USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume II > Part 81
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Mr. Powell was a notably eccentric man and no one in Henry County was ever like him in oddity of manners and of speech. He was very quick and active and in the purchase or sale of a farm scarcely a dozen words would be used by him. Probably as large a gift as he ever made was when, although at the time a comparatively poor man, he paid the entire debt of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New Castle, then occupying the frame building which stood on the ground recently purchased and now used by the Board of Trustees of New Castle.
During the great cholera epidemic of 1833 and also that of 1849, when every per- son who could apparently left New Castle to escape the ravages of that dread disease, John Powell and his wife remained aud gave their services to the needy, the sick and the dying. They were without fear and more than all put their trust in God.
Summing up in a general way, it may be said that John Powell was, during his whole life in New Castle, one of its foremost citizens and that he was intensely inter- ested in everything that had for its object the good of the town and of the county at large. He was a progressive man and strongly favored internal improvements. He supported the building of the Whitewater Canal from Hagerstown, Wayne County, to Cincinnati, which was used, however, from Cambridge City only. He gave his personal attention to that enterprise and contributed liberally of his means. That canal is now
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a memory only, hut during its use it gave to Cambridge City a commercial importance which placed it in the front rank of towns in eastern Indiana.
He was also a prominent figure in the building of what has since become the Pan- handle Railroad, extending from Richmond to Logansport and thence to Chicago. Asso- ciated with him in this enterprise were Judge Jehu T. Elliot, Judge Martin L. Bundy, Colonel Miles Murphey, Joshua Holland, John C. Hudelson, John W. Grubbs, Eli Mur- phey and Daniel Bradbury, of Greensfork, Wayne County. He was likewise personally identified with what is now the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, extending from Fort Wayne to Cincinnati via New Castle, Cambridge City and Connersville. He favored the building of all the turnpikes which had existence prior to his death. Mr. Powell was a member of the lower House of the General Assembly of Indiana during the session of 1847 and had as his colleague Simon Summers, of Middletown.
Touching his interests in land, it may be stated that he sold to the late Jehu T. El- Iiott the farm adjoining New Castle, which now belongs to the Elliott heirs; and to Judge Martin L. Bundy the Bundy farm, two miles south of New Castle. Mr. Powell also owned one hundred and sixty acres, four miles north; one hundred and sixty acres northwest; two hundred and fifty acres, three miles west, and eighty acres east of New Castle. He was also the owner of other tracts of land in Henry County and hundreds of acres in Clinton, Grant, Wells and other counties in the northern part of the State. Land which cost him an entrance fee of one dollar and a quarter per acre has since sold for as much as one hundred dollars per acre. Mr. Powell has been heard to say that he could have been worth twice as much as he was had he cared to be, and there is a volume contained in his statement that he was never either plaintiff or defendant in a court of justice. As a taxpayer he was rated the second highest in the county.
Mr. Powell was an uncompromising opponent of the use of liquor and tobacco in any form. He was a true Christian and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, faithful in his attendance upon its worship and liberal in his support of its many benefactions. The passage of Scripture contained in Matthew, 6-33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall he added unto you," he made the rule of his life. His last work was the founding, in association with others, of beautiful South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, of which he became, at the early age of fifty-two years, nine months and twenty-five days, May 19, 1859, the first occupant.
On September 28, 1828, soon after coming to New Castle, John Powell was united in marriage with Lydia Collett, of Brookville, Indiana. She lived but a short time, her death occurring March 6, 1830. Subsequently he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Creek, of near Liberty, Union County, Indiana, July 4, 1832. She was born November 30, 1813. To this union were born the following named children: Charles Collett, March 30, 1833; Martin Luther, February 12, 1840; Albert, September 5, 1842; Samantha, June 4, 1845; Sophronia, June 9, 1847, who died August 23, 1865; George, June 30, 1850, and Elizabeth, April 4, 1853. John Powell died May 17, 1859, and his widow, Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, died June 29, 1862.
CHARLES COLLETT POWELL.
( Son.)
Charles Collett Powell, the eldest son of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was born March 30, 1833, and was united in marriage March 11, 1858, with Mary Ellen Van Winkle, a sister of John Q. Van Winkle, the present general superintendent of the Big Four Railroad. She died the year following her marriage and Mr. Powell subsequently married Mary Jane, daughter of William and Jane Taylor, natives of Virginia, who lived near Frankton, Madison County, Indiana. To Charles Collett and Mary Jane (Tay- Ior) Powell were born four children, namely: Fletcher and Harriet F., who died in New Castle; Mary Ellen, who afterwards married Archibald Coulter; they have one daughter named Ellen; and Sophronia, who now resides with her mother at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio. Charles C. Powell died in New Castle May 19, 1883, and is buried in South Mound Cemetery. The funeral took place on May 21, 1883, a day long remembered from the fact that there were six inches of snow on the ground.
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Charles C. Powell received a good education and when about twenty-two years of age began his mercantile career at Quincy, now Elwood, Indiana, having for a partner the late Colonel Miles Murphey. They conducted what was then known as a general store and did a successful business for several years. Shortly after the death of his father and because of that event this arrangement was given up and Mr. Powell re- turned to New Castle, where he lived continuously until his death. He became a large stockholder in the First National Bank of New Castle and was for many years a director of that institution.
Charles C. Powell was a quiet, unassuming man, well informed as to current events, possessed of an excellent judgment, and whose truth, honor and integrity were never questioned. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from early childhood, and no man was more faithful to his religious duties than he. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternity. Like his father, he was pronounced in his temperance senti- ments, and again like his father, he was a quiet and unostentatious supporter of many charities. Mr. Powell, at his death, left his family well provided for, and the surviving members of his family, though living in Cincinnati, have large property interests in New Castle.
MARTIN LUTHER POWELL.
(Son.)
Martin Luther Powell, the second son of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was born February 12, 1840, and was united in marriage April 30, 1862, with Susan R., daughter of Jacob and Martha Byer. Jacob Byer was born in Fredericksburg, Mary- land, April 29, 1803, and was married to Martha Mitchell April 29, 1829. He was by trade a tanner, but became a farmer and moved to lands near Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where himself and family remained until 1849, when they came to New Castle, Henry County, Indiana, where they located on a farm adjoining New Castle on the east, which Mr. Byer purchased from the late Jacob Elliott in the year mentioned. In company with Henry Clunk, who also came from Pennsylvania, Jacob Byer opened the first hard- ware store in New Castle in 1855. He was a devout member of the United Brethren Church and was one of the principals in the construction of the present church building of that denomination in New Castle and its main support until his death, March 19, 1867. His widow, Martha (Mitchell) Byer, died September 26, 1877.
To Martin Luther and Susan R. (Byer) Powell were horn the following children: John Jacob, so named after his two grandfathers; Perry Edward, Archie Albert, Martha Elizabeth, so named after her two grandmothers; Mary Belle, Edgar Byer, Helen Jose- phine, Arthur Mitchell and George Byer.
John Jacob Powell, the eldest son, is a baker by trade. He served in Porto Rico during the Spanish-American War, in the United States Hospital Corps. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Odd Fellows. He is unmarried and lives at home with his parents.
Perry Edward Powell, the second son, is a graduate of the New Castle High School, of the Indianapolis Commercial College, of De Pauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, and of the Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois, where he received the degree of doctor of philosophy. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was stationed for four years at Greenfield, Indiana, and during his pastorate there was instrumental in the building of the beautiful church of his denomination in that city. He is now pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Garrett, Indiana, and is one of the most prominent preachers in the Northern Indiana Conference. He mar- ried Louise Smith and they have one child, Harriet Emily.
Archie Albert Powell, the third son, married Eva Thornberry, of Mattoon, Illinois, and they are the parents of one child, Maynard. Archie is a prominent dentist and has a good practise in Mattoon. Martha Elizabeth Powell, the eldest daughter, is unmarried and lives at home in New Castle with her parents. Mary Belle Powell, the second daugh- ter, is the wife of Walter B. Runyan, a practical plumber of New Castle. They have one child, Martha Lea. Mary Belle graduated from the New Castle High School with
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the remarkable record of nine years' attendance in the public schools without being ab- sent or tardy once. Edgar Byer Powell, the fourth son, is a graduate of the New Castle High School and of the Indianapolis Commercial School. In 1902 he graduated from the Rose Polytechnic Institute,' Terre Haute, Indiana. He is a civil engineer by profession and for several years has been employed in architectural work on the great steel "sky- scrapers" in New York City. Helen Josephine Powell, the third daughter, was for about three years a teacher in the East Ridge schoolhouse, but she is now married to Benja- min H. Baker, of New Castle, where they reside. Arthur Mitchell Powell, the fifth son, is a student at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, and will graduate from that in- stitution in 1908. George Byer Powell, the sixth son, is bookkeeper and collector for the Independent Telephone Company. He is unmarried and lives at home with his parents. This family of nine children has received the best educational advantages of the day and constitutes a group of which the parents may well be proud. The family have a re- markable hygienic record, there not having been a case of sickness among them in a period of forty-four years.
Martin L. Powell is most worthy of honorable mention in this History in connec- tion with the careers of his father and of his elder brother, Charles Collett Powell. He has lived continuously in New Castle for a period of some sixty-six years and is one of its native born citizens. He obtained his education in the schools of the town and for many years was one of the leading business men of the place. He has con- tributed liberally to its advancement and prosperity and, though now retired, holds it to be his duty to assist in maintaining the prosperity of a town which he has seen spring up from the little country village in which he was born. He is possessed of an excel- lent memory and is considered an authority regarding the events of half a century ago. He is justly proud of his parentage and of his own descendants. He is a loyal citizen of his native town and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the whole community.
ALBERT POWELL.
( Son. )
Albert Powell, the third son of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was born Sep- tember 5, 1842, and has never married. His home has been at New Castle all his life and no name or face is more familiar to its people. He is a well-known horseman and no man has a greater love for the horse than he. He purchased and imported from Scotland the well-known stallion, Glencairn, and thus originated the interest in horse- breeding which has given the county a reputation in that line hardly second to any. Glencairn lived to be twenty-six years old and at the time of his death belonged to Evan H. Peed, now superintendent of the Indiana State Fair. During his life Albert Powell has handled and broken to saddle or harness more than a thousand colts, and in no case did he ever use other than the kindest methods of treatment. Everything was accomplished by persistence and patience.
SAMANTHA (POWELL) PEED.
(Daughter.)
Samantha Powell, the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was born June 4, 1845, and was married to Evan H. Peed May 29, 1866, and to their union were born the following children: James A .; Neva; Albert, born December 20, 1873, and died April 14, 1886: Elizabeth, born May 12, 1879; died in infancy; Olive and Nellie. The girls are all graduates of the New Castle High School. James A. was married to Emma, daughter of William Wimmer, of New Castle, November 29, 1899. He is a veterinary surgeon and took his degree in that profession in March, 1892, from the New York Veterinary College, which is a branch of the New York University of Medi- cine. He and his wife are well-known residents of New Castle.
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No man is more esteemed in Henry County by those who know him than Evan H. Peed. He has many of the characteristics of his father, James Peed, who was a typical Kentucky gentleman, well known for his generous hospitality. Evan H. Peed has made a life study of farming and stands in the front rank of the agriculturists of Indiana. For several years he has been the superintendent of the Indiana State Fair Association and to his efforts and to his influence much of the success of that organization must be attributed.
GEORGE POWELL.
( Son.)
George Powell, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was horn June 30, 1850, and was united in marriage November 19, 1873, with Ella, daughter of Jacob and Catharine Mowrer, of New Castle. They have one child, Frederick, born Sep- tember 17, 1878. The family resides in Indianapolis, where Mr. Powell is engaged in business.
ELIZABETH (POWELL) CAMPBELL.
(Daughter).
Elizabeth Powell, the youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth (Creek) Powell, was born April 4, 1853, and was married to Stephen C. Campbell April 3, 1873. Mr. Camp- bell is a native of Crawfordsville, Indiana, and it is there, in what is aptly termed the "Athens of Indiana," tbat they reside. He has been long identified with the business interests of that place.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SIMON TITUS POWELL.
SCHOOL TEACHER, LAWYER AND COUNTY OFFICIAL.
Among the remarkable men who have figured in the history of eastern Indiana was Simon Titus Powell, the subject of this sketch. He was a native of Wayne County, Indiana, having been born August 21, 1821, on a farm which is now a part of Cambridge City. His parents were John and Margaret (Huff) Powell, both of whom were natives of kentucky, who had removed from that State to Wayne County, Indiana, in 1816. The family remained at Cambridge City for several years and then moved to Illinois, where they settled near Danville. At this time young Powell was about five years of age. He attended school at Danville and Champaign, Illinois, and subsequently became a student at St. Gabriel's College, a Catholic institution at Vincennes, Indiana, where he remained for about three years. While yet a boy he returned to Cambridge City, Indiana, and entered the school then taught by the well-known educator, Reverend Samuel K. Hoshour, whose name is distinguished in Indiana history. He was rightfully regarded as the most capable teacher in eastern Indiana and when Mr. Powell came to New Cas- tle in 1841 he brought with him a recommendation from Mr. Hoshour of such a compli- mentary character that it secured him employment at once as a teacher in the "old seminary."
Mr. Powell was a successful teacher and for the three years during which he had charge of the seminary he showed in that position the same energy which he displayed in after life, an energy which was resistless. He neither knew nor realized the mean- ing of the word "fail." The early schools of New Castle were taught by eminent edu- cators and Mr. Powell followed worthily in their footsteps. Richard Huff was the first teacher and his oldest student was Jehu T. Elliott. Other scholars were Rachel Wood- ward, Mary Carroll, afterwards wife of Stephen Elliott; Martha Bowers, Martha Ward, afterwards Mrs. Andrew J. Lytle, and Vienna Woodward, afterwards the wife of Sam- uel Hazzard, who were the father and mother of the author of this History. Other teachers were: Abraham Elliott, Jesse H. Healey, Revel Coleman, Jehu T. Elliott, Wil- liam Way, Caleh H. Cole and Samuel Hoover. William Henry, who taught in 1835-6, had among his pupils Martin L. Bundy, Thomas J. Neal, Luther C. Mellett and Rezin H. Powers. Mr. Powers died August 17, 1905, at his home near Springport, Henry County, aged ninety years. His twin brother preceded him to the grave by only a few months. They were both excellent citizens.
After the retirement of Mr. Henry the late Nimrod H. Johnson, father of Henry U., for years a member of Congress from this district, and of Robert U. Johnson, one of the editors of the Century Magazine, became the teacher. He was a man of fine educa- tion, an excellent teacher, polite, always well dressed and a gentleman of the old school. Then came George W. Julian, who was also for years a member of Congress from this district, and who attained a national reputation. Levi Linn, of South Carolina, was also a good teacher, but had a temper which often ran away with his better judgment and caused him to make inordinate use of the rod. Simon T. Powell took charge of the school in 1841, as above stated, and among his scholars were Joshua H. Mellett, Loring and Miles L. Reed, Maria and Mary Taylor, Harriet Parsons, Hiram, John and Jacob Thornburgh, Pyrrhus, Franklin and Clarinda Woodward, John Barrett, Volney Hobson, John D. Meek, Absalom B. Harvey, William H. Murphey, John M. Darr, Adolphus D. Thornton, Coleman F. Rogers, William R. Charles, Marshall G. Henry, Francis Marion McDowell and a number of others, almost all of whom have long since passed over and beyond this "vale of tears." The John Barrett above referred to also became a teacher in the "old seminary" in 1844, as did Isaac Kinley. It was about this time that Mr. Bar- rett went to South Carolina to investigate the slavery conditions. His action so excited the slaveholders that he was arrested and imprisoned and was only subsequently re- leased through the intervention of friends, but not until his health had been broken down. He died very soon after his return from the South.
After teaching three years Mr. Powell gave up the school and was succeeded by the late Dr. John Rea, Mr. Powell himself becoming deputy clerk of the Henry Circuit Court
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under the late Samuel Hoover. He had entire supervision of the office and so admirably discharged its various duties that he was himself elected in 1850 to the position of clerk. Counting the time that he was clerk and deputy clerk of the courts, he served the public in that office for a period covering ahout thirteen years. As clerk of the Henry Circuit, Probate and Common Pleas courts, he performed most of the duties of the office him- self, never having had but one employe, Samuel W. Taylor, who was employed for a very brief period only. Mr. Taylor afterwards moved to Tipton, Tipton County, Indiana, where he became identified with the business interests of the place and was elected and served as State Senator from the counties of Hamilton and Tipton during the special and regular sessions of 1877 and 1879. Mr. Taylor was also the first mayor of New Castle under the law approved January 1, 1849, which substituted a mayor and four council- men for the president aud trustees, the charter under this law being surrendered March 30, 1867.
Mr. Powell was well known for his habits of industry and he labored day and night in order that the records of the court proceedings might he, day after day, full and com- plete. He slighted nothing; the work was conscientiously performed and when he left the office at the expiration of his term he left behind an official record, upon which there was neither blot nor stain. This was the only official position to which he was ever elected and upon his retirement from it he turned his attention to the practise of the law. He opened an office with the late Eli Murphey as his partner, and pursued the profession until the breaking out of the Civil War.
He was a thorough Union man and from the time of the first call for troops took a prominent part in the prosecution of the great conflict. He could not personally enter the ranks of volunteers who were hastening to the battlefield because of the loss of the use of his left leg, resulting from cold taken while in swimming, which was a favorite pastime of his; otherwise physically strong and sound, he was compelled from that time to use a crutch and cane; though thus debarred trom serving the flag, as he would un- questionahly have done, he did the next hest thing, giving his willing consent to the entry into the service of his two stalwart sons, Henry L. and Orlistes W. The first named hecame a member of Company B, 8th Indiana Infantry, three months' service, and was wounded at the battle of Rich Mountain, West Virginia, July 11, 1861, and the wound thus received more than forty years ago has never healed, but requires now, as at first, daily attention. A biographical sketch of Henry L. Powell is published on page 253 of this History and reference should be made thereto for further information regarding that soldier. Orlistes W. Powell was a member of Company C, 36th Indiana Infantry, and arose to the non-commissioned rank of sergeant-major. He was shot through the heart and instantly killed at the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, September 20, 1863, and his name will he found in the Roll of Honor, published elsewhere in this History. The military career of each of these brave sons of a patriotic father will be found set forth in another part of this History in connection with their respective companies and regi- ments.
It is well known that during the Civil War the executive of each Northern State took great pains in caring for the interests of the general government and at the same time exercised a watchful care over the boys in blue who went into the army from their respective States. In this respect no executive was more vigilant than Governor Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, and his fame as the friend of the soldier was known throughout the land; and to-day no man's memory is held in so great reverence by the Indiana sol- dier as is that of the "great war Governor." Governor Morton was ever in consultation with the foremost men of the State with regard to the proper measures for the conduct of the war, and among others whose advice and counsel were most welcome was Simon T. Powell, who ably and with whole-souled fervor supported and sustained the great Governor in those trying and perilous times.
In January, 1865, when it seemed that such an institution was imperatively needed, The First National Bank of New Castle was organized with Martin L. Bundy as its first president and Daniel Murphey as its first cashier. Mr. Powell was one of the original stockholders of this bank and a member of its first board of directors. He afterwards hecame vice-president of the bank and continued in that position for several years. He
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disposed of his interests in The First National Bank and in 1877 became president of the Bundy National Bank, with which he remained until it went into voluntary liquidation and ceased to do business. As a banker he was distinctively conservative, taking no chances except those entirely warranted by the facts presented. After the winding up of The Bundy National Bank Mr. Powell retired from active business, giving his attention exclusively to his own private affairs, a part of which consisted in looking after and in- creasing his large farming properties, the whole embracing about one thousand acres, much of which was among the best farm lands in Henry County.
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