John Eager Howard John Eager Howard ( June 4 , 1752October 12 , 1827 ) was an American soldier and politician from Maryland . He was elected as governor of the state in 1789 , and served three one - year terms . He also was elected to the Continental Congress , the Congress of the United States and the U . S . Senate . He was born in and died in Baltimore County . Howard County , Maryland , is named for him . Early life and education . He was the son of Cornelius Howard and Ruth ( Eager ) Howard , of the Maryland planter elite and was born at their plantation " Belvedere , " which he inherited after their deaths . Howard grew up in an Anglican slaveholding family . Anglicanism was the established church of the Chesapeake Bay colonies . Howard joined the Baltimore lodge of Freemasonry and eventually became a Brother . Military career . Commissioned a captain at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War , Howard rose in 1777 to the rank of colonel in the Continental Army , fighting in the Battle of White Plains and in the Battle of Monmouth . He was awarded a silver medal by Congress for his leadership at the 1781 Battle of Cowpens , during which he commanded the 3rd Maryland Regiment , Continental Army . In September 1781 , he was wounded in a bayonet charge at the Battle of Eutaw Springs . Political life . Following his army service , Howard held several electoral political positions : elected to the Continental Congress of 1788 ; Governor of Maryland for three one - year terms , 1789 through 1791 ; State Senator from 1791 through 1795 ; and Presidential Elector in 1792 . He declined the offer from President George Washington in 1795 to be Secretary of War . He joined the Federalist Party and was elected to the 4th Congress from November 30 , 1796 , through 1797 as a United States Senator for the remainder of the term of Richard Potts , who had resigned . He was elected for a Senate term of his own in 1797 , which included the 5th Congress , the 6th Congress of 1799 - 1801 during which he was President pro tempore , and the 7th Congress , serving until March 3 , 1803 . After 1803 , Howard returned to Baltimore , where he avoided elected office but continued in public service and philanthropy as a leading citizen . In the 1816 presidential election , he received 22 electoral votes for as the running mate of Federalist Rufus King , losing to James Monroe and Governor Daniel Tompkins . No formal Federalist nomination had been made , and it is not clear whether Howard , who was one of several Federalists who received electoral votes for Vice President , ran as a candidate for the office . Although Howard was offered an appointment as the Secretary of War in the administration of President George Washington , he declined it . Similarly , he declined a 1798 commission as Brigadier General during the preparations for the coming Quasi - War with France . Marriage and family . John Eager Howard married Margaret ( " Peggy " ) Chew , daughter of the Pennsylvania justice Benjamin Chew . Their first son , George Howard , was born on November 21 , 1789 in Jennings House during Howard ' s term as Governor . Howard developed the property " Waverley " at Marriottsville , Maryland for George . George Howard became a politician and was elected as governor forty years after his father ' s term , and four years after his death . Their second son , Benjamin Chew Howard , was also a prominent politician in Maryland , elected for four terms in the U . S . Congress . A grandson , Francis Key Howard , was a notable figure in Maryland at the start of the American Civil War . Death and legacy . John Eager Howard is buried at the Old Saint Paul ' s Cemetery , located between West Lombard Street and present - day Martin Luther King Boulevard in Baltimore .