Joseph Howard, son of Rufus Howard, was born in Northampton, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, about 1816, and died in Northampton on 27 October 1897, aged 81 years (buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton). He married Nancy Minerva Pelton, daughter of Enos Pelton and Anna Warner, in Pownal, Vermont, on 2 November 1837. She was born in Northampton on 8 July 1816, and died there on 26 March 1885. She was also buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton. Joseph Howard was a farmer, and later worked at a button shop in Northampton. He lived in Windsor, Berkshire County, Massachusetts; and in Leeds, in Northampton. Joseph and Nancy had seven children: Joseph Stanley, Henry, Charles, Edward, Ella, Frederick, and William.

Joseph Stanley Howard, known as “Stanley,” son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Northampton on 29 May 1839, and died in Northampton on 3 or 10 July 1872, aged 32 years. He was buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton. He married Francis C. Shearn, daughter of John and Sarah Shearn, in Northampton on 5 December 1865. She was born in England around 1845. She married second Samuel A. Ewing, and died in 1926 (buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Florence, Massachusetts). Stanley Howard enlisted in the army on 17 October 1861, and was promoted to Full Corporal on 31 October 1862. He reenlisted on 25 November 1863, and was captured at Drury’s Bluff on 16 May 1864. He was a prisoner of war until he was paroled in February 1865. He was mustered out on 19 July 1865. He served with Co. G, 27th Infantry Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers.

Henry W. Howard, son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Northampton on 6 September 1840, and died 13 October 1864, aged 24 years. He was buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton. He worked as a farm laborer. He enlisted in the army on 14 June 1861, and was wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill on 1 July 1862. He spent the rest of his time in the army at Cliffbourn Hospital in Washington, D.C., until he was discharged due to disability in June 1863. He served with Co. D, 10th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers.

Charles A. Howard, son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Dalton, Massachusetts on 24 January 1843, and died 11 May 1864, aged 21 years. He was buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton. In 1860, he worked at a silk factory in Windsor, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the army on 16 October 1861, and was discharged due to disability on 5 April 1864. He served with Co. G., 27th Infantry Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers.

Edward W. Howard, son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Dalton on 23 July 1845, and died on 16 February 1871, aged 25 years. He was buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. In 1869, he was a sailor on the Bark Thompson, near Honolulu. He lived in Northampton in 1870, and worked in a button shop.

Ella Maria Howard, daughter of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Dalton on 14 February 1849, and died on 26 September 1871, aged 22 years. She was buried at West Farms Cemetery in Northampton.

Frederic Waldo Howard, son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Windsor, Massachusetts, on 26 November 1851, and died in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan on 19 September 1928. He married Alice Hubbard, daughter of Elijah and Mary Hubbard, in Northampton on 11 November 1875. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 22 January 1855, and died in Ionia, Ionia County, Michigan on 19 September 1947. They had two children: Edward S. Howard (born about 1877) and Mabel A. Howard (born about 1879). Frederic W. Howard worked in a button shop in 1880. By 1900, the family had moved to Ionia County, Michigan, where Frederick was the superintendant of the Belding Bros. silk mill.

William Sumner Howard, son of Joseph Howard and Nancy Minerva Pelton, was born in Windsor Hill in Windsor, Massachusetts on 1 March 1856. He married Josephine Todd, daughter of Ira Studley Todd and Julianna Root, in Northampton on 7 June 1876. She was born in Northampton on 12 February 1853. They had two children: Pearl Evelyn Howard (1880-1881), and Edna Minerva Howard (born 1885). The family lived in Northampton, Massachusetts. William worked in a button shop in 1880, and later worked in the silk mills in Leeds. By 1920, he was working as a farmer in Northampton.