Meredith Howland (March 31, 1833 – April 4, 1912) was an American soldier and clubman who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age.
[4] During the U.S. Civil War, Howland served as a paymaster under Colonel Marshall Lefferts in the Union Army's 7th New York Militia infantry regiment.
[5] The 7th Regiment was known as a "Silk Stocking" regiment due to the disproportionate number of its members who were part of New York City's social elite,[6] In 1892, Howland was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.
[14] The Howlands lived mostly in Paris and Cannes (at the Villa Dubosc),[15] where his wife became known as a prominent hostess (befriending Marcel Proust[16]) and "indefatigable bridgeplayer.
"[8] Howland, who did not have any children, died in Cannes, France on April 4, 1912,[17] and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.