Robert Beecher HOWELL, Congress, NE (1864-1933)

HOWELL, Robert Beecher, a Senator from Nebraska; born in Adrian, Lenawee County, Mich., January 21, 1864; attended the public schools; graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., in 1885; attended the Detroit School of Law; moved to Omaha, Nebr., for his health in 1888; State engineer of Nebraska 1895-1896; city engineer of Omaha 1896-1897; lieutenant in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War; member, State senate 1902-1904; member of the Omaha Water Board and its successor, the Metropolitan Utilities District 1904-1923; general manager of the Metropolitan Utilities District 1912-1923; elected Republican national committeeman in 1912, 1916, and 1920; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of Nebraska in 1914; lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve Force 1917-1923; chairman of the radio commission, United States Post Office Department 1921; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1922; reelected in 1928, and served from March 4, 1923, until his death in Washington, D.C., March 11, 1933; chairman, Committee on Claims (Seventieth through Seventy-second Congresses); interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Omaha, Nebr.

Bibliography

O’Brien, Patrick G. “Senator Robert B. Howell: A Midwestern Progressive and Insurgent During Normalcy.” Emporia State Research Studies 19 (December 1970): 1-28; U.S. Congress. Memorial Services. 73rd Cong., 2nd sess., 1934. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1934.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present