Samuel Hervey Howard, a native of Anne Arundel County, was one of Maryland’s active patriots during the American Revolution. Howard was commissioned first lieutenant of an independent company of militia in Annapolis in 1779 and rose to captain the following year. Later, he served as registrar of the Court of Chancery of St. Anne’s Parrish. Howard sat for Charles Willson Peale in February or March, 1789. The forthright portrait is typical of Peale’s bust-length images of movers and shakers from the colonial era.