Although an Advent Christian minister in later years, in 1845 John Howell had identified closely with the minority “Bridegroom” shut door Adventists. He publicly renounced this position in early 1846 and returned to majority Adventist views. Amid the Adventist theological controversies of the late 1840s and the 1850s, Howell sided with the conditionalists and joined the Advent Christians. 1EGWLM 848.3
In Ellen White's memoirs John Howell was remembered mostly for the active role he played in 1845 in attempting to discredit her visions. Howell's wife, Lucinda S. Howell (later Burdick), was also an active opponent of Ellen White. In the 1870s some of her charges were published in the Advent Christian press. 1EGWLM 848.4
See: Obituary: “Bro. Howell Sleeps in Jesus,” The World's Crisis, Jan. 8, 1862, p. 66; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “John Howell,” Vermont, Rutland County, Poultney, p. 243; David Tallmadge Arthur, “Come Out of Babylon,” p. 334; Lucinda S. Burdick, “Statement of Mrs. Lucinda Burdick, Concerning the Shut Door [and the] Visions of Ellen G. Harmon, 1908,” Ellen G. White Estate, DF 330; Miles Grant, The True Sabbath: Which Day Shall We Keep? An Examination of Mrs. Ellen White's Visions (Boston: Advent Christian Publication Society, 1874), p. 71; John Howell, “Letter From Bro. Howell,” Voice of Truth, Jan. 21, 1846, pp. 30, 31; John Howell, “Notices,” The Bible Advocate, Nov. 11, 1847, p. 112; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 49, 50. 1EGWLM 848.5