Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Howe, Samuel Gridley 1801-1876

Philanthropist; born in Boston, Mass., Nov. 10, 1801; graduated at Brown University in 1821; became a physician; and sympathizing with the Greeks in their struggle for independence, went there in 1824, and served as a surgeon in the army and in other capacities until 1830. In 1831 he became interested in the establishment of an institution for the blind in Boston. The Pekin Institute was the result. It was put in operation in 1832, with Dr. Howe at its head. In that institution, through the unwearied efforts of Dr. Howe, Laura Bridgman, a deaf, dumb, and blind girl, became educated. Dr. Howe, while in Europe, preparatory to opening the institution, engaged a little in politics, and was in a Prussian prison about six weeks. He was ever active in every good work. He went to Greece again in 1867, as bearer of supplies to the Cretans in their struggle with the Turks. In 1871 he was one of the commissioners sent by the government of the United States to Santo Domingo to report upon the annexation of that island to the American Republic. He died in Boston, June 6, 1876.