Dr. John Howitt was one of 10 children born to John "Quaker" Howitt (1805-1881) and Catherine Lees (1803-1842), with at least two others becoming doctors. John married Emily Rebecca Brewer (1838-1916) on 29 Nov 1856 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 4 children were born in Ontario, Canada; Dr, John Fritz Howitt (1859-1929) Dr. Henry Orton Howitt (1862-1953) Katherine Turner Howitt (1863-?) and my great grandfather Dr. Richard Irvine Howitt (1865-1910). His family moved from England to Guleph, Canada by 1836. Per Medical School, Victoria College, Coburg, he graduated June 1845; in 1846 he was, per obituary, working as a medical doctor in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In 1851, he graduated Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, USA. Per his obituary, he traveled to Australia in 1852, returning in June 1855 after a 3-4 year absence. Per Norfolk Street Methodist Church, he was a "Pew Holder". After his marriage to Emily Rebecca Brewer (listed in the Christian Guardian, Toronto= Wesleyan) he is listed in the Canadian City and Area Directories (1851, 1857, 1861, 1862, 1867) as John Howitt, Surgeon and physician.
See: The Medical Reg Upper Canada, 1867;
Coburn College History (http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/89-1066.htm);
Jefferson Medical School, Pennsylvania, page 53 (http://www.amazon.com/Jefferson-Philadelphia-Selected-Americana-Dictionary/dp/B00085C0I2/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340448184&sr=1-7&keywords=history+Jefferson+Medical+College+Philadelphia);
History of Jefferson Medical College, PA(http://books.google.com/books?id=2FQXAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Jeff+College,+Phil.+1851&source=bl&ots=C9Vk80bCCq&sig=WSD8392h4vR68kXAxQ7tSOwYmu0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r5zlT7ODBqas2wWMp9DZCQ&ved=0CFYQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=Jeff%20College%2C%20Phil.%201851&f=false);
Norfolk Street Methodist Church;
Wellington County GenWeb (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onwellin/pioneers/sunley_william.htm);
Rootsweb: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~methodists/howitt.htm;
Howitt Memorial Church: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~methodists/howittchurch.htm
Amicus, Canadian National Catalog, Library & Archives (http://amicus.collectionscanada.gc.ca/aaweb-bin/aamain/itemdisp?sessionKey=999999999_142&l=0&d=2&v=0&lvl=1&itm=29402813)
*** !!! image of the headstone copy right William Cooke, http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org !!! *** CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project (http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/293913?PHPSESSID=bba2cf7f82d0b512e5747ffda560b07c)
** per my grandfather, he was buried under his favorite Oak tree on his father's farm, "La Grange" in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.