Joseph Howland Joseph Howland ( December 3 , 1834 New York City - March 31 , 1886 Menton , Alpes - Maritimes , France ) was an American Union Army general , politician and philanthropist . Early life . Howland was born into a prominent merchant family that had grown rich in the China trade . His first American ancestor , John Howland , was one of the Pilgrim Fathers and a signer of the 1620 Mayflower Compact , the governing document of what became Plymouth Colony . Howland ’ s father was Samuel Shaw Howland , a partner in the shipping firm of Howland & Aspinwall ; his mother was Joanna Esther Hone , the niece of Philip Hone , the noted diarist and mayor of New York City . The Howlands were a deeply religious family ; at one time Howland considered entering the ministry , but gave up those plans due to ill health . This same ill health also prevented Howland from attending school and university ; he was educated at home , with several years of European travel to round out his education . At the age of twenty - one , Howland married Eliza Newton Woolsey of New York , one of seven sisters well known as prominent reformers and anti - slavery activists . The couple honeymooned in Europe and the Holy Land . While touring Italy , the Howlands commissioned two marble busts of themselves from the Italian neo - classical sculptor , Giovanni Maria Benzoni ; these busts stand today in the Howland Public Library in Beacon , New York . The couple returned to the United States of America in 1859 . That same year Howland bought an estate along Fishkill Creek in the upstate village of Mattewan , naming his new home Tioronda . The war years . Howland ’ s life as a country gentleman ended with the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 . Upon the outbreak of the war , Howland immediately joined the 16th New York State Volunteers , where he served first as the regiment ’ s adjutant and later as its chief of staff . Howland made an impressive soldier ; when the commander of the 16th New York received a promotion , Howland was the unanimous choice to replace him as colonel . Howland ' s time as commander of the 16th New York was short - lived . On June 29 , 1862 , during the Battle of Gaines ' Mill , one of the Seven Days Battles of the Peninsula Campaign , Howland was directing his men into their place in the line when a Confederate bullet struck him in the thigh . He refused to go back to the hospital , staying with his men until the end of the battle . The regiment ' s official report credits Howland with “ … the most undaunted bravery and marked coolness … ” as he stayed on his horse and rode up and down the line , giving orders and shouting encouragement to his men , “ … unmindful of … the leaden hail … ” through which he had to ride . For his courage at Gaines ' Mill , he was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers . The official report also stated that Howland ’ s wound “ … will disable him for several weeks . ” In fact , the wound ended Howland ’ s military career ; the wound and the resulting fever dangerously undermined his health and made further active service impossible . He resigned as commander of the 16th New York and never served again in the field . Howland returned to duty during the New York City draft riots in 1863 , placing himself at the disposal of the civil and military authorities as they tried to quell the largest municipal riots in American history . Howland quickly organized a regiment of civilian volunteers to help suppress the chaos , but after the emergency passed he returned to civilian life . Post - war . After the war , Howland was New York State Treasurer from 1866 to 1867 , elected on the Republican ticket . He also had an active role in drafting the trust deeds for Cornell University and in organizing the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane , the humane treatment of the mentally ill being one of his and his wife ’ s great concerns . In Mattewan , Howland was instrumental in building Highland Hospital , the Presbyterian Church , and the public library that still bears his name . Howland commissioned his brother - in - law , the architect Richard Morris Hunt , to design the library building . The building is now the Howland Cultural Center and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The library moved to another Main Street location in 1976 . Death . Howland died in Menton , France , on March 31 , 1886 , and was buried there . He and his wife had no children and after his death Eliza Howland never returned to Tioronda , saying that the memories of her husband made staying there too difficult . She died in Newport , Rhode Island , in 1917 , at the age of eighty - two . After her death Tioronda became Craig House , a hospital for the mentally ill . The author Louis Stanton Auchincloss is his great - grandnephew .