James B. Howell

James B. Howell

James Bruen Howell (born July 4, 1816 in Morristown , New Jersey , †  June 17, 1880 in Keokuk , Iowa ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of Iowa in the US Senate .

James Howell was a young boy when his parents left New Jersey with him in 1819 and moved to Ohio . There the family settled in Newark , where he attended public schools. In 1839 he graduated from Miami University in Oxford and studied law , after which he was admitted to the bar in the same year and began to practice in Newark.

In 1841 Howell moved to the Iowa Territory , where he first lived in Keosauqua , where he worked as a lawyer and later bought a newspaper. In 1849 he moved the place of publication to Keokuk. In his new place of residence he served as postmaster from 1861 to 1866. In addition, he began a political career with the Republicans, but initially remained unsuccessful in various candidacies for public office.

Only after the resignation of US Senator James W. Grimes , Howell was able to win the following by-election. He moved into the Senate on January 18, 1870 and remained there until March 3, 1871. He did not run for the regular election. Instead, he was appointed by US President Ulysses S. Grant to a three-person commission that examined claims made by citizens of the southern states during the Civil War . He occupied himself with this task until his death in June 1880.

James Howell's father, Elias , served in the United States House of Representatives for Ohio from 1835 to 1837 .

Web links

• James B. Howell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• James B. Howell in the database of Find a Grave (English)