View source for James B. Howell

{{short description|American politician (1816–1880)}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name                = James Bruen Howell
|image = James B. Howell - History of Iowa.jpg
|jr/sr              = United States Senator
|state               = [[Iowa]]
|term_start          = January 18, 1870
|term_end            = March 3, 1871
|predecessor         = [[James W. Grimes]]
|successor           = [[George G. Wright]]
|birth_date         = {{birth date|1816|7|4}}
|birth_place        = [[Morristown, New Jersey]]
|death_date         = {{death date and age|1880|6|17|1816|7|4}}
|death_place        = [[Keokuk, Iowa]]
|party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|signature          = Signature of James Bruen Howell.png
}}

'''James Bruen Howell''' (July 4, 1816 - June 17, 1880) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician. The son of a [[United States Congress|Congressman]] from [[Ohio]], Howell served as an appointed [[United States senator]] from [[Iowa]] for slightly over one year.

==Biography==

===Early years===

James B. Howell was born July 4, 1816, near [[Morristown, New Jersey]], the son of Elias and Eliza Howell.<ref name=NCAB>"James B. Howell," ''National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Volume 9.'' New York: James T. White and Company, 1899; pg. 450.</ref> The family moved west to [[Newark, Ohio]], in 1819, where James attended the [[state school|public schools]], graduating from high school in Newark.<ref name=NCAB /> James' father, [[Elias Howell]], was prominent in Ohio politics and was elected to the [[Ohio State Senate]] in 1830 and to [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] as a member of the [[Andrew Jackson|anti-Jacksonian]] [[National Republican Party]] in 1836.<ref name=NCAB />

James Howell graduated from [[Miami University]], located in [[Oxford, Ohio]], in 1837.<ref name=NCAB /> Following graduation Howell studied law for two years under Judge Hoeking H. Hunter of [[Lancaster, Ohio]], gaining admission to the [[bar (law)|Ohio state bar]] in 1839.<ref name=NCAB /> Following his admission to the bar, Howell opened a law practice in his hometown of Newark.<ref name=NCAB />

Troubled by ill health, in 1841 Howell decided to move to a more satisfactory locale.<ref name=NCAB /> He settled upon the tiny town of [[Keosauqua, Iowa|Keosauqua]] in [[Van Buren County, Iowa|Van Buren County]] in the territory of [[Iowa]], where he opened a new legal office and began to rebuild a legal practice.<ref name=NCAB />

===Political career===

Soon after arriving in Iowa, Howell became actively involved in the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], one of the two major American political parties of the day.<ref name=NCAB /> 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.<ref name=NCAB /> Howell subsequently gave up law to dedicate himself to full-time editorship of his partisan newspaper.<ref name=NCAB />

At the end of 1846 Iowa was admitted to the United States and a period of protracted growth followed. In 1849 Howell moved with his newspaper to the booming Iowa town of [[Keokuk, Iowa|Keokuk]], located on the southeastern tip of the state, renaming the publication the ''Gate City Daily.''<ref name=NCAB /> In his role as editor, Howell was a consistent opponent of [[slavery in the United States]] and to the ultra-[[nationalism|nationalist]] movement known as [[Know-Nothingism]].<ref name=NCAB />

As was the case with many Whigs, Howell shifted his political allegiance to the new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] during the middle years of the 1850s.<ref name=NCAB /> He was a signer of the convention call to establish the Republican Party in Iowa and a delegate from the state to the [[1856 Republican National Convention]] held in [[Philadelphia]]. Howell was himself a frequent, albeit unsuccessful, Republican candidate for state and national office in the period.<ref name=NCAB />

Following the national Republican victory of 1860, Howell appointed as [[postmaster]] of Keokuk, then a [[political patronage|political position]]. He served in that role from 1861 to 1866. An accident which crippled him for life left Howell unfit for enlistment in the Union cause during the [[American Civil War]], although he remained a bitter opponent of the Southern rebellion.<ref name=NCAB />

In 1870, the [[Iowa General Assembly]] elected Howell to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[James W. Grimes]].<ref name=clark>Dan Elbert Clark, "[https://archive.org/details/historyofsenator00clar History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa.]" Iowa City, IA: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1912; pp. 143-49.</ref>   He served out the end of Grimes' term from January 18, 1870, to March 4, 1871, but was not a candidate for reelection to the Senate. He was one of three commissioners of the court of Southern claims appointed by President [[Ulysses Grant]] in 1871 to adjust claims for stores and supplies and served until 1880.<ref name=NCAB />

===Death and legacy===

Howell died June 17, 1880, in Keokuk at the age of 63. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery.

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|James B. Howell}}
* {{Find a Grave|9174901}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=Iowa
|class=2
|before=[[James W. Grimes]]
|after=[[George G. Wright]]
|alongside=[[James Harlan (senator)|James Harlan]]
|years=1870&ndash;1871}}
{{s-end}}

{{USSenIA}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, James B.}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1880 deaths]]
[[Category:Iowa lawyers]]
[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]
[[Category:Iowa Republicans]]
[[Category:People of the Six Years' War]]
[[Category:Politicians from Newark, Ohio]]
[[Category:Miami University alumni]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Iowa]]
[[Category:Politicians from Morristown, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Morristown, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from Keosauqua, Iowa]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]