The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 115 THOMAS H. HOWAY. Thomas H. Howay, successfully conducting a hardware and furniture business in Grandview, was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, June 26, 1868, a son of Henry and Elizabeth Howay, who were natives of Canada. They became pioneer settlers of Michigan, where the father engaged in business as a contractor and builder. Both he and his wife have passed away. Thomas H. Howay pursued a high school education at Yale, Michigan, and started in the business world as a clerk in a hardware store before his schooldays were over. He continued to clerk and work for others for some time and later conducted business on his own account at Memphis, Michigan. Subsequently he spent two years in the employ of T. B. Rail Company at Detroit, Michigan, and in 1897 he came to Washington, making his way to Seattle, where he secured a position with the Seattle Hardware Company. After clerking there for two years he represented the house upon the road as a traveling salesman throughout the northwest for a period of eleven years and for six years more was manager of the sporting goods department. In May, 1910, he came to Grandview, where he bought out A. G. Holliday, the first hardware merchant of the town. He now occupies a building fifty by one hundred and fifty feet and carries an extensive line of shelf and heavy hardware, furniture and implements. The business has reached substantial proportions, due to the enterprising methods and thorough reliability of the owner. In 1900 Mr. Howay was married to Miss Margaret Cavan, who was born in Paris, Ontario, a daughter of Michael and Agnes (Torrance) Cavan, both of whom have now passed away. The children of this marriage are: Thomas Cavan, who is attending the Moran School for Boys; Dorothy, a high school pupil; and John Henry, eleven years of age, who is a most enterprising and energetic boy. He has earned the money to buy four fifty-dollar Liberty Bonds and has thirty dollars in War Savings Stamps. In order to do this he worked in a printing office, picked apples, turned off the lights in the town and in fact did anything that would enable him to turn an honest penny. It is certainly a splendid record for a boy of his years. Mr. Howay belongs to the United Commercial Travelers and is a member of the Presbyterian church. In politics he is a Roosevelt republican and is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, interested in all that has to do with the welfare, upbuilding and progress of community, commonwealth and country. In business he is a self-made man and a successful merchant, one who is contributing in substantial measure to the commercial development of his adopted town. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.