The Howell family has a long history in the United States. They trace their lineage to Edward Howell (1584-1655), who moved from Buckinghamshire, England to Southampton, New York in 1639. His descendant, Gideon Howell (1728-1803), moved from Southampton to Morris County, New Jersey, where the family remained for over a century.
Gideon Howell (1728-1803) was born to Edward Howell (1684-1772) and Abigail (Sanford) Howell (1694-1766) in Southampton on January 26, 1728. In 1753, he married Sarah Gordon (1732-1802), and they lived on his farm in Littleton, Morris County. They had nine children: Sarah (Howell) Fairchild Ball (1754-1833), Martha (Howell) Fairchild Ball (1756-1815), Ezekiel Howell (1758-1831), Abigail Howell (1761-1761), Hannah (Howell) Minton Osborn (1763-1828), Daniel Howell (1765-1790), Abigail (Howell) Badgley (1767-1832), Gaius Howell (1770-1826), and Elias P. Howell (1772-1829). Daniel Howell married Eunice Keen (1770-?) in 1789 and they moved to Miami Township, Ohio, where they experienced the tensions between Native Americans and white settlers in the area. In 1790, Daniel passed away from an illness, and his son, Daniel Gideon Howell (1790-1866), was born a month after his death.
Ezekiel Howell (1758-1831) was born on March 27, 1758. He served in the New Jersey militia and fought in the Battle of Springfield during the Revolutionary War. In 1786, he married Susannah Hill (1762-1851), and they had seven children: Anna (Howell) Ward (1787-1840), Eunice Howell (1789-1857), Daniel Howell (1791-1794), Calvin Howell (1792-1868), Sarah F. (Howell) Carpenter (1794-1863), Hannah Minton (Howell) Todd (1800-1885), and Edward Howell (1804-1878). The family lived together on the Howell family farm in Littleton. Sarah F. Howell married Reverend John Mapes Carpenter (1804-1890), and Hannah Minton Howell married David Todd (1800-1838).
Edward Howell (1804-1878) was born on March 27, 1804. He primarily worked as a farmer and tended to his and his sisters’ lands in Littleton. He also taught local children, served as the Hanover Township tax assessor, and was heavily involved with the Morristown Baptist Church (later known as the First Baptist Church). Additionally, on behalf of his district, Howell served in the New Jersey House of Assembly for two terms. He married Mary Lee (1809-1896) in 1831, and they had four children: William Lee Howell (1832-1833), Charles Edward Howell (1833-1835), George Washington Howell (1835-1901), and Susan Howell (1841-1928). Susan Howell attended the New Jersey State Normal School and took its Model School classes for one term in 1856 before returning home to be educated by local teachers. In 1864, she married Theodore M. Peck (1837-1897).
George Washington Howell (1835-1901) was born on December 21, 1835. Beginning in 1856, he attended the New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton. He later became a teacher there, working with students on mathematics, Latin, and Greek. After a brief move to Bordertown to pursue teaching in the area, he moved to Morristown and worked as a civil engineer, primarily for railroad lines. He also worked as the town surveyor and was responsible for the subdivisions of large tracts of land in the area. Howell was an active member of several organizations, including the Washington Association, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Morristown, the State Board of Education, the New Jersey Sanitary Association, the Young Men's Christian Association, and the Morris County Sunday School Association. He also pursued his interest in New Jersey geology and Howell family genealogy. In 1862, he married Rachel Melissa Cornish (1840-1898), and they had five children: Edward Howell (1866-1947), Charlotte K. Howell (1869-1948), Susan (Howell) Young (1871-1955), Mary Lee Howell (1872-1955), and Rachel C. (Howell) Champlin (1879-1927).
Edward Howell (1866-1947) was born on January 1, 1866. In 1889, he graduated from Rutgers University and became a civil engineer. His first wife was Nettie Lee French (1867-1915), and they had three children: Margaret Lee (Howell) Winchester (1892-1982), Edward Howell (1896-1975), and Eleanore French (Howell) Wright (1897-1995). His second wife was Adelaide Johnson (1871-1955). They pursued genealogical research into the Howell family.
The Howell Family Papers range from 1770 to 1948, with the bulk of materials dating from 1856 to 1898. The collection documents the lives of the Howells, a prominent Morris County family, as well as the lives of their neighbors. The records primarily relate to George W. Howell and his immediate family, and they document day-to-day farm life in Morris County, as well as George’s experiences at the New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton. Document types include correspondence, mortgages, wills, property deeds, bills, receipts, and journals. Of special interest are letters describing settler life in Miami Township, Ohio in the late eighteenth century and a phrenology report on George W. Howell. Also of note is correspondence pertaining to the Morristown Baptist Church (later known as the First Baptist Church), women’s education, the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum (later known as the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital), and political discussions around slavery.
This collection is arranged into four series: Correspondence, Genealogy Records, Financial and Legal Documents, and Personal Materials.
The Correspondence series includes four subseries divided by the principal correspondents: Gideon Howell, Edward Howell Extended Family and Neighbors, Lee Family, and George W. Howell.
The Correspondence series is described at the item level, while all other series are described at the folder level. Within each series, all materials are arranged chronologically.
H VF Howell; Howell I-Howell V - Howell Family Vertical files.
MSS H2 Misc; Morris County, NJ - Poor House, Indenture binding Sarah Sharp
This collection is open for research under the conditions set forth in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. All archival material should be handled with care and kept in its original order; notes may only be taken in pencil or with a computer, and food and drink are prohibited in the Reading Room. Records may be copied for scholarly or personal research using the edge scanner or a digital camera without flash; however, researchers must obtain copyright permission prior to publishing material from the collection.
The Howell Genealogy Papers and George W. Howell Correspondence collections were donated to the Morristown and Morris Township Library by Adelaide Johnson Howell on January 3, 1926. Miscellaneous Manuscripts materials were acquired through deed, gift, or purchase.
The Howell Family Papers, 1770-1948, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, Morristown and Morris Township Library.
These materials were originally processed separately as the Howell Genealogy Papers, the George W. Howell Correspondence collection, and multiple Miscellaneous Manuscripts files. The collection was reunited, reprocessed, and encoded by Assistant Archivist Katelyn Leffler in 2024.