Recollections of My Life and Reflections on Times and Events During It: A Memoir by Father W. J. Howlett Main Menu Introduction Table of Contents Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Other Writings by Father W. J. Howlett Timeline Howlett Family Tree William J. Howlett Family Tree Maps and Geography: Howlett's First Trip West Fr. Howlett moved with his family to Denver when he was a child, and then moved to St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown, KY several years later. This map recounts the path he took to get to both places. Maps and Geography: Howlett's European travels Fr. Howlett traveled far and wide during his trip to Europe. Here is a map of the places he recorded visiting. Maps and Geography: Howlett in Paris, 1872-1873 This map shows the locations that Fr. Howlett mentioned visiting while in Paris, France. Maps and Geography: Howlett in London, 1874 This map shows the locations that Fr. Howlett mentioned visiting while vacationing in London, England Maps and Geography: Colorado Missions with Terrain Fr. Howlett's Colorado mission locations, with Colorado terrain. Index Acknowledgements Contributors' Biographies HIST 394 at CUA, Spring 2020

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but not poor enough to accept help in rearing his own family. He came of a good family and he always kept his family pride. My mother told me that when I was baptized my godfather wished to make an offering to the priest but my father objected saying “I will not allow anyone to pay for the baptism of my children.” Evidently he was not familiar with the custom of many sponsors of making a small offering of their own to the priest.

          He did not like the idea of being in debt, and he looked ahead like the prudent man of the gospel to see if he could finish what he began. Of course he sometimes missed his calculations, as I remembered it once happened in his school calculations. Compulsory attendance at school was not then a law, and in our district, as I suppose in others [,] the salary of the teacher was paid from “public money” as far as that fund would reach, and then the deficit was made up by a pro rata assessment for each child in attendance. One summer it was reported that the public fund was low, and a school tax would be levied to pay the teacher. There were five of us children of school age, and in a school of only about thirty children the anticipated tax was considerable. Only three of us were sent that summer, and when the term was over it was found that the public fund was in a better way condition than had been anticipated, and my father’s tax was only fifteen cents! If we lived near Notre Dame I would have been sent there to school, and I might have ended by joining the Order.

          About 1856 my brother Martin established himself in the grocery business at Niles and I spent considerable time with him. That gave me the chance of attending the Catholic school for a time at odd whiles. It was not much, but it was the only Catholic schooling I got in my younger days. The rest of my limited education I got at the schools already spoken of. I read a good deal for a small boy, and my reading was not unprofitable. I liked history and I was scolded once for my alleged lack of judgment in the selection of reading matter for the family at the public library.

          It happened this way: I was sent to the library to return some books and bring back others. I chose four volumes that I thought suitable, two of which were “Washington and his Generals”, - the other two being along similar lines, but I had forgotten the titles. When I got home my brothers gave me a good talking to for not bringing something in the way of good stories, and they said they would send someone who knew books the next time. But I guess they read the books anyway.
    
          However, all my reading was not all of this kind. Beadle’s Dime Novels were on the market then and I used to sneak one away from my brother and revel in the company of pirates, Indians and hunters and trappers in the Rocky Mountains, but anything like a love story was made a matter of confession.

          Of our home games I do not remember much, but I know there was a deck of cards in the house, but this was religiously put aside during lent and every night we were gathered together for the Rosary and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin with a good addition of trimmings for various intentions. In the Rosary different ones were given the

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