My Genealogy Hound

John Howard, ex-county judge and farmer, of Sebastian County, is the son of John and Ellen (Claypool) Howard. The Howard family originally came from England. Two brothers came to America about the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. One entered the army and the other the navy. The one who enlisted in the army is the great-grandfather of John Howard, subject of this sketch. The latter’s grandfather moved from Virginia to Kentucky at a very early date, being among the earliest settlers of that State. John Howard, Sr., was born in Virginia, and when his father moved across the mountains to Kentucky he and his sister were carried across a horse, one in each end of a sack. Ellen (Claypool) Howard was born in North Carolina, and when a child her parents also moved to Kentucky. In this State she met Mr. Howard, and they were married in Warren County in 1835. They afterward moved to Warren County, Ill., where the mother died in 1845 and the father in 1853. He was a farmer all his life, a Democrat in politics, and both were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Their family consisted of ten children, five sons and five daughters. John Howard, Jr., the eldest child living, and the eighth in order of birth, was born December 9, 1817. He attained his growth on a farm, and being obliged to work hard while young, as a consequence his education was neglected. At the age of twenty he began business for himself as a farmer, and March 15, 1838, he married Miss Phoebe J. Coy, who was born near Elizabethtown, Ky., April 17, 1820, and when a little girl her parents moved to Sangamon County, Ill., and later to Knox County, where she married Mr. Howard. They afterward located in Warren County, Ill., where they lived until 1847, when they moved to the “Lone Star State.” They remained here but a short time, and then came to Arkansas, located in Sebastian County, and here they have since made their home. Mr. Howard was a Whig until after the war, and since then he has affiliated with the Republican party. Toward the close of the war he was appointed county judge by Gov. Murphy, which position he held for about six years. For many years he has been justice of the peace; has lived in this county for forty years, and is a highly respected citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are the parents of two children, Nancy A., wife of James Blaylock, and Lemuel B., a farmer of the neighborhood. Mrs. Howard is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.