Howard, Jane Grant Gilmor, 1801-1890

Jane Grant Gilmor was born on March 31, 1801 in Baltimore, Maryland to William Gilmor and Mary Ann Smith. She married Gen. Benjamin Chew Howard and together they had twelve children, most of which lived past infancy. Jane Howard was known throughout Baltimore for her charitable work and was made the president of the Great Southern Relief Association in 1865 which held a fair in Baltimore that raised almost $200,000 for those who had lost everything in the Civil War. She wrote a cookbook to raise money for charity, under the name Mrs. B. C. Howard, titled “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” which was published in 1873. The Howards were known enslavers, with Gen. Benjamin Chew Howard being listed among the U.S. Representatives who were slaveholders (Washington Post, 2022.) Jane Howard died at the age of 89 in Baltimore, Maryland and is buried at Green Mount Cemetery.