Born March 21, 1798, in Montgomery County, Virginia. He died February 26, 1856, in Round Prairie Township, Jefferson County, Iowa. Mr. Howell married Violet Harter on January 23, 1822, in Montgomery County, Virginia. He came to Van Buren County in 1846 from Virginia. Mr. Howell was a farmer by trade having purchased 450 acres in Round Prairie Township. He was a Senator in the Second and Third Iowa General Assemblies, 1848 and 1850. He was also elected to the Virginia State Legislature. He was the patriarch of the two houses and in his earlier days had been a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Naming an Iowa county Pocahontas was Howell’s suggestion. He was accorded the privilege of naming one of the counties and suggested this name. Of all the states carved out of the Northwest territory ceded to the national government by Virginia, not one had named a county for the heroine and he asked that this tardy honor be paid to her memory. There were some of the legislators who demurred when this name was proposed but upon being informed that Howell was the sponsor, they withdrew all objections, saying that the old gentleman could have anything he asked for.
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