Upon her marriage to the son of New Jersey Governor Richard Howell, her father granted her a dowry of sixty slaves and two thousand acres of land in Mississippi.

Her mother was the illegitimate daughter of George Graham, a Scottish immigrant and planter, and Susanna McAllister, a Virginian woman.

One of her daughters, Varina, would later marry Jefferson Davis, the brother of Joseph, and serve as First Lady of the Confederate States of America.

[3] Throughout their marriage, Howell's husband worked as a planter, merchant, politician, cotton broker, banker, postmaster, and military commissary manager, but never secured long-term financial stability.

Howell's husband declared bankruptcy in 1875 and the family home, furnishings, and slaves were seized by creditors to be sold at public auction.

[15] Some of her belongings, including an étui and a floral needlework appliqué, are housed in the collection of the American Civil War Museum.