Revolutionary soldier John Eager Howard (1752-1827), served as a captain in the "Flying Camp," major of the 4th Maryland Regiment in 1777 and lieutenant colonel in 1778. He fought at the battles of White Plains, Germantown and Monmouth, and received a medal and thanks of Congress for his role in the Battle of Cowpens in 1781.
Following the War, Howard served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, Governor of Maryland from 1788-91, and United States Senator from 1796-1803. In the War of 1812, Howard raised a corps of volunteers and was a vocal critic of the British during the threatened attack on Baltimore in 1814. He was an unsuccessful vice-presidential candidate in 1816.
In 1787 Howard married Peggy Oswald Chew, daughter of Chief Justice Benjamin Chew. This tureen, part of an extensive service descended to his granddaughter Margaretta Sophia Howard, who married Charles Ridgely, the owner of Hampton Mansion, Towson, Maryland. A pair of vegetable dishes of similar design remain at Hampton.