GEORGE IRVING HOWELL, Buffalo, New York.
Amongst the positive characters of the B. L. E. and one whose judgment in matters of arbitration, etc., is largely relied upon by his comrades, is George Irving Howell of Buffalo. Born in Ossin, Allegheny County, New York, on December 26, 1850, he attended school until the age of 18 years, securing a fundamental education upon which may be based much of his success in his chosen calling. Mr. Howell did not enter upon railroad life immediately on leaving school but for two years and a half he ran a stage line. In 1870 he entered upon his railroad career as a brakeman on the Rochester Division of the Erie Railroad and he has continued in the employ of that company ever since. After braking for a month he began firing on April 13, 1871, which he continued until September I, 1879, when he was promoted. Engineer Howell, as he was henceforth known, ran extra at first, then was assigned to a passenger train between Buffalo and Lockport. The greater part of his twenty years' experience as engineer has been put in on freight engines; he is now running trains 79 and 82 between Buffalo and Hornellsville on engine 1025, "Mother Hubbard" pattern, which run he has held for ten consecutive years.

He has been wonderfully fortunate in never having received a personal injury notwithstanding the fact that he has figured in several wrecks and collisions. When running engine 78 Mr. Howell drew all the general officers of the road over his division, and while on 391 he made a special run taking the judges of different courts from Buffalo to Hornellsville to attend the funeral of Judge White at Belmont.

Mr. Howell was married October 27, 1887, to Miss Carrie Belle Albright of Lockport, New York. Mrs. Howell has proved herself to be a helpmate to her husband in the best and fullest acceptation of that word, and has ever been in full accord with him in his profession. She has for some time past been a prominent member of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and is past president. Mr. and Mrs. Howell may be considered as patterns of domesticity, and by their thrift and frugality and Mr. Howell's attention to business, have been enabled to purchase a handsome home at No. 336 North Division Street, one of the prettiest blocks in the neighborhood. Mrs. Howell is a woman of undoubted ambition and her talent and perseverance have been instrumental attributes to her husband's success. Mr. Howell's father, a well-known boniface of Western New York, died last March at the advanced age of 73; his mother is still alive, and her closing years have been made happy by her son's devotion. Mrs. Howell's parents are both living at Oak Orchard, Orleans County.

Mr. Howell has never taken a prominent part in politics but is well known in many societies. He is a member of F. & A. M., No. 331, and also Buffalo Council, Royal Arcanum, No. 66, as well as A. F. I. U., Council No. 73, of Buffalo. On March 9, 1874, he was initiated into the B. of L. F., joining Erie Lodge, No. 2, at Hornellsville, the second lodge of its kind in this country. After his promotion to the rank of engineer he immediately identified himself with the B. of L. E., Buffalo Division No. 15, and in that body he has held the office of First Engineer. He is now Chairman of the Local Board of Adjustment in conjunction with Messrs. Knapp and Westfelt, and is also a member of the General Board of Adjustment of the B. of L. E. on the Erie Railroad. He was also elected Delegate to the third biennial convention of the G. I. B. of the B. of L. E., held in St. Louis May 11, 1898. Mr. Howell, in spite of his 49 years, is a very young looking man, and at first glance it seems a matter of surprise that he has attained such prominence in the Brotherhood and on the road.


Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.