J. E. Howell was the youngest son of Peter Howell and wife Elizabeth Floyd Howell. James Edward (or sometimes seen as Edmond), was the one who stayed, who did not move west, who bought up the portions of his father's farm from his siblings who moved west, his unmarried sisters, and even his sister and brother-in-law, Julia and J. F. Capron, who settled around New London in Stanly County.
J. E. and Fannie Howell and family
In the above picture, seated are James E. Howell and wife Fannie Andrews Howell. Across the back are left to right: Eddie Cleveland Howell (in white rufflle-collared shirt, Ida Burch Howell, James Robert Howell (with moustache), Mary Ollie Howell, Lillie Francis Howell, William Marshall Howell (standing balding), John Astor Howell (boy on stool) and Virginia Elizabeth "Jenny" Howell. The baby in the front is granddaughter Nora Mae.
His father Peter Howell, before him, over time, had also "bought back" almost all of his father Richard Howell former property, who had died young in 1802, and had originally been one fourth of the Peter Winfield plantation, which before that had belonged to Hugh Ross.
J. E. Howell was very respected in his community of "Wharf" along the Rocky River on the Anson/Stanly Count border. He was active in his church, Concord Methodist, and a leader in the community.
James Howell, the younger, of Montgomery County, North Carolina, first shows up in the 1830 census in "East Pee Dee", meaning his family lived on the side of the Pee Dee River that remained Montgomery County after the division in 1841.
Name:
James Howell
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):
East of Pee Dee and Yadkin River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:
1 Unknown
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:
1 James Howell
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:
2 Missouri and Christina
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:
2 Ann and Elmira
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:
1 Unknown. Perhaps Regina
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39:
1 Sarah Moore Howell
Free White Persons - Under 20:
5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
3
Total Free White Persons:
8
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):
8
By the 1840 Census, Ann Howell was married to Joseph Downer, (1839) and the two sons had joined the family. And interestingly enough, the family had moved to Anson County. Death records for the youngest son, Alfred Dowd Howell, indicate that he was indeed, born in Anson County.
Name:
James Howell
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):
Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:
1 Alfred Dowd Howell
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9:
1 Thomas Jordan Howell
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49:
1 James Howell
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:
1 Christina Howell Ross
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:
1 Missouri Howell Shankle
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:
1 Elmira Howell Hough
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49:
1 Sarah Moore Howell
Persons Employed in Agriculture:
1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:
1
Free White Persons - Under 20:
5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
2
Total Free White Persons:
7
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:
7
1850 By 1850, the family dynamics were changing. Oddly, James and Sarah were living separately. James may have been conducting business or making plans. Sarah and her mother-in-law Judith, were living with the two young sons, in Montgomery County, enumerated immediately following her daughter Elmira, and her husband, William Newton Hough.
Judith Howell, mother of James, was not living with the family in the 1840 census. Her husband, Thomas, was alive at least until 1835, where he was making purchases, including a bonnet "for his wife", at the Daniel Freeman store in Lawrenceville, NC, according to the Freeman Ledgers at ncdigital.com.
There are 7 households of Howells in the 1840 census: John, Randle, Newton, William, Yancy, Mary and Martha. Martha was Martha Randle Howell, widow or wife of Jordan Howell the 1st. And Randle referred to her son, John Randle Howell. Newton Howell would become a merchant and an Innkeeper in Albemarle, once it was established.
The only Howell household with a woman it in old enough to be Judith was that of Mary Howell, who had two females in it, an older one between 60 and 70, and a younger one between 30 and 40.
Missouri and Willis have made their household in "Freemans" in the southern part of Stanly County. Missouri name her first son after her father, and her oldest daughter after her grandmother.
Christina, the youngest daughter, was also living in Stanly County. She and her husband, David Ross, son of Woodson and Mary Smith Ross, were living in Center, now known as Norwood, Stanly County, NC. There first daughter, Mary, had arrived, obviously named for her paternal grandmother.
So where was the family patriarch, James? Turns out, he was still in Anson County, in Wadesboro, living with the William P Kendall family. I've looked into the Kendall family a little bit and can't find a family link. In fact, the Kendalls would be a major undertaking on their own.
1860 James, Sarah and the elderly Judith Howell have moved to Mangum, just across the Montgomery County line into Richmond County. James is working as an Overseer, possibly for the Legrands, of whom several families preceed him on the page. He is putting on some age now, and his mother even more. Today, Mangum is about as "middle of nowhere" as one could be.
Ann Howelll Downer and her husband Joseph are living in Gulledge Township. In 1850, it was referred to as "Smith's", but likely the same place. Although they had no children, they took in a number of boarders, so that the laughter of children filled their home.
Elmira's family, in the meantime, had increased greatly in size. William, her husband, was also working as an Overseer, and they were living in Mount Gilead in Montgomery County, near C. W. Wooley and Levi Stacy.
Sister Missouri Howell Shankle and her family had moved across the river into Anson County, living in Cedar Hill, just below the Anson/Stanly County line.
Youngest Howell sister, Christina and her husband David have also moved from Stanly to Anson County, are living in Cedar Hill near the Shankles.
Brother Thomas Jordan Howell, who married Regina Moore in Montgomery County on 1856, has moved to Carroll County, Mississippi. He lives next to P. Simpson, and a Physcian, Dr. Charles McCaskill, who are also from North Carolina. As son Joseph is listed as having been born in Anson County, North Carolina, and only a year old and a 5 month old McCaskill child is the only one of his siblings listed as being born in Mississippi, I'd say their arrival had been within 9 months to a year.
Charles McCaskill had been a Postmaster in Anson County for awhile until 1856. He may have prompted T. J. Howell's move to Mississippi.
Name:
CharlesCMcCaskill
Post Office Location:
Morven, Anson, North Carolina
Appointment Date:
23 Sep 1850
Volume #:
16
Volume Year Range:
1844-1856
Dowd Howell, the youngest of the brood, was found living in Wadesboro with a Milliner named Elizabeth Hemby. Elizabeth was his mother-in-law and 17 year old Eugenia was his wife.
From The Wadesboro Argus:
January 26, 1860 issue
235. Married on the 16th Dec., by James A. LILES, Esq., Mr. D.W. HOWELL to Miss Eugenia HEMBY, all of this place.
He was listed as a Carriage Maker. Having a profession in a growing marketplace may have been why A. D. Howell remained in Anson County and did not follow his parents and siblings when they migrated away.
Then came war. Anson, close to South Carolina, was known as the land of plantations, much more so than Stanly or Montgomery Counties. There were the Ingrams, the Flakes, the Littles, the Wades, the Walls, the Crumps, the Culpeppers, the Colsons, the Lees, the Boggans, the Lilly's, the Caudles and Kikers, just to name a few.
Name:
A. DowdHowell
Side:
Confederate
Regiment State/Origin:
North Carolina
Regiment Name:
43 North Carolina Infantry
Regiment Name Expanded:
43rd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry
Company:
H
Rank In:
Private
Dowd Howell served as a Private in the 43rd North Carolina Infantry. He was stationed at Camp Holmes and recruited by a Capt. B. F. Moore. In July of 1862, he was promoted to Sgt. but on Nov. 17, of the same year, he was reduced to ranks under order of Col. Kenon. By June of 1863, he was sent to Camp Guiness by the surgeon of the unit for medical treatment. By Christmas he was working on a gunboat at Kinston. Shortly after that assignment, he is listed as a Prisoner of War. The 27 year old is listed on a Roll of Honor later on. A roll of prisoners of war informs that he was captured on September 19, 1864 at Winchester, Va and held at Fort McHenry, Maryland, until the end of the war.
He took an oath of allegiance in February of 1865 and returned home.
T J Howell served in Mississippi.
Name:
ThomasJHowell
Rank at enlistment:
Private
State Served:
Mississippi
Brother-in-Law Willis Shankle enlisted in North Carolina and fought in Virginia, being taken as a Prisoner-of-War.
Name:
Willis Shankle
Residence:
Richmond, Virginia, North Carolina
Occupation:
Farmer
Age at Enlistment:
37
Enlistment Date:
19 Mar 1862
Rank at enlistment:
Private
Enlistment Place:
Richmond, Virginia
State Served:
North Carolina
Survived the War?:
Yes
Service Record:
Enlisted in Company E, North Carolina 52nd Infantry Regiment on 28 Apr 1862.
Birth Date:
abt 1825
There are no records of the other "Brother-in-laws" fighting in the War. There was a David Ross in Illinois, but the family had not removed yet in that direction.
1870
This was the decade of changes for the family. I have their time of migration as around 1866. The year after the Civil War ended.
Thomas Jordan Howell and family remained in Mississippi. Oldest daughter Ann Howell Hough and youngest son Dowd Howell, remained in Anson County, but the three other sisters, Missouri, Christina and Elmira, along with their elderly parents, James and Sarah, and even older grandmother, Judith, relocated to Hancock County, Illinois.
Hancock County is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Located above the states of Missouri and Mississippi, we on the East Coast normally do not think of Illinois when it comes to the river.
William, Elmira, and their large family are living in the community of Harmony in the 1870 cenus, and with them are not only septinarians, James and Sarah Howell, but 98 year old Judy. One would have thought with as rough as travel was in those days, wagon or train at best, and the distance involved, that they would have stayed in North Carolina with Ann, who had no children, or with Dowd, who only had one, and not yet.
Closer scrutiny of the actual record show William as a farmer, and James "at his daughters" and dittos beside Sara's name with "her" in place of "his" and beside Judy's name, "Grand", with dittos under "at", "her" and "daughter's". The entire household, including 5 year old Preston, is listed as having been born in North Carolina.
Oldest Hough son John Alexander had already married before the trip, to Martha Ann Andrews on November 4, 1865, in Montgomery County. He had also served in the Civil War. Their oldest son, William Howell Hough, age 3, was listed as having been born in North Carolina, while three-month old Alice, was born in Illinois.
were layed out rather squarely. While his parents settled in Harmony township, John Armstrong Hough purchased land in St. Mary's.
In the book, "The History of Hancock County, Illinois" an account of a tornado or windstorm that occured in the 1870's includes this portion of the account, "Further on Mr. John Elder's barn recieved a gentle hint that it was not in the right place. and moving it a few feet and turning it around, the tornado moved on to the Huff farm.
Here was an excellent two- story frame house and a good barn. Mr. Huff was absent. Mrs Huff, her three children and two nieces were in or about the house. Mrs. Huff said her son first observed the coming storm and its threatening character, and advised his mother and the children to get into the cellar, which all did at once except Mrs. Huff who proceeded quickly to fasten the doors and windows. This done, she ran partly up a stairway on the west side of the house where there was a window. She saw the tornado strike the stable which was two or three rods distant, and lift it whirling in the air. She then ran into the cellar and in an instant, the kitchen and whole upper part of the house was blown away. The family escaped without injury. The wreck at this place was complete." "Another paragraph is given and then another member of the Hough/Huff family comes into play. "John Huff's house and barn on the township line, were next attacked and blown to pieces. Mr. Huff escaped with a painful hurt. .....nothing was hardly left but kindling wood, and that scattered up and down the road and through adjacent fields." July 4, 1873
Christena and David Ross and their girls were also living in Saint Mary's township. David's profession was given as a Shoemaker.
Other sister, Missouri and her husband Willis Shankle were farming in Harmony, near the Houghs and Missouri's parents. Their family had grown to seven children.
Back in North Carolina, Dowd Howell was still living in Wadesboro. His first wife, Eugenia Hemby Howell, had died young and Dowd remarried to Mary Collen Allen in 1867. His profession was given as a Woodworker.
Ann Howell Downer and husband Joseph were living in Lilesville in Anson County and had several young farm hands working for them. Catherine Henley still lived with them as well.
Elmira Whitfield Howell Hough becomes the first of the siblings to pass away and does not make the 1880 census. Her N. C. relatives must have lost track of the Illinois family, as the 1906 ad mentions her as if she were still alive. She died March 25, 1875 and was buried at Holland Cemetery in Hancock County, Illinois. Her husband, William out-lived her by a long time, however.
In 1877, William married Harriett Lewton Workman, daughter of Isaac Lewton from Washington, Carroll County, Ohio (Seems like almost every state, except N. C. has a Carroll County), widow of Samuel H. Workman, whose family had migrated to Illinois about the same time as the Howell group. William's youngest son Preston, was still in the home and one of the older sons, Joseph Moody Howell, had been recently widowed and moved back home with young Frederick.
In the meantime, the Shankles had moved to Schuyler County, to the east of Hancock.
The younger two daughters had married, while Sarah James Ross remained in the paternal home. It is speculated that the "J" in Christina's middle initial might have also stood for James, but that I have not found. Could it have been for her father, James Howell? Sister Elmira bore the middle name of Whitfield, as revealed in records of son John Armstrong Hough. He even gave the moniker to one of his children. Could this perhaps have been Judith's maiden name, or was grandson Hezekiah Kendall Hough the bearer of her heritage?
None of the elder Howells, James, Sarah or Judith, made it to 1880, presumably being buried in Hancock County, Illinois.
1880 would be the last time we see Thomas Jordan Howell, in BlackHawk, Carroll County, MS.
In Mississippi, Frederica, the youngest daughter of Thomas Jordan Howell had passed away on June 16, 1899 and left husband George Pullen with two young sons, Howell Evans Pullen and George Frederick Pullen.
Mother Regina Moore Howell outlived him by 2 years. passing on December 26, 1898.
Back in Illinois, William Newton Hough had remarried to a widow, Harriett Lewton Workman, daughter of Isaac Lewton of Ohio and widow of Samuel H. Workman, whose family had also migrated to Shcuyler County, Illinois. In 1900, the elderly couple were living with Harriett's youngest son, John J. Workman and his family, and they had relocated again, to Hall County, Nebraska. John J. Workman and family would eventually end up living in Los Angeles, California.
William N. Hough would pass away in 1908, and be buried in Calloway, Custer County, Nebraska.
This is the county his youngest son, Preston W. Hough would settle in.
Preston Hough would leave enough mark in the community to be mentioned in a book on the History of Custer County, Nebraska:
In this book it says that Preston was born on June 13, 1865, near Williamsburg, North Carolina ?. (Williamsburg is in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Was this incorrect or was the family in transit northwest at this time?). "a son of William and Elmira W. (Howell) Hough, natives of that state and on the maternal side, he is a grandson of James and Juda (Moore) Howell. " This part was incorrect. Sarah was indeed a Moore, but Judith (or Juda) was the mother of James, and his Great-Grandmother, not his grandmother. The book also mentions that his family were farmers and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which the Howells that I believe they were connected to closely were also.
Preston was not the only member of his family to end up in a history book. His brother William Thomas Hough, one of the twins, did also, having remained in Illinois.
Missouri Howell Shankle was living with 2 of her children in 1900, but would pass away in 1905.
The longest lived of the family was Carriagemaker and mechanic, Alfred Dowd Howell, who lived until 1914. He was the only one to have a death certificate.
Name:
Alfred Dowd Howell
Gender:
Male
Race:
White
Age:
79
Birth Date:
2 Mar 1835
Birth Place:
Richmond
Death Date:
25 Mar 1914
Death Location:
Lanesboro;peachland, Anson
Father's name:
James Howell
Mother's name:
Sarah Moore
Dowd and Cristina were the only children of James and Sarah to make the 1910 census.
With the passing of Alfred Dowd Howell, that generation was over. Descendants of James and Sarah remain in Anson County, NC. Hancock and Shuyller Counties in Illinois, Custer County, Nebraska, California, Texas and Mississippi.
