1866 – 1885
Born in 1806 to George and Elizabeth Howland, George Jr. grew up with the many other merchants who made the most of the whaling industry in New Bedford. George Jr. was able to make quick connections thanks to his father’s advice and soon found himself deeply involved in the local community. Throughout the years, George Jr. earned many titles such as President of the New Bedford Five Cents Savings Bank, Director of the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, and eventually the first elected mayor of New Bedford once it became a city.
As mayor, George Jr. was entrusted with a multitude of responsibilities such as the handling of day to day city affairs, the organization of troops for the Civil War, and much more. Due to his clear dedication to New Bedford and beyond, George Jr. was a fair candidate to become president of the New Bedford Port Society and was unsurprisingly elected in 1866. Holding the position of president of our church for twenty years, Mr. Howland’s contributions to the Seamen’s Bethel were to the utmost extent where to this day they are still felt.