Evan Howell

Evan Park Howell (December 10, 1839 – August 6, 1905) was an American politician and early telegraph operator, as well as an officer in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

Early years and education Evan Howell was born on December 10, 1839, to Effie Howell (née Park) and Atlanta pioneer Clark Howell, Sr. in Warsaw, Georgia (then in Forsyth County, now Fulton County) on December 10, 1839. He became a runner and pupil of Atlanta's first telegraph operator, D.U. Sloan, at the age of twelve. In 1855, he attended Georgia Military Institute in Marietta. He read law in Sandersville, and briefly practiced law in Atlanta before the outbreak of war.

Military service In 1861, he joined the infantry, enlisting in Georgia's First Regiment. He ended the war in Hardee's Corps as captain of Howell's Battery, Georgia Light Artillery.

Business and political career Upon his return, he farmed for two years, clearing and selling lumber on his father's land near Atlanta. Then for a year he was a reporter, then city editor, of Atlanta's Daily Intelligencer. In 1869, he returned to practicing law and served in a number of political positions including member of city council, member of the state Senate, and solicitor-general of the Atlanta circuit. One of his law clients was The Atlanta Constitution, where he learned E.Y. Clarke was willing to sell his one half interest in the paper. His son Clark Howell took up his mantle at the Constitution.