George is the [cousin of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2698) Howell, David G. is the [sibling of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2700) Howell, Anna Gist is the [parent of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2701) Howell, David is the [parent of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2713) Howell, Howard C. is the [sibling of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2758) Ayres, Emily Dearborn is the [wife of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist
  • (2760) Howell, Nettie is the [sibling of] (2696) Howell, Rezin Gist

Places - Records: 2

  • (2917) [birth] ~ Montgomery County, Kentucky
  • (2918) [death] ~ Mount Vernon Barracks, Mobile County, Alabama

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (708) [officer] ~ 2nd United States Artillery
SOURCES

1850, 1860, and 1870 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Military and Naval Academies, Cadet Records and Applications, 1800-1908, available from Ancestry.com; Registers of Deaths in the Regular Army, 1860-1889, available from Ancestry.com; District of Columbia Select Marriages, 1830-1921, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, available from Ancestry.com; Rezin G. Howell to George (?), 25 June 1860, DL1147.002, Nau Collection; Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 2 January 1863, DL1147.008, Nau Collection; Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, 22 March 1863, DL1147.014, Nau Collection; Rezin G. Howell to Anna G. Howell, April 1865, DL1147.020