author
William F. Howe
1828–1902
Best remembered as one half of the notorious New York law firm Howe and Hummel, this Gilded Age courtroom figure moved easily between sensational headlines and the criminal justice system. He also wrote a lurid nonfiction book on city crime, giving his work an unusual place between legal history and popular true crime.
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About the author
Born in 1828, William F. Howe became a prominent trial lawyer in New York City and the senior partner in the firm Howe and Hummel. Accounts of his early life vary, but reliable sources agree that he built a reputation in the later 19th century as a flamboyant, highly visible defense attorney whose cases drew public attention.
Howe is most closely associated with the rough-and-tumble world of Gilded Age criminal law. The Historical Society of the New York Courts describes him as one of the era's most notorious criminal lawyers, and his name is still tied to sensational trials, celebrity clients, and the blurred line between legal advocacy and showmanship.
He also wrote Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations, a book that fits naturally with his public image: part warning, part crime narrative, and part tour through the darker corners of urban life. He died on September 2, 1902, but remains an intriguing figure for readers interested in legal drama, old New York, and early true-crime storytelling.