[2] When Howard was three years old, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C.,[3] where he purchased a plot of land directly across from Ford's Theatre and established a medical office.
[1] While there he shared Room 47, West Range with James Benjamin Sclater Jr.,[2] with whom he and four other men founded Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity on March 1, 1868.
[2] After leaving Georgetown, he worked for some time in the medical department of the National Museum,[2] now the Arts and Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution.
[2][1] He practiced law in Baltimore for five years,[2][1] As a lawyer he handled western land claims, one of which led him to moving his family to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1881.
[2] During approximately twenty years, Howard went into law partnership with Judge Wiliam A. Kerr, followed by former-governor William Rainey Marshall, and, then, J. M.
[2][1] His grave was unmarked for years, until his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity furnished a bronze plaque in his memory.