Alfred Augustus Howe was born on December 29, 1817 to Anthony Walker and Tenah Howe in Wilmington, North Carolina. His father was formerly enslaved to Colonel Robert Howe, who upon his death, left instructions for the manumittance of Walker so that his children would be free and would bear the name Howe. Following in the path of his father and brothers, Alfred was a successful builder in Wilmington. He was also a member of the Wilmington Board of Aldermen (1869), was elected to the School Committee of Wilmington Township, and served in various roles including City Assessor, Director of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Bank, and President of the Board of Directors of Pine Forest Cemetery.

Howe married Mary Moore Walker in 1840 and the couple had six children. In 1887, he built a home at the corner of Third and Queen streets (where he was born), and his descendants occupied this home until 1984. Howe was involved in an incident in Wilmington on July 31, 1892 in which he became engaged in a conflict with a motorman on the street railway, J. M. Kelly, who struck him over the head with a brass motor crank. As an elderly man in ill health, he was unable to survive the attack and died on October 6, 1892. Howe is buried in Pine Forest Cemetery. Kelly was acquitted when tried for manslaughter in the case, however he was involved in subsequent violent attacks on other whites. In 1896, he was convicted of first degree murder in Jacksonville, Florida and was later hung.

Howe's youngest daughter, Rebecca Jane (b. September 2, 1863), married Robert McDonald, and the couple had four children: Nada McDonald Cotton (b. April 13, 1895), Alfreda McDonald Blake (b. July 29, 1896), Edna McDonald Goodman (b. January 29, 1898), and Crummell Howe McDonald (b. October 13, 1899). All of the McDonald children became educators. Crummell was a longtime Principal in Wilmington schools, including Williston Primary School, Peabody School, and Gregory School.