He attended Smithville Seminary[1] and in 1848 he studied law in the office of future Rhode Island Governor William W. Hoppin.

In 1858, Howard abandoned his law practice to open a New York City office for his father-in-law's business.

When Elisha Harris died in 1861, Howard returned to Rhode Island to take a larger role in managing the company.

In 1876, he served once again a delegate to the National Republican Convention, and in 1878 he was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes as an assistant commissioner to the Paris Exposition.

The consistent output of their engines prompted Thomas Edison to use them for his Pearl Street Station power plant in New York.