Jewell graduated from Dartmouth College in 1844. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1847 where he began his legal career and became active in local and state politics. He wed Susan A. Bradley on December 26, 1849.[3][4][5]
Jewell was originally a Whig until the dissolution of the party in the 1850s and later became a Republican. In 1861 he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was re-elected for the 1862 session. He returned again to serve from 1866 until 1871, serving his last four 1-year terms as Speaker. Jewell acquired a reputation for "able and impartial rulings." After his retirement from the general court, he served on the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims from 1875 to 1876.[1]
At his residence on Beacon Street in Boston, he owned "a magnificent library, stored with the choicest and most valuable gems of literature." Jewell was an enthusiastic fisherman, and an expert in the capture of striped bass off the rocks at Swampscott, Massachusetts, where he had a summer cottage.[6]
Jewell died at his home in Boston at the age of 61 on December 8, 1881.[1] He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.[7]