Robertson Howard

Robertson Howard (December 11, 1847 – December 1, 1899) was a medical doctor, attorney, and publisher. He is best known as one of the six co-founders of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

Howard was born in Brookeville, Maryland on December 11, 1847. His parents were Lydia Maria (née Robertson) and Flodoardo R. Howard, a doctor.^[1] His mother was a descendant of Quakers.^[2]

When Howard was three years old, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C.,^[3] where he purchased a plot of land directly across from Ford's Theatre and established a medical office. His father also founded the medical department of Georgetown University.^[1]

As a child, Howard attended Brookeville Academy, an institution founded in 1808 by his ancestors in Brookeville, Mayland.^[2] During the Civil War, Robertson, being a Quaker, refused to join either side. He graduated from Georgetown University with a doctorate of medicine in 1865.^[1] However, being only eighteen years old, he was considered too young to begin his practice.^[1]

Howard was sent to the University of Virginia, where he studied chemistry under one of his uncles.^[1] While there he shared Room 47, West Range with James Benjamin Sclater Jr.,^[2] with whom he and four other men founded Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity on March 1, 1868.^[4] This would become one of the first fraternities in the United States. Howard would remain close friends with these men for the rest of his life- it is said that Howard kept autographed photographs of his fellow co-founders in his possession throughout his lifetime.^[2]

After completing his post-graduate work at the University of Virginia, Howard was a member of the medical faculty of Georgetown University for two years, where he received an honorary Master of Arts.^[2] After leaving Georgetown, he worked for some time in the medical department of the National Museum,^[2] now the Arts and Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution.^[5] He also was a medical attendant with the United States Army.^[1]

After losing interest in medicine, Howard received a Bachelor of Law degree in 1874 from the University of Mayland.^[2][1] He practiced law in Baltimore for five years,^[2][1] As a lawyer he handled western land claims, one of which led him to moving his family to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1881.^[2] During approximately twenty years, Howard went into law partnership with Judge Wiliam A. Kerr, followed by former-governor William Rainey Marshall, and, then, J. M. Gilmam.^[2][1] He also twice left his law practice to be the editor of the West Publishing Company, a business that created law publications, a few of which he wrote himself.^[2][1] He was working in this capacity at the time of his death.^[1]

Howard married Isoline Maria Carusi on June 8, 1875.^[2] The couple had four sons and one daughter.^[2][1]

Howard died in Saint Paul, Minnesota on December 1, 1899 at the age of 52.^[2][1] His death was caused by erysipelas.^[1] His body was taken back to Washington, D.C., for burial in the Congressional Cemetery.^[2][1] His grave was unmarked for years, until his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity furnished a bronze plaque in his memory.^[2]

• Pi Kappa Alpha site
• Robertson Howard at Find a Grave