Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 ? October 17, 1910) was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Born Julia Ward in New York City, she was the fourth of six children born to Samuel Ward (1786 ? 1839) and Julia Rush Cutler. Her father was a well-to-do banker.
Her paternal grandparents were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward (May 1, 1756 ? November 27, 1839) of the Continental Army and Phoebe Greene. Her maternal grandparents were Benjamin Clarke and Sarah Mitchell Cutler.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward was a son of Samuel Ward, a colonial Governor of Rhode Island and later a delegate to the Continental Congress, and his wife Anna Ray. Phoebe Greene was a daughter of William Greene, Governor of Rhode Island and his wife Catharine Ray.
In 1843 she married a hero of the Greek revolution, physician Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe nicknamed Chev, who founded the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The couple made their home in South Boston, had six children (five of whom lived to adulthood), and were active in the Free Soil Party. She was a member of the Unitarian church.
Howe died of pneumonia at her home, Oak Glen, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, at the age of 91. She is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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