George A. Howard was born in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina on September 22, 1829. Howard was involved in the temperance movement in Tarboro as a young man, and may have also joined the Sons of Temperance, a national group. He moved to Wilson, North Carolina, where he established himself as a Superior Court judge. He died in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina on February 24, 1905.