James B. Howell
| James Bruen Howell | |
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United States Senator from Iowa |
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In office January 18, 1870 – March 3, 1871 |
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| Preceded by | James W. Grimes |
| Succeeded by | George G. Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 4, 1816 Morristown, New Jersey |
| Died | June 17, 1880 (aged 63) Keokuk, Iowa |
| Political party | Republican |
James Bruen Howell (July 4, 1816 - June 17, 1880) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician. The son of a Congressman from Ohio, Howell is best remembered as having served as a United States Senator from Iowa for slightly over one year.
James B. Howell was born July 4, 1816 near Morristown, New Jersey, the son of Elias and Eliza Howell. The family moved west to Newark, Ohio, in 1819, where James attended the public schools, graduating from high school in Newark. James' father, Elias Howell, was prominent in Ohio politics and was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1830 and to U.S. Congress as a member of the anti-Jacksonian National Republican Party in 1836.
James Howell graduated from Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio, in 1837. Following graduation Howell studied law for two years under Judge Hoeking H. Hunter of Lancaster, Ohio, gaining admission to the Ohio state bar in 1839. Following his admission to the bar, Howell opened a law practice in his hometown of Newark.
Troubled by ill health, in 1841 Howell decided to move to a more satisfactory locale. He settled upon the tiny town of Keosauqua in Van Buren County in the territory of Iowa, where he opened a new legal office and began to rebuild a legal practice.
Soon after arriving in Iowa, Howell became actively involved in the Whig Party, one of the two major American political parties of the day. His political interests led him to purchase an ailing newspaper, the Des Moines Valley Whig, the operation of which soon came to consume his interest. Howell subsequently gave up law to dedicate himself to full-time editorship of his partisan newspaper.
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