After moving his family from Virginia to Mississippi, Joseph Kempe also bought land in Louisiana. When his daughter married Howell, he gave her a dowry of 60 slaves and 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land.[4] William Howell worked as a planter, merchant, politician, postmaster, cotton broker, banker, and military commissary manager, but never secured long-term financial success. He lost the majority of Margaret's sizable dowry and inheritance through bad investments and their expensive lifestyle.