Clark Howell was born on September 21, 1863, in Erwinton, in Edgefield County, South Carolina, to Julia A. Erwin and Evan P. Howell. During the American Civil War his mother was in South Carolina while his father, Captain Evan Howell, served in the infantry and commanded a Confederate artillery battery. After the war, Howell's father moved the family to Atlanta where the senior Howell cut and sold timber from family land. Two years later, Evan Howell found employment as a reporter and city editor for the Atlanta Intelligencer. In 1876, Evan Howell bought a half interest in the Atlanta Constitution from Col. E.Y. Clarke. The other half interest was owned by William A. Hemphill, future mayor of Atlanta, who retained his half ownership interest and his position as the paper's business manager until 1901.
