Howell was born in Penmark, in the Vale of Glamorgan, and was christened at St Donats on 18 September 1816.
[1] In 1847, Howell was intrigued by a vigorous dispute in the area between Mormon missionaries and Baptist ministers.
[1] Jones was a fellow Welshman, who had emigrated to the United States, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had returned in 1845 as a missionary to Wales.
They were joined by William C. Dunbar a Scottish convert who had been sent to France via the Channel Islands to aid in the missionary work.
Howell opened a store in Council Bluffs and grew sick and died there in November.