The Murder of Eva Howe
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
This house (originally located on Walnut Street, now located at 1314 W. Myrtle Street) was the home of James and Eva Howe and their daughter Gertrude. Eva Howe (née Schuyler) was murdered here on April 4, 1888 by her husband James. After the murder, James was lynched by an angry mob that took him from jail.
Images
James and Eva Howe house circa 1892. The place where James Howe murdered his wife Eva.
The Howe house currently located at 1314 W. Myrtle Street.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
This house (originally located on Walnut Street, now located at 1314 W. Myrtle Street) was the home of James and Eva Howe and their daughter Gertrude. Eva Howe (née Schuyler) was murdered here on April 4, 1888 by her husband James.
James who had a history of spousal and alcohol abuse, came home drunk in the early hours of April 4th, found Eva packing to leave and turned violent. He murdered Eva by slitting her throat with a pocketknife. The police came to the house and Mr. Howe was taken to jail.
The story spread through town and an angry mob went to the jail where Howe was being held and distributed justice themselves by lynching James. James Howe was found the night of April 4th hanging from a derrick outside of the court house. This is the only recorded lynching to occur in Fort Collins.
Eva Howe became a martyr for the temperance movement, as her story of being murdered despite being a devoted wife exemplified the horrors and evil of alcohol.
If anyone is further interested in this story, they can read an account of the murder in the Fort Collins Courier from April 5, 1888 or visit The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and see part of the rope that was used in the lynching as well as the knife that was possibly used to cut the rope.
Sources
"Double Tragedy. James H. Howe Cuts His Wife's Throat with a Pocket-knife Retribution Swiftly Follows Infuriated Citizens take the Murderer from his Cell and Hang Him- An Awful Crime." Fort Collins Courier(Fort Collins)April 05, 1888. , 10 ed, 43 sec, 1-1. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=FCC18880405&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN--------0-#
Dunn, Meg. Eva and James Howe... And Their House. Northern Colorado History. January 21, 2018. Accessed October 15, 2018. https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/eva-james-howe-house/.
Houston, Ashley. "Howe" did this get here?. Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Science Center. May 07, 2010. Accessed October 15, 2018. https://fcmdsc.wordpress.com/tag/howe-lynching/.
James and Eva Howe home, Walnut Street. Fort Collins History Connection. . Accessed October 15, 2018. http://database.history.fcgov.com/cdm/singleitem/collection/ph/id/14730/rec/1.
Watrous, Ansel. History of Larimer County. Fort Collins, Colorado. The Courier of Printing and Publishing Company, 1911.
Image Credit, Meg Dunn, Eva and James Howe... And Their House, Northern Colorado History Jan 21, 2018, Accessed 10/22/18 https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/eva-james-howe-house/
Dunn, Meg. Eva and James Howe... And Their House. Northern Colorado History. January 21, 2018. Accessed October 15, 2018. https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/eva-james-howe-house/.
Houston, Ashley. "Howe" did this get here?. Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Science Center. May 07, 2010. Accessed October 15, 2018. https://fcmdsc.wordpress.com/tag/howe-lynching/.
James and Eva Howe home, Walnut Street. Fort Collins History Connection. . Accessed October 15, 2018. http://database.history.fcgov.com/cdm/singleitem/collection/ph/id/14730/rec/1.
Watrous, Ansel. History of Larimer County. Fort Collins, Colorado. The Courier of Printing and Publishing Company, 1911.
Image Credit James and Eva Howe home, Walnut Street, Fort Collins History Connection, Accessed 10/22/18 http://database.history.fcgov.com/cdm/singleitem/collection/ph/id/14730/rec/1