Edwards, Rev. Jonathan.  "An Illustrated History of Spokane County, State of
Washington."  San Francisco: W. H. Lever, 1900.  p. 509.
 
JESSE HOWELL

     A pioneer of June 24, 1879, was born at Marion, Grant county, Indiana, in
1847.  When fifteen years old he moved into Iowa and became a private in Company
H., Thirty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, which formed a part of the Fourth
Division of the Fifteenth Corps under Logan.  He was in the army until July 12,
1865, saw much of the hardest fighting of the war and was with Sherman in the
Atlanta campaign and on the famous march to the sea.  He was wounded at one
time, his leg being broken by a stone struck by a cannon ball.  After the war he
traveled for several years, then located at Earlham, Iowa, where he taught
school and ran a furniture store until the spring of 1879. He then came to
Spokane and followed the carpenter trade until 1882, when he moved onto a
homestead a mile and a half west of Wayside.  He has resided there ever since,
farming and occasionally working at the carpenter trade in Spokane.  He is a
public-spirited citizen, takes an active part in local affairs and is well liked
and highly respected by his neighbors  generally.  Mr. Howell is a charter
member of A. J. Smith Post, No. 72, G.A.R., of Wayside, and has been commander
of this post and also of the Union Veteran Association.  He is also affiliated
with the F. & A. M. of Spokane and is a charter member of the A.O.U.W.  Mr.
Howell helped organize the first Masonic lodge in Spokane county, probably in
February and March, 1880.  He was married in Iowa in November, 1872, to Miss
Jane Frazee, of that state.  They have six children, namely:  Henry E., Emma,
Erwin, Raymon, Myrtle and Lottie.  Mr. Howell preserves as a keepsake one of the
first chairs ever imported into Spokane.  They were shipped here by J. M.
Glover.

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Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in March 2006 by Diana Smith.

Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.