Howland & Aspinwall
Howland & Aspinwall was a merchant firm based in New York City in the 1830s and 1840s. It specialized in the Pacific Ocean trade, especially the importing of goods from China. It is best known for taking a pioneering role in the financing of clipper ships, especially the American-built Rainbow and Sea Witch.{{cite web |year= 2009 |url = http://www.eraoftheclipperships.com/seawitchcopyweb.html|title = The Sea Witch|publisher = eraoftheclipperships.com| accessdate = September 25, 2009 | last= |quote=}}{{cite web |year= 2009 |url = http://www.maritimeheritage.org/captains/waterman.htm|title = Captain Robert "Bully" Waterman|publisher = The Maritime Heritage Project| accessdate = September 25, 2009 | last=D. Blethen Adams Levy |quote=}}
History
File:Flag of Howland & Aspinwall.svg used by Howland & Aspinwall]]
The firm, originally known as G.G. & S.S. Howland, was founded by brothers Gardiner Greene Howland and Samuel Shaw Howland.{{cite book|last1=Kienholz|first1=M.|title=Opium Traders and Their Worlds-Volume One: A Revisionist Exposé of the World's Greatest Opium Traders|date=2008|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=9780595910786|page=403|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YlO9qraI4MC&pg=PT403|accessdate=31 January 2018|language=en}} In 1832, upon the admission of their clerk, William Henry Aspinwall, the firm became known as Howland & Aspinwall.{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E5D6173DE43BBC4152DFB766838E669FDE| format=PDF| work=New York Times| date=January 19, 1875| title=Obituary: William H. Aspinwall| accessdate=December 16, 2008}}
Howland & Aspinwall imported luxury goods such as porcelain, silk, and tea from China, and sold them to Americans of means. Import duties paid by firms such as Howland & Aspinwall played a significant role in the financing of the American federal budget during the 1840s.{{cite web|title=William Henry Aspinwall|url=https://www.panamarailroad.org/aspinwall.html|website=www.panamarailroad.org|publisher=The Panama Railroad|accessdate=31 January 2018}} Howland & Aspinwall exported opium to China.{{cite news|last1=Grady|first1=John|title=Forbes and Aspinwall Go to War|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/forbes-and-aspinwall-go-to-war/|access-date=8 April 2021|work=The New York Times|date=July 26, 2013|language=en}}
=Pacific Mail Steamship Company=
{{see|Pacific Mail Steamship Company}}
In 1848, as a result of the United States's acquisition of California, partners G.S. Howland, S.S. Howland, and William Henry Aspinwall turned their attention from the China trade to California traffic. Improvements in the marine steam engine had begun to make clipper ships and other fast sailing ships obsolete. With other New York businessmen, the Howland and Aspinwall interests formed the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Pacific Mail eventually became American President Lines, which is now part of Neptune Orient Lines.Somerville, Col. Duncan S., The Aspinwall Empire, p. 22, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc., Mystic, CT, 1983.Niven, John, The American President Lines and its Forebears 1948-1984, p. 15, University of Delaware Press, Newark, NJ, 1987.Elias, Rahita, Beyond Boundaries: The First 35 Years of the NOL Story, p. 8, Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., 2004.
=Legacy=
Part of the Aspinwall family fortune was eventually bequeathed, through paternal grandmother Mary Aspinwall Roosevelt, to Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States.
References
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External links
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Category:1832 establishments in New York (state)
Category:American companies established in 1832
Category:1848 disestablishments in New York (state)
Category:American companies disestablished in 1848
Category:1830s in New York City
Category:1840s in New York City
Category:Defunct shipping companies of the United States
Category:Defunct companies based in New York City