1. “...a gallant and distinguished soldier of the Revolution... Joseph Howell Jr. was possessed of the militant spirit, and amidst the clash of arms, found an environment to his liking...” [48]

2. Joseph Howell Jr. entered the American army soon after the commencement of the Revolution, recruited, at his own expense, a company of infantry, of which he was commissioned captain, March 15, 1776. His company was made a part of Colonel Samuel Atlee’s Battalions of General Anthony Wayne’s brigade. He participated in the Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, in which he was wounded, taken prisoner, and incarcerated in the celebrated prison ship, Jersey, where so many brave soldiers met a lingering death. After his release, he having been exchanged, December 9, 1776, for Captain Livingston, of the British army, he was appointed paymaster of the 2nd Pennsylvania line, commanded by Colonel Walter Stewart, but his health having been so impaired by the hardships he had undergone as to prevent further active service in the field, he resigned this post, October 1, 1778, and accepted the position of auditor of accounts of the War Department, which position he held until the adoption of the Federal Constitution, when he was appointed Paymaster General of the Army, with the rank of Major, by President Washington. This office he held until his decease. He was secretary of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati, from 1791 to 1793. The Golden Eagle insignia of the order and blue ribbon of the Cincinnati, and also his portrait by Peal, are now in possession of his eldest surviving grandson, Henry Washington Howell, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
The death of Joseph Howell Jr. occured August 8, 1798. The Gazette of the following day said:
Died this morning, after a lingering illness, in the forty-eighth year of his age, Joseph Howell Esq., late acting Paymaster General of the United States, and a much respected veteran of the late Revolution. [48]