If you're wondering whether the story is true or not, it appears to be. All of the relevant facts are present in John Howland's (heavily cited) Wikipedia artic

If you're wondering whether the story is true or not, it appears to be. All of the relevant facts are present in John Howland's (heavily cited) Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howland