Elijah Howard was born in Easton on May 30, 1787. He was, for half a century, one of the leading business men of Easton, and one of the earliest in the country to manufacture cotton cloth by power looms. He served on the Easton Board of Selectmen, in the State Legislature, State Senate, and as Moderator of Easton Town Meetings for seventeen years. He was a decided Unitarian. Mr. Howard was married three times and had a total of thirteen children.