lawyer, soldier, politician, b. Turner, Maine. He moved to Green Bay in 1846, read law with his uncle, Timothy Otis Howe (q.v.), and was admitted to the bar in 1848. From 1849 to 1851 he practiced law with his uncle, and later conducted a private practice in Green Bay. A Republican, he was state attorney general (Jan. 1860-Oct. 1862) but resigned before the expiration of his term to enter the Union army. He was colonel of the 32nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1862-1864). After resigning his commission, he returned to Wisconsin, and for a time served as general solicitor for the Chicago and Northwestern R.R. with offices in Chicago. He later moved to Kenosha, and from 1874 to 1875 was U.S. district judge for the eastern district of Wisconsin. He later resumed his work with railroad law and from 1876 to 1892 was solicitor for the Chicago, St. Paul and Omaha R.R. Co. He resigned in 1892, and died a year later in Boston, Mass. J. R. Berryman, ed., Bench and Bar of Wis. (2 vols., Chicago, 1898); Military Order of Loyal Legion, Wis. Commandery, Circular 226 (1893); Wis. Mag. Hist., 35.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the James Henry Howe Letters for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]