Steamboat operator, businessman, municipal official.
Born at Boone County, Iowa in the United States of America on 22 August 1847, at the age of 14 he joined Union Army of the American Civil War and served as a drummer boy with the 16th Iowa Infantry Regiment for three years, suffering injury during one of the battles he participated in. After hostilities ended, he moved from Iowa to Bismark, North Dakota by the first half of the 1870s and immigrated into Manitoba in June 1875. Between 1875-1883, he worked in the railroad contracting business for the Canadian Pacific Railway, including work on the branch line to Selkirk (1882-1883) and also dabbled as a hotelier, operating the Canada Pacific Hotel (sold to J. H. Montgomery), Lisgar Hotel (sold to Martin O’Donohoe).
Around 1883, he began involvement in the fishing, lumber, and transportation industries, and started operating steamboats along the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, and went into business with Daniel “Dan” Daly. Ships he commanded included the Sultana, Lady of the Lake, and Millie Howell, the last of which he named for his eldest daughter. He was a founding partner of the Selkirk Fish Company, Drake Lumber Company (1903), and the Great Nothern Gold Mines Limited (1908). In the 1908 Selkirk election, he was elected Ward One Councillor (1909-?). In 1912, he left his Captaincy for a federal governemnt posting based in Selkirk as the Inspector of Fisheries in Manitoba (1912-1919, succeeded by William Henry Overton) and fulfilled that position until his death.
On 17 September 1881, he married Mary Jane Scarry (1861-1946) at Winnipeg . They lived at Selkirk and had five children; James Clinton Howell (1883-?, died in infancy), Mildred Monica Mabel “Millie” Howell (1884-1971, wife of Lawrence Henry Duggan, remarried to William Raymond “Toby”Sexsmith), Charles Spencer Montgomery Howell (1886-1918), Florence Lillian Mary Howell (1888-1980), and Anna Alberta “Annie” Howell (1892-1981, wife of Edward William Maloney).
He died at Selkirk on 3 June 1919 and was buried in the Mapleton Cemetery.
Birth [James Clinton Howell, Charles Spencer Howell, Florence Lillia Howell, Mildred Mabel Howell], marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Mildred Monica Sexsmith, Florence Lillian Howell, Anna Alberta Maloney], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
1901 & 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
1916 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
“A five million dollar co.” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 April 1908, page 4.
“The municipal contest,” Selkirk Weekly Record, 27 November 1908, page 1.
“Towns and villages,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 December 1908, page 1.
“Selkirk officers make a catch,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 August 1912, page 2.
“Looking backwards [Thirty years ago 1882],” Manitoba Free Press, 5 September 1912, page 1.
“Government tug wrecked on lake,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 November 1912, page 29.
“Fishing trip was expensive,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 May 1915, page 5.
“Selkirk not alarmed,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 April 1916, page 3.
“Captain J. A. Howell, Selkirk old timer dead,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 June 1919, page 7.
“Capt. J. A. Howell dies at Selkirk,” Winnipeg Telegram, 4 June 1919, page 5.
Obituary [William Henry Overton], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 September 1919, page 3.
“Record of J. Howell, Selkirk pioneer unequalled in excitement, variety,” Selkirk Enterprise and Lake Winnipeg Argus, 23 March 1960, page 1.
Obituary [Florence Howell], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 August 1980, page 36.
Selkirk: The First Hundred Years by Barry Potyondi, 1981.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 22 May 2021
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