n His Majesty's Service: John Howe, Spy By Charles Francis John Howe is a largely forgotten figure in the history

of Nova Scotia. Today he is best known as the father of Joseph Howe, the man who brought responsible government to the Province. During his lifetime, however, John Howe was an important and influential figure. Among other things, Howe was the founder of th e Halifax Journal, a fiercely pro-British newspaper. He and his son- also named John- are credited with establishing the postal systems of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In addition, John Howe was a spy for George III during the War of 1812. John Howe was not a spy in the manner of a James Bond and Bond's fictional and real MI-5 brethren but he was nonetheless an espionage agent and as such collect ed intelligence in the United States for British officials on one and possibly two occasions. That intelligence included whether or not the United States would go to war over British interference with American merchant traffic and where oppositio n to the policies of the Jefferson and Madison administrations was strongest. In t he former instance, Howe gave an affirmative answer. In the latter, the answer was in eastern Maine along the shores of Bay of Fundy. Howe's affirmation the US wou ld go to war if its vessels continued to be harassed at sea fell on deaf ears. However, the intelligence he gathered relative to eastern Maine played a part in the British occupying towns like Bangor, Eastport and most notably Castine, whic h in 1814 served as the Royal Navy's chief base of operation during the War of 181 2. In fact the occupation of Castine, where John Howe had relatives, played a part in the establishment of Dalhousie. The customs fees collected in Castine by British agents, which today are still known as the Castine Fund, were used in founding that Halifax institution of higher education. John Howe came to Nova Scotia sometime around 1780. As such he was one of the first Loyalists to leave the rebelling colonies. In fact, as some of his editorials in the Journal show, Howe was so much the Loyalist that it might be better to refer to him as an Anglophile. Without doubt the Patriot victory in th e American Revolution was one of the lowest points of his life. John Howe was the son of Joseph and Rebecca (Hart) Howe of Boston. Israel Howe, an ancestor, was one of the original proprietors of Roxbury. One branch of the fami ly established the Red Horse Tavern, made famous by Longfellow in his Tales of the Wayside Inn. The Howe's were landowners and therefore voters. In short, they wer e members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's elite. And, like many of the establish ed colonial families, they split over the issue of going to war with the King. The Fultons, relatives of the Howes were decided Patriots. Sarah Bradlee Fulton has been called the "Mother of the Boston Tea Party, for her role in daubing some of

its participants to look like Indians. She went on to carry dispatches for Georg e Washington and to gather intelligence behind British lines in the Boston area. Late in her life General Lafayette presented her with a medal for her service to the Patriot cause. The Witherles, another family related to the Howes and who we re among the early settlers of Castine, were for the most part Loyalist. William Witherle of Castine would be one of John Howe's sources of information prior to the British occupying that town. John Howe was a Sandemanian. The Sandemanians were a religious sect with mystica l leanings. The sect's most famous adherent was William Godwin, The father of Mary Shelley. Godwin was also a Sandemanian preacher. He later became a Unitarian and finally an atheist. Sandemanian tenets included pacifism and an admonition to "Fear God and honour the King." It would be hard to say just how pacific John Ho we was given his activity as a spy. Those actions do show that he was willing and ready to honour his King, however. Not all of John Howe's immediate family staye d Sandemanian. The family of Joseph Howe, John's older brother by one year, were among the first Bostonians to become Unitarians. The immediate result of John Howe's espionage activities and those of other British agents was effected in 1814 when Sir John Sherbrooke, the military governor of Nova Scotia sailed across the Bay of Fundy to Castine with a contingent of his Halifax garrison. In Castine, Sherbrooke found a significant number of residents ready to welcome him with open arms. By the time he was done his forces had not only occupied Castine but also Machias, Hampden and Bangor, a ll of which were involved in a lucrative smuggling trade with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in total violation of the American government's Embargo Act. It was probably inevitable that hostilities would break out between Britain and her former colonies at this period of history. Britain was engaged in an epic struggle with Napoleon and a group of young politicians in Washington known as W ar Hawks saw this as an opportunity to seize control of British North America as Canada was then known. In addition, many Americans were incensed over the Royal Navy's stopping of American vessels on the high seas and impressing sailors it thought might be British subjects into service. In 1807, the situation reached a head when the H.M.S. Leopard fired on the warship Chesapeake and then removed several crewmen from her. The crewmen were taken to Halifax. Two proved to be deserters from the Royal Navy. One was hung from the yardarm of the sloop-or-war Halifax and the other sentenced to a "flogging thro' the fleet," which entailed being taken from one vessel to another and lashed by a cat-o'-nine-tails until dead. At this point Britain decided to send a major force under Sir George Prevo st to Halifax. Halifax was chosen in part because of its close proximity to eastern Maine, which the British had hopes of securing for its vast wealth of timber. Prevost arrived in Halifax long before his force and he arrived to find rumours of a major American fleet massing in the general area of Castine. This fleet was supposedly out to avenge what Americans were now calling the Chesapeake Affair. Prevost decided to send spies to investigate the truth of the matter. The first spy Prevost sent was Lieutenant William Girod of the 101st Regiment.

Girod was a specialist in fortifications and defenses. Girod, affecting a French accent, posed as a Swiss traveler and sailed into Castine Harbor in the fall of 1807. Seeing no evidence of an American fleet, he landed and, in his guise as a Swiss traveler, stayed several days, walking about the town. When he returned to Halifax, he reported to Prevost that not only was there no American fleet in Castine Harbor, the town had virtually no defenses. The old British fort, Fort George, a relic from the days of British occupation during the Revolution, was in a state of disrepair and while there was a town militia, it did not train often. Moreover, there was no talk of war in the town. In fact, Girod said most residents seemed opposed to the whole idea of war. Giro d would again become a Swiss traveler to investigate conditions in eastern Maine. However, Prevost would find that John Howe was a far more valuable spy than Giro d. John Howe made two trips to the US on behalf of Sir George Prevost, The first wa s in the spring and early summer of 1808. The second was in the fall of the same year. On Howe's first trip his ports of call ranged all the way from eastern Maine to Virginia and included Boston and New York City. The stated purpose of his travel s was to visit friends and family. For a dignified gentleman in his fifties, it wa s a natural role made all the more natural because in many instances, he was in fa ct visiting relatives. In Castine he saw his nephew, store owner William Witherle, one of the most influential residents of the town and an individual whose livelihood- like the livelihood of many other Castine residents- depended to a large extent on trade with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. As Howe undoubtedly knew even before he set foot in Castine the mood in the town was most decidedly antiwar. The economy of Castine like that of other eastern Maine towns did not orient towards Boston but rather to Nova Scotia and to a lesser extent New Brunswick. Fishing smacks and trading vessels naturally headed to St. John or Halifax rather than Boston to sell their catch or lumber and othe r woods products. It was a matter of the prevailing winds, which made sailing "dow n" the coast easier than heading to Boston. In Castine, Howe stayed with William Witherle. Talk around the Witherle kitchen table and in Witherle's store most likely included the community's opposition to the hated Embargo Act and a desire for things to go back to the way they had been. In fact, as Howe was from Halifax, where, as postmaster, he was a British official, Castine residents probably asked him if there was a chance of tensions easing between Britain and the US. In short, John Howe, a British subject, was a welcome figure in the eastern Maine town. Howe left Castine with the knowledge that the town was strongly pro-British and opposed to the current policies of Jefferson, policies that would continue under James Madison. All in all, he found his stay in Castine with the Witherles a pleasant one. It is debatable how many Castine residents actually wanted to be back under British rule. However, there is no question that most in the town opposed the Wa r of 1812. At the 1813 town meeting, voters endorsed an article on the warrant whi ch

denounced it. John Howe's second trip to the US on the part George III was as Dispatch Bearer to the British minister in Washington. While in Washington, he met with Presiden t Jefferson. Their discussion centered on the possibility of war. The result of Jo hn Howe's two official missions for Sir George Prevost has been commented on above. Sir John Sherbrooke replaced Sir George Prevost as military governor of Nova Scotia in 1811. In July of 1814, Sir Thomas Hardy easily took control of Eastpor t, thanks in part to information supplied by spies like John Howe, William Girod an d others. This was followed by Sherbrooke's occupation of Castine, which in turn owed much to the espionage reports Sir George Prevost had commissioned. During the eight months Castine was in British hands, trade across the Bay of Fundy went on uninterrupted and this time legally. In fact, it even increased an d the town's merchants prospered. All goods were cleared through the Castine customhouse just as if the town were a British possession. When British troops withdrew from Castine, the collected revenue was thousands of pounds sterling. I t all ended up in Halifax. This was the "Castine Fund" that was used to establish Dalhousie. In his later years Joseph Howe tried to get some sort of recognition from the British crown for his father's activities as an espionage agent in "His Majesty' s Service." He was unsuccessful. Addendum: Members of the Howe family visited the Witherles in Castine into the early decades of the twentieth century, when the last members of that family passed away. The Witherles told stories of how William Witherle hosted John Howe in 1808 and what it was like under British occupation. The library in Castine, Witherle Memorial Library, has Witherle family papers. Author's note: The author is a direct descendent of John Howe's brother, Joseph Howe. This makes John Howe his uncle many times removed. The author's grandmothe r, Edith Howe Woods, often visited her Witherle cousins in Castine, where she heard the story of John Howe's espionage activities in Castine and elsewhere on numero us occasions. The role played by John Howe as a spy is an important part of family tradition to this day. The author is also a direct descendent of Sarah Bradlee Fulton, the "Mother of the Boston Tea Party. The author's mother and grandmother were both members of the Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution (DAR). It is a heritage that clearly shows how families can be divided during war time.