Justice George Vail Howk
(Twenty-eighth Justice)

Justice Howk was born September 21, 1824, in Charlestown, Indiana, and died January 13, 1892 in New Albany, Indiana.³⁵⁸

He studied law with Charles Dewey (the Seventh Justice) and later married Justice Dewey’s daughter.³⁵⁹ He held a variety of public posts. He was a New Albany City Judge from 1852 to 1853 and served several terms as a New Albany City Councilman between 1850 and 1863. He was an Indiana State Representative in 1863 and an Indiana State Senator in 1867 and 1869. He was elected to the post of judge in the 6th Court of Common Pleas District in 1858. Howk was elected to the Indiana Supreme Court and served as justice from 1877 to 1889. He then returned to private law practice and later was appointed Floyd Circuit Court Judge.³⁶⁰

Source: Browning, Minde C., Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt. "Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices." Indiana Law Review: Vol. 30, No. 1, 1997. View this source in PDF format.