Thomas J and Henrietta (Howells) Powell
Excerpts from W. D. Shirk's book
with remarks from David
Introduction
On June 4, 2016, during our 40th-anniversary trip to London, Phyllis and I visited the Westminster Abbey gift shop, where Phyllis found a refrigerator magnet bearing the coat-of-arms of the Powell family.
I had known since I was a boy that the name Powell came from the Welsh ap-Howel, and that when my ancestors came to America, some of them had shortened the name to Howell and some to Powell. But this new information was more specific, stating that the Powell name had its roots in both English and Welsh history. I immediately thought of the story of my fourth-great-grandfather, Thomas Powell (born in England) and his wife, Henrietta (born in Wales), who emigrated to America in 1817. Having lived in London for a time, and being good Anglicans, I wondered if they had ever stood near the place where I was now standing. (Westminster Abbey dates back to the thirteenth century!)
For Thomas and Henrietta’s story, I am indebted to W.D. Shirk, the first cousin of my great-great-grandfather, Finley Leonard Powell, who published a book in 1918 entitled History and Genealogy of the Thomas J. Powell and Henrietta (Howells) Powell Families (Ledger Printing House, Fairfield, Iowa). Shirk concludes his preface with this dedication:
For Thomas and Henrietta’s story, I am indebted to W.D. Shirk, the first cousin of my great-great-grandfather, Finley Leonard Powell, who published a book in 1918 entitled History and Genealogy of the Thomas J. Powell and Henrietta (Howells) Powell Families (Ledger Printing House, Fairfield, Iowa). Shirk concludes his preface with this dedication:
To the numerous descendants of the Powell Family and its branches, I am pleased to dedicate this book; and if, as I am sincerely trusting, their lives have been made better because of it, then my highest hopes will have been realized.
Abraham Lincoln once said that “Writing… is the great invention of the world… great in enabling us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn, at all distances of time and of space” (Collected Works, Volume 3, page 360), and I am thankful to cousin W.D. for writing to me – and to my descendants!
I first learned of the existence of Shirk’s book from my dad, who spent countless hours scanning every page intending to republish it. But Google Books did that for him, digitizing the copy held by the Wisconsin Historical Society and publishing it online. I am thankful to Dad and to those nameless workers as well.
Note: I have done some minor editing for clarity and added some remarks, but this story is entirely Shirk’s.
I first learned of the existence of Shirk’s book from my dad, who spent countless hours scanning every page intending to republish it. But Google Books did that for him, digitizing the copy held by the Wisconsin Historical Society and publishing it online. I am thankful to Dad and to those nameless workers as well.
Note: I have done some minor editing for clarity and added some remarks, but this story is entirely Shirk’s.
Marriage
Thomas Joseph Powell was born August 18, 1787, in Lower Hath, Staffordshire, England. We have no record of him till he was a young man going to school, where he met Henrietta Howells, and because of her charming appearance, he fell in love with her at first sight, which in that particular case spoke well for his good judgment.
Henrietta Howells was born in Hay, Brecknock County , Wales, Oct. 4th , 1783. After receiving a good education, she was employed in her father's store, he being a merchant as well as a manufacturer.
Thomas and Henrietta were united in marriage in the early part of 1808, and for a short time after their marriage they were engaged in the mercantile business in Leominster, England, later moving to London, where they must have resided most of the time till shortly before they came to America, when they moved back to Leominster.
Henrietta Howells was born in Hay, Brecknock County , Wales, Oct. 4th , 1783. After receiving a good education, she was employed in her father's store, he being a merchant as well as a manufacturer.
Thomas and Henrietta were united in marriage in the early part of 1808, and for a short time after their marriage they were engaged in the mercantile business in Leominster, England, later moving to London, where they must have resided most of the time till shortly before they came to America, when they moved back to Leominster.
Coming to America
By 1817, Henrietta had given birth to the first 6 of their 12 children: Thomas (8), William (7), Henrietta (6), John (4), Henry (3), and Joseph (1). Thomas and Henrietta seemed to have amassed quite a fortune, but the times becoming so exceedingly hard, and having a family of 6 small children to provide for, they concluded to try their fortunes in the new world.
Henrietta wrote to her father, asking his advice about going. He answered, “My dear, I am a great lover of America, but Henrietta, if you go you will have to learn to work, as servants will be hard to get over there." But about the middle of the year, 1817, they sailed for America , bringing with them a part of their stock of goods, and it is said about $30,000 in money.
They were seventy days in crossing the ocean because of stormy weather – so bad at one time that it was thought best to take to the boats. The good captain ordered all on deck, but the storm somewhat subsiding, it was not done, and they landed safely at Baltimore, Maryland, later moving to Warwick, Virginia. There, according to the family record, their daughter, Louisa, was born December 30th , 1818.
Henrietta wrote to her father, asking his advice about going. He answered, “My dear, I am a great lover of America, but Henrietta, if you go you will have to learn to work, as servants will be hard to get over there." But about the middle of the year, 1817, they sailed for America , bringing with them a part of their stock of goods, and it is said about $30,000 in money.
They were seventy days in crossing the ocean because of stormy weather – so bad at one time that it was thought best to take to the boats. The good captain ordered all on deck, but the storm somewhat subsiding, it was not done, and they landed safely at Baltimore, Maryland, later moving to Warwick, Virginia. There, according to the family record, their daughter, Louisa, was born December 30th , 1818.
Life in Virginia
Having disposed of their merchandise, Thomas and Henrietta moved to a large plantation near Richmond, which they rented from a Mrs. Higginbottom, mother-in-law of one of the well-known Randolphs of Revolutionary War fame. They were to pay $800 a year cash rent, and having no experience in tilling the soil, and living rather extravagantly, they soon spent a greater part of their fortune.
The slaves on the plantation were rented with the farm, and Henrietta often told her grandchildren of her experiences with the slaves. Mrs. Higginbottom gave two old slaves, Dick and Nellie, their choice to live with Thomas and Henrietta or with her son-in-law, Mr. Randolph. Mrs. Higginbottom said Nellie was not much account, as she always had fits. Nellie and Dick chose to live with the Powells, and Henrietta said poor old Nellie never had fits while she lived with her, but was a very faithful servant.
One day Henrietta went into Dick and Nellie's shanty and found Nellie crying.
Henrietta said, “Why, what's the matter Nellie?”
She said, “Master John Randolph came in and asked me to tie his shoe, and when I stooped to tie it, he kicked me in the mouth, just because I chose to live with you English people.”
At another time, Thomas said to Mr. Randolph, “I wish you would whip Henry (another slave), for I cannot manage him.”
Randolph tied Henry to a tree and went to look for the cowhide. Henrietta, looking out of a bedroom window, saw Henry gnawing at the knot in the cord with his teeth, and she said she was wishing all the time he would get loose, and though she knew just where the whip was, she did not tell. Presently she saw Henry slipping around the house and was gone. Thomas lost his wages for three months.
At last, Henrietta said to Henry's sister Mollie, “I want you to tell Henry to come home, and Mr. Randolph shall not touch him."
Mollie said, “I don't know where he is; I haven’t seen him since he ran away.”
Henrietta said, “I do not ask if you have seen him; I want you to tell him what I say,” and as Mollie knew Henrietta always kept her word, in a day or two, Henry was back and did well.
The slaves on the plantation were rented with the farm, and Henrietta often told her grandchildren of her experiences with the slaves. Mrs. Higginbottom gave two old slaves, Dick and Nellie, their choice to live with Thomas and Henrietta or with her son-in-law, Mr. Randolph. Mrs. Higginbottom said Nellie was not much account, as she always had fits. Nellie and Dick chose to live with the Powells, and Henrietta said poor old Nellie never had fits while she lived with her, but was a very faithful servant.
One day Henrietta went into Dick and Nellie's shanty and found Nellie crying.
Henrietta said, “Why, what's the matter Nellie?”
She said, “Master John Randolph came in and asked me to tie his shoe, and when I stooped to tie it, he kicked me in the mouth, just because I chose to live with you English people.”
At another time, Thomas said to Mr. Randolph, “I wish you would whip Henry (another slave), for I cannot manage him.”
Randolph tied Henry to a tree and went to look for the cowhide. Henrietta, looking out of a bedroom window, saw Henry gnawing at the knot in the cord with his teeth, and she said she was wishing all the time he would get loose, and though she knew just where the whip was, she did not tell. Presently she saw Henry slipping around the house and was gone. Thomas lost his wages for three months.
At last, Henrietta said to Henry's sister Mollie, “I want you to tell Henry to come home, and Mr. Randolph shall not touch him."
Mollie said, “I don't know where he is; I haven’t seen him since he ran away.”
Henrietta said, “I do not ask if you have seen him; I want you to tell him what I say,” and as Mollie knew Henrietta always kept her word, in a day or two, Henry was back and did well.
West to Ohio
Not succeeding in Virginia, Thomas determined to go farther west where the country was newer, and early in the year 1819, he and his family moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where a brother-in-law (Joseph Howells) lived, who was just ready to move out on a farm he had bought. Joseph’s son, W. C. Howells, who was a little more than twelve years old at the time, later wrote a book which included memories about his Powell relatives. From W. C., we get these stories:
Just before we moved out, my Uncle Powell and his family came to Steubenville, and as he had engaged a farm that he could not enter until spring, he took the house we lived in. He, however, had a team of horses and an old stagecoach in which his family had traveled from Virginia that still bore the lettering, “Richmond and Staunton Mail Stage.” When we moved, we used this to transport the family and most of their goods to the new farm by making repeated trips.
On the last trip out, as it was late at night, the man who drove the wagon stayed till morning. After unhitching, he left the coach stand in the lane, where it terminated on the brow of a very steep hill. It had not stood there long till an enterprising sow, making a survey of the machine, got her nose under a wheel, and it started down the hill. We heard the rumbling and just got out in time to see it go over a grade of thirty-five degrees and land in a thicket of bushes. The next day, after great labor, the running gears were recovered, but the body was a wreck and left there. Afterwards, we children made many imaginary trips in it between Richmond and Staunton.
My uncle lived in our house till spring, then moved out to the farm he had rented on the famous Mingo Bottom, about 3 miles below Steubenville. [Here, eighth child Caroline was born on April 11, 1820.]
Adapting to American ways
W. C. Howells continues:
My uncle’s family consisted of five boys and three girls. They, being recently from England, were strange in much of their manners and notions of things, and it fell to me to show them American ways, which I taught rather authoritatively when we were together… For this reason, they always deferred to me, and I sometimes took on airs. But I was very fond of my cousins, and we never quarreled or differed unless they differed among themselves and obliged me to take sides.
My uncle [Thomas] as a newcomer was so unacquainted with the habits and manners of the people, in which I was at home, that he took me into association as an equal on this account. My aunt [Henrietta] was very kind to me, and as she had come out of the world into the rustic west later than our family, she had more of the air of the world about her and cultivated a regard for it, that father [Henrietta’s brother] in his religious scruples had set at naught [disdained]. Her manners had a charm for me, and what she reflected of English life was so much romance to my view.
Disaster at Mingo Bottom
Here at Mingo Bottom, too, ill fortune seemed to follow Thomas and Henrietta. Thomas hired a man to teach him how to farm, and Henrietta gave one woman a fine silk shawl if she would teach her how to milk, and a great many of her fine clothes went in like manner. One piece after another of their fine china and silverware were disposed of to supply the necessities for their large family. One day, a man in town told Thomas that buckwheat flour made good cakes, so he brought some home to Henrietta which pleased her very much, and she made some of it into biscuits and baked them, but when they tried to eat them, it made them sick.
While there, a disastrous fire consumed most of the things they had left. After the fire, Thomas thought to go to Canada, but a Mr. Campbell, of Steubenville, urged him to take a seven-year lease on a farm he owned on White Eyes Creek, in Coshocton County. With that possibility in view, he made a visit to that section, and on his return he reported to his family the conditions of the locality. He said the people were half naked, and some ran wild in the woods, and that consequently they would not have very desirable neighbors. However, they decided to make the venture.
While there, a disastrous fire consumed most of the things they had left. After the fire, Thomas thought to go to Canada, but a Mr. Campbell, of Steubenville, urged him to take a seven-year lease on a farm he owned on White Eyes Creek, in Coshocton County. With that possibility in view, he made a visit to that section, and on his return he reported to his family the conditions of the locality. He said the people were half naked, and some ran wild in the woods, and that consequently they would not have very desirable neighbors. However, they decided to make the venture.
Move to Coshocton County
W.C. Howells gives this account of his cousins’ move to Coshocton County, Ohio:
In the spring of 1821, my Uncle Powell left Mingo Bottom, to settle in Coshocton County, near White Eyes Plains, then a wild and only partially settled country. The occasion of their family's moving was an event for me, particularly as I was engaged to assist in driving their farm stock a part of the way, and they had the use of our pony, Paddy, to help get their wagons, of which there were two, over the hills.
The starting of this expedition was very elaborate; and as the distance to be traveled was about eighty miles, it took on the character of an overland journey to a strange land. Preparations were fully made for victualing the forces, and the commissary department was active for days beforehand. As they were going to a new country, they sold off nothing, but took all they could of household and farming utensils; consequently, the transportation was heavy. They hired a wagon, besides their own, and left much stuff for subsequent transportation.
The loading up of the wagons occupied nearly the whole day of starting, and it was late in the afternoon when we mustered the cattle, sheep, and pigs in the rear of the wagons. In this service besides my cousins and me, there were two boys who made it the occasion to visit the new settlement, and an additional volunteer force from the neighbors. To start off such a drove of mixed animals was no trifling affair, for, though they would drive pretty well after getting used to the road, and a day or two's experience, their obstinacy and contrariety at first was without parallel, and a boy to each animal was little enough.
First, a pig would dart back and run like a deer till he was headed and turned back, by which time the others would meet him and all have to be driven up; while in the meantime a cow or two would be sailing down a by-lane with elevated head and tail, and a breathless boy circling through a field or woods to intercept her career; and then the sheep would start over a broken piece of fence, the last following the first and leaping higher over every obstacle till they were brought back to the road.
We worked along till night, when we put up, about seven miles from the starting point. We stopped at a tavern, as was the custom, only hiring the use of one room, and the privilege of the fire to make tea or coffee or fry bacon.
This night two of the horses were taken with homesickness, and as they were not well secured, went back to the old place. The wagoners started after them at daylight, but it was noon before they were brought back, after which the line of march was taken up. This was Sunday and though they were very strict about the Sabbath in that Presbyterian country, movers were tolerated in traveling on that day from admitted necessity. With my uncle and his assistants, there was no matter of conscience about it. All they asked was not to be fined.
One of the wagons was disabled directly after we started by the breaking of the king bolt, for which a wooden pin was substituted till we could reach a blacksmith shop, three miles farther on, and it was a question whether he would mend it. But he was found to be sufficient utilitarian, or sinful, to light a fire and weld the bolt, after which we moved, up a long hill to our stopping place, fifteen miles on our way.
The next day we got along pretty well and reached Cadiz in Harrison County about three o'clock, and here they concluded to let me return with Paddy. I was twenty-three miles from home, and it was a long ride on a lazy horse to make so late in the day. My uncle thought it best that I should stay with them that night, but my aunt insisted that, though it would be a long, lonely ride for me, I would not suffer as much as she was sure my mother was suffering from anxiety, for I was more than a day beyond the time they expected me home.
So, I bade them goodbye and mounted Paddy with a rather heavy heart, for I hated being out in the night, and set off on a slow trot. I stopped once to feed him, but otherwise lost no time. It was very dismal and pretty cold (April 21st), and about midnight I reached home to the great relief of mother, who could in no way account for the delay in my return. My aunt was right in sending me back that night.
Thomas and Henrietta’s family reached the Campbell farm about the first of May 1821 and moved into a cabin, it being the first one built in Adams Township, though the township was not organized till 1832. Thomas and two other men conducted the organization, and he, with two others, were the first trustees.
Life on the Frontier
We can only imagine the situation when Thomas and Henrietta moved into that little log house with door so low one had to stoop to enter, with wild woods on every side, strangers in a strange land, with no means, and with a large family of small children: Thomas, aged 12; William, 11; Henrietta, 10; John, 8; Henry, 7; Joseph, 5; Louisa, 3; Caroline, 1.
The fine library, about the only thing left of what they had brought with them from England, was traded for a small flock of sheep. They were truly pioneer frontiersmen who learned what hardships and privations were. Here their nearness to nature, their hard toil among the roots and rocks, not only gained for them a sustenance, but developed vigorous and healthy bodies, strong characters, and, counted much in the advancement of a better civilization. At the end of the seven years, they were some better off financially than at the beginning, when some of their neighbors had expressed a fear that the English family would starve.
The fine library, about the only thing left of what they had brought with them from England, was traded for a small flock of sheep. They were truly pioneer frontiersmen who learned what hardships and privations were. Here their nearness to nature, their hard toil among the roots and rocks, not only gained for them a sustenance, but developed vigorous and healthy bodies, strong characters, and, counted much in the advancement of a better civilization. At the end of the seven years, they were some better off financially than at the beginning, when some of their neighbors had expressed a fear that the English family would starve.
Work on the Ohio Canal
About this time (1828) Thomas took a contract on the Ohio Canal, which was then in course of construction. They built a shanty, and he and the boys, with daughters Henrietta (17) and Louisa (10) for cooks, moved in and went to work on their contract, digging and sweating many long and weary months. Later, Thomas decided to move to Jefferson County where they could have better educational advantages, but the family had become attached to Coshocton County and prevailed on him to stay there and invest in some property. On looking about, they found a tract of military land lying south of the Campbell farm about two miles, on White Eyes Creek, so named from a tribe of Indians of that name who used to hunt and camp on its banks.
Inheritance
In 1830, Thomas’ father, William, died in Wales. William was for many years the steward over Lord Oxford's estates and in time had become wealthy. One of his estates, known as "Masselau," was situated in Radnorshire in the Province of Wales and in the parish of Lanbister. Another, known as "Brincough," was located in Llandegley Parish. Thomas had only a life interest in said estates, it being the custom in England that the estates should be kept intact and handed down to each succeeding generation through their oldest son.
Thus, when William died, Thomas’ oldest son, Thomas H, now being of age could, with his father's consent, dispose of the estates; and it being his desire to do so, he gave his father Power of Attorney and went to Wales to make the sale. After an absence of nearly two years, he returned with the proceeds, which enabled him to purchase the tract mentioned above, which contained 1,080 acres. Thomas H. entered into an agreement with his father that he would take the 400 acres on the west side of the tract, his father to have the 680 acres on the east.
Thomas H would live on this tract all the rest of his life, with the exception of three years following his marriage, when he was engaged in the mercantile business in Evansburg, Ohio, with his brother-in-law Joseph Watkins.
Thomas H was a radical advocate of the abolition of the slave trade, and his house was known for a quarter-century as an underground railway station. Though he was admonished by some of his ministers to give up the business, and was closely watched by the pro-slavery advocates, it availed nothing, as it was a matter of conscience with him, and he was a man that could not be made to deviate from the "straight and narrow path" as he saw it. He lived to see his antislavery ideas justified and furnished a son and son-in-law to bring about the result he had long prayed for.
Thus, when William died, Thomas’ oldest son, Thomas H, now being of age could, with his father's consent, dispose of the estates; and it being his desire to do so, he gave his father Power of Attorney and went to Wales to make the sale. After an absence of nearly two years, he returned with the proceeds, which enabled him to purchase the tract mentioned above, which contained 1,080 acres. Thomas H. entered into an agreement with his father that he would take the 400 acres on the west side of the tract, his father to have the 680 acres on the east.
Thomas H would live on this tract all the rest of his life, with the exception of three years following his marriage, when he was engaged in the mercantile business in Evansburg, Ohio, with his brother-in-law Joseph Watkins.
Thomas H was a radical advocate of the abolition of the slave trade, and his house was known for a quarter-century as an underground railway station. Though he was admonished by some of his ministers to give up the business, and was closely watched by the pro-slavery advocates, it availed nothing, as it was a matter of conscience with him, and he was a man that could not be made to deviate from the "straight and narrow path" as he saw it. He lived to see his antislavery ideas justified and furnished a son and son-in-law to bring about the result he had long prayed for.
Pioneer homestead of Thomas J. Powell—house built 1834, barn built 1836
Wesley Chapel Church and Cemetery
Orchard view of Windy Point
Front view of Windy Point
Neighbor Mary Davis
The following sketch was written in a letter to the author in 1914 by Mary Davis, a neighbor whose parents had been intimate acquaintances of the Powells in England and after coming to America. James R. Davis and his family came over with Thomas H and lived almost within a stone’s throw of the Powells, so Mary could give personal reminiscences of the family gained by an intimate association with them in her girlhood days when events are most deeply impressed.
I remember Thomas as being a little man, very neat in build, also in dress. I do not remember ever seeing him in a rough-and-tumble farmer's suit, he was always dressed up—sometimes in summer in his shirt sleeves, but mostly in a black frock coat and pants and a light-colored vest, and sometimes a white one in summer. I do not remember his winter clothing so well, only that he wore dark vests cut so as to button nearly to his chin; and I distinctly remember one of his overcoats (“topcoats” as he called them). He always wore a high silk hat when dressed for occasions. In the summer he wore a straw or palm-leaf hat, turned up behind.
He was a well-read man, a good talker, but sometimes got a little excited. He was a good, kind, accommodating neighbor, and in a way a very kind parent, but maybe he did not always understand his children or they him. He was very set in his ways and opinions and wanted to be humored. He was a good provider for his family and very particular about everything. I remember well how we children were cautioned to go in at a side gate and not the front one, and to be careful to clean our feet good so as not to take in the least bit of dirt. And above all things, we were to be careful and not put our feet on the rung of a chair. But all the same, I liked to go there. I guess the reason was he and Henrietta were always so kind to me. If it was strawberry time and he could find any that were ripe—if it was not more than two or three or six—he would get them for me. And sometimes I would get one of those good pears that grew back of the smokehouse.
In religious views, he was an old-school Episcopalian or Church of England man, somewhat one-sided perhaps, and considered that denomination the only one or the best one. He was a very strict observer of the Sabbath day and insisted that others ought to be. I remember when I was a little girl, he returned one of his neighbors to the grand jury because he persisted in working on Sundays after he had gone to him and talked with him and told him what the laws of Ohio were in regard to doing work on the Sabbath day, and he had a heavy fine to pay.
He never used any profane language; at least I never heard him and never heard anyone say he did. When he was a little excited, he would say what I used to call an Englishman's swear word— “jings”—but he never prefixed the word “by” to it. When he was quite a bit excited he would snap out, “Hum jings.”
He was honest as the day is long, and good and kind to the poor. He had his peculiarities, but taking it all in all, he was a true gentleman.
I remember Henrietta as being of a kind, gentle and obliging disposition. She was always ready to go and visit the sick or afflicted and lend a helping hand and sympathize with them. She was very devoted to her children; their welfare appearing to be first and foremost in her thoughts. Although she was easygoing, Henrietta certainly must have been endowed with a great deal of grit and perseverance when younger, and lots of patience. Her children often related incidents that went to prove that she was very decided in her control of them, never allowing them to shirk anything she told them they must do, whether it was their work, their lessons or anything else. She had her lines laid down straight and expected them to walk straight along them. She did not spare the rod and spoil the child; if they needed punishment, they got it either with the rod or some other way.
Henrietta had a good education and was a dear lover of poetry, it being one of her greatest delights to read and recite it. She had been reared a Quaker, and her ways were somewhat “Quakerfied” even in old age, but not so much so as her sister, Harriet, who always dressed more like the Quaker than she did.
Religion and Politics
Thomas J. Powell was a man of great worth in the new country when it needed men of mind and ability to develop the country. He was quite active in politics, holding several offices of trust.
He was very radical and pronounced in his views on religion, which caused some dissension in his family in later years. His children became converts to Methodism, which greatly displeased him, as he had no use for their noise and shouting, as was the custom those days. Last fall (1917) while in Ohio, I had access to some of his old letters, where in writing of their differences in religious beliefs, he contended that the church of his ancestors ought to be good enough for his children.
He was very radical and pronounced in his views on religion, which caused some dissension in his family in later years. His children became converts to Methodism, which greatly displeased him, as he had no use for their noise and shouting, as was the custom those days. Last fall (1917) while in Ohio, I had access to some of his old letters, where in writing of their differences in religious beliefs, he contended that the church of his ancestors ought to be good enough for his children.
Final Days
Grandfather Thomas moved from the old homestead up on the hill to what is known as Windy Point, where he lived for several years prior to the year 1851, when he retired from active life, and he moved to the village of BakersvilIe. There he lived eight years, passing away August 23, 1859, aged 72 years and 5 days. His body was laid to rest in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery on his old homestead.
After Grandfather’s death, Grandmother came to live with us at Windy Point. [W.D. Shirk was the son of Thomas and Henrietta’s youngest daughter, Harriet, and her husband, John Shirk.] At that time, she was beginning to be quite childish, but was strong and vigorous for one of her age, which vigor was no doubt kept up, in part, by her exercise outdoors. Well do I remember seeing her walking along the roadside, following the rail fence, breaking off here and there a sliver or splinter and sticking them behind others. Other times she would walk in the lane and with her cane would toss aside the stems of hay which had fallen from the hay wagon, and thus for hours and days she would amuse herself.
About two years before her death, she had a bad spell of pneumonia, after which she became wholly childish, seeming to realize or know nothing whatever, excepting when she heard the word England spoken, she would always exclaim, "England! England! my dear old native home."
On the evening of October 7th, 1864, our parents had been called out to Uncle Thomas H Powell’s home to the death bed of their daughter Elizabeth, and while we children were doing up the evening work, Grandmother's clothing must have caught fire from the grate by which she usually sat. We saw the light and ran to her aid, but she was fatally burned. She lived till the next day when the angel of death came to her relief, and she was taken to the reward she so richly merited; aged 81 years and 4 days. She and her granddaughter, Elizabeth (Powell) Daugherty, were laid to rest at the same hour in the Wesley Chapel graveyard.
After Grandfather’s death, Grandmother came to live with us at Windy Point. [W.D. Shirk was the son of Thomas and Henrietta’s youngest daughter, Harriet, and her husband, John Shirk.] At that time, she was beginning to be quite childish, but was strong and vigorous for one of her age, which vigor was no doubt kept up, in part, by her exercise outdoors. Well do I remember seeing her walking along the roadside, following the rail fence, breaking off here and there a sliver or splinter and sticking them behind others. Other times she would walk in the lane and with her cane would toss aside the stems of hay which had fallen from the hay wagon, and thus for hours and days she would amuse herself.
About two years before her death, she had a bad spell of pneumonia, after which she became wholly childish, seeming to realize or know nothing whatever, excepting when she heard the word England spoken, she would always exclaim, "England! England! my dear old native home."
On the evening of October 7th, 1864, our parents had been called out to Uncle Thomas H Powell’s home to the death bed of their daughter Elizabeth, and while we children were doing up the evening work, Grandmother's clothing must have caught fire from the grate by which she usually sat. We saw the light and ran to her aid, but she was fatally burned. She lived till the next day when the angel of death came to her relief, and she was taken to the reward she so richly merited; aged 81 years and 4 days. She and her granddaughter, Elizabeth (Powell) Daugherty, were laid to rest at the same hour in the Wesley Chapel graveyard.
Children
To Thomas and Henrietta Powell were born twelve children: Thomas, William, Henrietta, John, Henry, Joseph, Louisa, Caroline, Mary, Edwin, Harriet, and Washington. The first six were born in England, Louisa was born in Virginia after the Powells first arrived in America, and Caroline was born at Mingo Bottom in Ohio before the family moved to the Campbell farm in 1821.
Mary Jane was born March. 11, 1823 and died in early childhood. She was buried in the Emerson graveyard, not far from Orange, Ohio.
Edwin, twin brother of Harriet J. (Powell) Shirk, was born August 25, 1825. He died in Infancy and was also buried in the Emerson graveyard.
Harriet, twin to Edwin, was also born August 25, 1825, and married John Shirk in 1848. To this union were born seven children, the eldest of whom was Washington Daniel Shirk, the author, born in 1849. Harriet passed away in 1886 at the age of 61.
Francis Washington Powell, youngest son of Thomas J. and Henrietta Powell, was born in Adams Township, Coshocton County, Ohio, June 30, 1828, on the John Campbell farm and died on February 11, 1899. His wife, Margaret, continued to live with their daughter, Henrietta, until she passed away on June 6, 1909. Both were laid to rest in the Wesley Chapel cemetery. They left to their children their lifelong legacy of love, and by example, Christian principles of love, and by industry and management, each one a home on a good farm of 160 acres. Knowing Uncle Wash so long and intimately, as was my privilege to, I always considered him my favorite uncle, and many is the time I have asked his advice and listened to his wise counsel; and dear unselfish and thoughtful Aunt Margaret – no one could know her as I did and not love her.
Mary Jane was born March. 11, 1823 and died in early childhood. She was buried in the Emerson graveyard, not far from Orange, Ohio.
Edwin, twin brother of Harriet J. (Powell) Shirk, was born August 25, 1825. He died in Infancy and was also buried in the Emerson graveyard.
Harriet, twin to Edwin, was also born August 25, 1825, and married John Shirk in 1848. To this union were born seven children, the eldest of whom was Washington Daniel Shirk, the author, born in 1849. Harriet passed away in 1886 at the age of 61.
Francis Washington Powell, youngest son of Thomas J. and Henrietta Powell, was born in Adams Township, Coshocton County, Ohio, June 30, 1828, on the John Campbell farm and died on February 11, 1899. His wife, Margaret, continued to live with their daughter, Henrietta, until she passed away on June 6, 1909. Both were laid to rest in the Wesley Chapel cemetery. They left to their children their lifelong legacy of love, and by example, Christian principles of love, and by industry and management, each one a home on a good farm of 160 acres. Knowing Uncle Wash so long and intimately, as was my privilege to, I always considered him my favorite uncle, and many is the time I have asked his advice and listened to his wise counsel; and dear unselfish and thoughtful Aunt Margaret – no one could know her as I did and not love her.
Personal connections
This is David. Of Thomas and Henrietta’s 12 children, I’d like to highlight two: William and John. William was 7 years old when he emigrated from England in 1817 with his parents, and John was 4. Both were middle-aged men when the Civil War came in 1861, and each took a different side. While William’s three sons and a son-in-law were marching with Sherman and the Union Army, John was a slaveholder in Texas. One of William’s sons was Finley Leonard Powell, my great-great-grandfather, and I knew his story from when I was a boy. But I did not learn of Uncle John until just a few years ago, which added a very American twist to my family story. John is buried in Jacksboro, Texas, just over 200 miles north of where I now live in Georgetown, Texas.
William Powell
William Henry Powell, second child of Thomas J. and Henrietta Powell, was born in London on Church Street, May 17, 1810, and was 7 years old when his family emigrated to America and 11 years old when they reached the Campbell farm in Coshocton County, Ohio.
At the age of 23, he married Orpha Poland and moved to a farm of 80 acres he had bought near BakersvilIe, Ohio, in Coshocton County, later buying an adjoining 80. His first house was a log cabin with one window and one door, but when his family increased, he had to add another cabin, building it with the door facing the other house, with a floor between, which floor was roofed over so that it made what was called a double log house. Later he built a frame house, doing the work himself, as he was handy at almost any kind of work. He lived on this farm 23 years, where all his children were born excepting one born in Iowa who died in infancy. The children were Thomas, Henrietta, Joseph, Priscilla, Finley, Luther, Arrilla, and John.
In 1855, thinking to better his condition financially, he sold the farm and drove through to Iowa, settling near Iowa City, then the state capital. The country was new, with no railroad west of the Mississippi river, but the first winter they were, the railroad was built that far. There being no bridge across the river, a temporary track was laid across at Davenport on the ice, over which the first railroad engine to enter the country west of the Mississippi was taken. At that time the thermometer registered 37 degrees below zero. The extreme cold and the great amount of snow and wind coupled with the newness of the country so discouraged them that after about two years they returned to Ohio. They moved into a cabin on John Shirk's place for a short time, then William bought back his old homestead, where he resided for eight years more.
William, like his brothers [well, except John], was a Republican and an abolitionist, and because of his sentiment he often felt that his life was endangered. It is useless to add that William was a strong Union man during the war, for he furnished three sons and a son-in-law for the great conflict.
In 1865 he again decided to try the west, moving to near Xenia, Indiana. The country was not yet well-drained, and it being a wet year, malarial diseases were prevalent, and in less than seven months he took down sick, and spinal meningitis developed quickly, and in one week, death followed on November 30, 1865, at the age of 55.
At the age of 23, he married Orpha Poland and moved to a farm of 80 acres he had bought near BakersvilIe, Ohio, in Coshocton County, later buying an adjoining 80. His first house was a log cabin with one window and one door, but when his family increased, he had to add another cabin, building it with the door facing the other house, with a floor between, which floor was roofed over so that it made what was called a double log house. Later he built a frame house, doing the work himself, as he was handy at almost any kind of work. He lived on this farm 23 years, where all his children were born excepting one born in Iowa who died in infancy. The children were Thomas, Henrietta, Joseph, Priscilla, Finley, Luther, Arrilla, and John.
In 1855, thinking to better his condition financially, he sold the farm and drove through to Iowa, settling near Iowa City, then the state capital. The country was new, with no railroad west of the Mississippi river, but the first winter they were, the railroad was built that far. There being no bridge across the river, a temporary track was laid across at Davenport on the ice, over which the first railroad engine to enter the country west of the Mississippi was taken. At that time the thermometer registered 37 degrees below zero. The extreme cold and the great amount of snow and wind coupled with the newness of the country so discouraged them that after about two years they returned to Ohio. They moved into a cabin on John Shirk's place for a short time, then William bought back his old homestead, where he resided for eight years more.
William, like his brothers [well, except John], was a Republican and an abolitionist, and because of his sentiment he often felt that his life was endangered. It is useless to add that William was a strong Union man during the war, for he furnished three sons and a son-in-law for the great conflict.
In 1865 he again decided to try the west, moving to near Xenia, Indiana. The country was not yet well-drained, and it being a wet year, malarial diseases were prevalent, and in less than seven months he took down sick, and spinal meningitis developed quickly, and in one week, death followed on November 30, 1865, at the age of 55.
Orpha Powell, wife of William Powell and daughter of James and Margaret Poland, was born in Allegheny County, Maryland, October 19, 1815. She, with her parents, moved to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, when she was but a child. On March 6, 1833, she was married to William Powell, with whom she was a true companion and partner through a married life of near a third of a century.
After the death of her husband in 1865, the responsibilities of the family fell on her. In 1868, she sold the farm and moved to Owen County, Indiana, where she resided about 10 years; then breaking up housekeeping she moved to Kansas, where she made her home with her children at Delphos and Simpson. On January 6, 1897, she was called home, and her body was interred in the cemetery at Delphos.
After the death of her husband in 1865, the responsibilities of the family fell on her. In 1868, she sold the farm and moved to Owen County, Indiana, where she resided about 10 years; then breaking up housekeeping she moved to Kansas, where she made her home with her children at Delphos and Simpson. On January 6, 1897, she was called home, and her body was interred in the cemetery at Delphos.
Finley Powell
Finley Leonard Powell, fifth child of William and Orpha Powell [and my great-great-grandfather] was born on October 5, 1844. On February 23, 1864, he enlisted in Company M, Ninth Ohio Valley Cavalry, joined the regiment at Nashville, and soon was in a raid tearing up 30 miles of railway, and for sixteen days was in a running fight, stopping only two hours a day and living on roasted corn, and that without salt. Finley was wounded in his arm at Akin, South Carolina, and shortly after was taken with chronic diarrhea. The doctor said he would die, and he told the doctor if he had as much brains as a possum, he could cure him, which made the doctor mad, and he left him some salts to take. Finley not knowing what it was, he dissolved all he could in a pint of water and downed it, which caused him to vomit up everything he had ever eaten, it seemed; however, he gained from that time on. On August 2, 1865, the war having closed, he was mustered out.
The next year, Finley moved to Converse, Indiana, where on November 22, 1868, he married Lovey A. Tanquary, and to them were born six children: William Quinby (Quinn), Etta Elizabeth, Mary Myrtie, Ner Henry, and Adolph, all born in Indiana. In 1880 they moved to Wilson County, Kansas, where their last child, Blanche, was born. There, Finley bought 320 acres of land on which he still lives (1914).
The next year, Finley moved to Converse, Indiana, where on November 22, 1868, he married Lovey A. Tanquary, and to them were born six children: William Quinby (Quinn), Etta Elizabeth, Mary Myrtie, Ner Henry, and Adolph, all born in Indiana. In 1880 they moved to Wilson County, Kansas, where their last child, Blanche, was born. There, Finley bought 320 acres of land on which he still lives (1914).
Finley is a true Christian, a strictly honest man and a respected citizen. To him, I believe, belongs the honorable distinction of having the most descendants of any of the Powells of his generation, forty-six in all, and at this date (1914) there has never been a death in his line of descendants. He is a man of medium height (as are all the Powells), heavyset, light hair, well-preserved for his age, enjoys life generally and in particular when he can take a spin in his automobile.
Lovey Ann (Tanquary) Powell was born May 1, 1849. Her father was a Virginian and her mother, whose maiden name was Shackelford, was from Kentucky. They moved to Indiana in 1846 [30 years after Abraham Lincoln and his family], and with their large family, lived in a one-room log cabin. They were staunch Methodists, as Lovey writes: "the kind that meant something in a spiritual way."
Ner Henry Powell, fourth child of Finley and Lovey [and my great-grandfather] was born April 21, 1877, and married Satira L. “Sadie” Smith on Sept. 4, 1897. Sadie was born September 4, 1878, the daughter of Pleasant and Rachael (Meadows) Smith. To them were born seven children:
Lovey Ann (Tanquary) Powell was born May 1, 1849. Her father was a Virginian and her mother, whose maiden name was Shackelford, was from Kentucky. They moved to Indiana in 1846 [30 years after Abraham Lincoln and his family], and with their large family, lived in a one-room log cabin. They were staunch Methodists, as Lovey writes: "the kind that meant something in a spiritual way."
Ner Henry Powell, fourth child of Finley and Lovey [and my great-grandfather] was born April 21, 1877, and married Satira L. “Sadie” Smith on Sept. 4, 1897. Sadie was born September 4, 1878, the daughter of Pleasant and Rachael (Meadows) Smith. To them were born seven children:
- Emma, September 25, 1897
- Edna, June 22, 1900
- Leonard Finley, October 4, 1902
- Clyde Ner, Apr. 12, 1904
- Donald Pleasant [my grandfather], August 4, 1907
- Newton “Fletcher”, January 6, 1910
- Ruby Ann, October 26, 1915
John Powell
John Powell, third son of Thomas J. and Henrietta Powell, wrote this sketch of his early life up to 1845:
I was born March 26, 1813, in the town of Leominster, England (the family record, written by his father, gives Combs, England, as his birthplace) crossed the ocean in 1817, being four years old; the passage occupied seventy days, landing in Richmond, Va., in which vicinity my father lived for several years, when he crossed the mountains to western Ohio and to what was then known as the backwoods.
In a few years, Methodist preachers came out there and society improved. About 1832, I joined the Methodist church, and in the fall of that year, having gone to Arkansas, received my license to preach at a meeting at Ramsey's campground… My first circuit was in Jackson County, Arkansas, where I was paid seventy-five dollars a year. In that day, a hundred dollars a year was thought good pay for a preacher. In 1838, I was appointed to St. Frances circuit—a fine country and people. My next several charges were among the rough, uneducated people, not a few of them professional horse thieves; yet, with the Lord's blessing I was able to accomplish some good. In 1842 I was sent to a circuit in Lafourche parish in northern Louisiana and was returned to it the following year.
John’s diary closes with a few items concerning the war with Mexico, in which he was engaged in the service of the United States and was made chaplain of a New Orleans regiment called the Louisiana Volunteers.
In 1848 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Muse Hines, a daughter of Colonel James Hines, a Louisiana planter. Elizabeth was born September 14, 1829, in South Carolina and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
John’s son, F. P. Powell, has given me a sketch more in detail of his father's life, from which I get the following:
In 1848 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Muse Hines, a daughter of Colonel James Hines, a Louisiana planter. Elizabeth was born September 14, 1829, in South Carolina and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
John’s son, F. P. Powell, has given me a sketch more in detail of his father's life, from which I get the following:
While my father was engaged in preaching regularly, his circuits were generally in the country districts, as he was not only a single man, but was chosen because of his ready wit, tact, and fitness to cope with the situation of the semi-frontier life. Father usually overcame the rowdy by kindness and his ever-resourceful tact; but on one occasion, he was informed that a bully had said that there would be no preaching that day and the preacher would leave the community.
So, soon after the services began, the disturbance opened. Father used his ready tact to no avail; then he administered a personal reprimand, whereupon the bully advanced toward the pulpit, saying, “I will thrash a parson.” Father, considering he had turned his last cheek, quickly removed his coat [and came from behind] the pulpit, and this action so astonished the bully as to cause him to halt. Father’s friends took the bully out, the services were fully completed, and Father was ever afterwards very popular in that section and had no disturbances at any place where this news reached. Though father was not over five feet six inches, he was quite an athlete by practice growing up, and he felt that he could give this bully all he wanted.
In 1849 after father's marriage in Louisiana, he moved to Texas to a small farm in the pine woods north of Crockett, in Houston County. Here all his children were born; Thomas James, in 1850; Mary Henrietta in 1851; Frances Pinkney, in 1853; and Eliza J. in 1855.
Soon after moving to Texas, father became owner of his first slaves. A man and his wife were given to Father by his father-in-law, who had just come to Texas to live.
Father was a great reader and a student of governmental affairs. He had fixed views on the slavery question and never failed to express them. He voted against secession and opposed the war. He argued that slavery was the main question, which would not be settled by secession. He favored settling the question by acts of Congress and contended there was no hope of the South winning in the war as their numbers were too insignificant.
After the vote on secession, he submitted to the majority, and while he was exempt from service because of his ministry, yet he was true to the South and contributed of his means, working with his slaves the crops of his neighbors who were in the war and aiding in all civil matters at home while preaching as usual.
During the war father saved one Union man's life, arriving at a place where an excited crowd had the man on a scaffold ready to hang him, but father made a speech showing this man to be just where he was himself before the vote, but while he abode by the decision of the majority, this man still held to the belief. They finally turned the man loose under a promise to keep his mouth shut and not aid the other side. A Union man had to keep very meek to save himself in Texas in those times.
My father was kind to his slaves: they were well-fed, clothed, comfortably housed, good care taken of them in sickness, and never overworked. My mother's parents died during the war, and after the division of the estate, we had twenty-two negroes and yet we had only a hundred-and-fifty acres of land under cultivation. In fact, it took about all that was made to support the family and colored people using the utmost economy. While the family lived some better than the slaves, yet there was no such difference as now exists between the poorer and middle class, saying nothing of the rich.
While I was at school I hunted, herded sheep, and played with the negroes of my size. Father would send me out to chop cotton with the negroes, telling me they would be free, and he desired me to learn work as well as to build up my constitution. Father would give the negroes a small day's work to do on Saturday, which they usually did by noon, having the afternoon to do as they pleased. This time they would spend fishing, hunting, gathering nuts for winter, cutting bee trees often, around which we children, black and white, would gather and eat honey until we were sick.
Dancing was a great pastime with the slaves, but as father did not approve of it, our negroes did not dance. Some few could read and write—taught mostly by the white children—but these were generally the house servants.
I cannot recall father's ever whipping but possibly three slaves, and that was for impudence and seemed just as necessary as chastising one of us children. From Grandfather Hines' estate, we got the only mean slave we had. He ran away twice when father started to whip him for impudence and was placed in the penitentiary. The first time, Father brought him back he was very penitent. The second time, Father let him stay in the pen, fearing his influence upon the other negroes. I remember this last time Father called him up to whip him, he drew a knife; when father ran to the house to get his gun, Mother delayed him till the negro was out of the range of the shot. Father then set his dogs after him, and as they came near the negro, Father began to sic the dogs ahead as though he was after something else. Thus, he escaped.
After the war closed, his slaves all stayed with him until after finishing the first crop. After they were freed, without contract, for which labor he gave to each money and clothes. They all begged to remain with him, but as he was moving into a strange country a hundred miles north, he thought it was best for them to remain where they were known. I shall never forget when the parting day came. Father called all the negroes together and gave them a bit of advice. And the scene which followed could not have been sadder if the participants had been of blood kin. All cried, white as well as black.
When Lincoln was assassinated, his death was welcomed by many Southerners, but Father mourned it, saying at the time that it was a hard blow. Lincoln, he thought, would have brought light out of chaos for the South and the negro.
Mother had eight brothers, some of whom were in the Civil war, two only living after the war, Calvin Hines, a lawyer, and Joe Hines, a Methodist preacher. However, it was a source of joy to learn after the war that none of these boys were in battles where any of the northern kin were.
In the fall of 1866 we moved to Alvarado, in Johnson County, Texas, a town of 5oo people where we soon had good schools. Father never drank and aided in getting the first prohibition law which made Alvarado dry in 1868. Father was in business at Alvarado for a number of years with good success, helping each of the children liberally when they commenced life for themselves, so that in the end he had not many thousand dollars. But by his grand, useful, and religious life he had laid up a reward beyond that could not be estimated in dollars and cents.
In 1880, he went to live at Jacksboro, where he lived until his wife's death five years later. After that he did no active business but lived with his children, alternating as he chose. After he came to Texas he never continued regular work in the ministry, although he kept his regular conference connections and preached on Sundays and at revivals near him as long as his strength would permit, which was until about ten years prior to his death, and for such services he never asked or received a dollar.
Father passed away July 12, 1900, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Marion Sansom, at Alvarado, Texas, after an illness of less than a week at the ripe age of eighty-seven years, three months, and sixteen days. His was a living religion, one of consistency at all times, and when life was fast leaving the body, among his last words were, “God bless you, my children, I am prepared to die.”
His body lies at rest beside that of his wife in the cemetery at Jacksboro, Texas.
[I visited John and Elizabeth’s graves on July 4, 2016, and contemplated—on America’s birthday, no less—what it meant to be descended from an abolitionist and his slaveholding brother. My lifelong interest in the Civil War was now deeply personal.]
MRS. E.M. POWELL
BORN SEPT 15, 1829
DIED DEC 20, 1885
BORN SEPT 15, 1829
DIED DEC 20, 1885
UNITED METHODIST MINISTER
REV. JOHN POWELL
BORN Mar 27, 1813
In Leominster, Eng.
DIED July 12, 1900
In Alvarado, Tex.
REV. JOHN POWELL
BORN Mar 27, 1813
In Leominster, Eng.
DIED July 12, 1900
In Alvarado, Tex.
F. P. Powell
Francis Pinkney Powell, son of Reverend John and Elizabeth Muse Powell (and author of the sketches above), wrote this autobiographical sketch only a few weeks before his death, which occurred September 21, 1914.
I was born July 21, 1853. Eyes blue; height, five feet four inches; light hair; weight 160 pounds; almost the same description as that of father except he had a Roman nose. Named after an uncle on each side of the family. Reared under surroundings as shown in Reverend John Powell's biography and very close to him from early boyhood; was like a partner of his—he talking and advising with me as if I were grown. In this way I early formed studious and good habits, attending Sunday school and church regularly, eschewing liquor, tobacco, and evil company until after the age of twenty-three years; constant reader of history and other good books; believing in fact rather than fiction; never read novels.
My early boyhood ambition was to be a merchant; but at the age of 20 my ambition changed to the profession of law. About this time. I entered Marvin college, about the first Methodist college in Texas. Later studied in the law office of Ferris & Rainey at Waxahachie, at which place I opened an office, experiencing the usual struggles of the young attorney.
I took much interest in political and governmental questions. I did not seek office because I did not care to submit to things that seemed to be required in order to win in politics. However, I was elected without much effort, a member of the 26th (Texas) legislature, of 1899 to 1900 inclusive. Later was appointed judge to try special cases. In 1878, I joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge Number 80, at Waxahachie, Texas. I occupied the offices to past Grand and went as representative to the state Grand Lodge.
In 1876, with two other young men friends, I visited the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia; also paid a most enjoyable visit to the Powell kin at the old Powell home at Coshocton [County], Ohio, but have never met any of them since.
William Dean Howells
[This is David again. I’ll continue W. D. Shirk’s book in a moment.]
William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was the grandson of Thomas Howells, brother of Henrietta (Howells) Powell. W.D. Howells’ father, W.C. Howells, wrote the sketch above about his Powell cousins coming to Ohio. So:
William Dean Howells was also a famous American novelist and personal friend to Mark Twain and other noted writers. When I discovered this several years ago, I asked a college English teacher friend of mine if she had ever heard of him, and she responded:
William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was the grandson of Thomas Howells, brother of Henrietta (Howells) Powell. W.D. Howells’ father, W.C. Howells, wrote the sketch above about his Powell cousins coming to Ohio. So:
- W.C. Howells and William Powell were first cousins
- W.D. Howells and Finley Powell were second cousins
- I am four generations removed from Finley (Ner, Don, Roger, David), which makes William Dean Howells my second cousin four times removed.
William Dean Howells was also a famous American novelist and personal friend to Mark Twain and other noted writers. When I discovered this several years ago, I asked a college English teacher friend of mine if she had ever heard of him, and she responded:
I've got two of his novels: A Modern Instance and The Rise of Silas Lapham. I like Silas the best, and in fact, I'm teaching that novel in my American lit survey course this semester. He's considered "the Father of American Realism," which is the period I focused on most for my dissertation. He was a literary critic, friend to many other writers, and a "regular guy" who made it big. He's not my favorite novelist of the time, but he's a pretty good one, and Silas Lapham is an interesting read.
Of personal interest to me, Howells was an early Lincoln biographer. According to Ronald C. White, Jr:
[In 1860,] William Dean Howells, a twenty-three-year-old editorial writer for the Ohio State Journal in Columbus, was engaged by Follett, Foster and Company, the same firm that had recently published Lincoln's scrapbook of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, to write a biography of Lincoln. The publisher suggested that Howells go to Springfield to interview Lincoln himself. Howells, at the beginning of a brilliant literary career during which he would write more than 100 books from 1860 to 1920, declined, saying later, "I missed the greatest chance of my life." (A. Lincoln, pages 334-335).
Instead, Howells wrote Lincoln’s campaign biography Life of Abraham Lincoln from other sources, so I missed the chance to say I’m related to someone who interviewed Lincoln.
W.D. Shirk writes this about Howells:
Our eminent relative, William Dean Howells, we are all glad and proud to honor. At a banquet given in New York in his honor to celebrate his 75th birthday (1902) was assembled the President of the United States and more than four hundred prominent men and women in literature. He received congratulatory messages from literary celebrities all over the English-speaking world. President Taft said in part:
W.D. Shirk writes this about Howells:
Our eminent relative, William Dean Howells, we are all glad and proud to honor. At a banquet given in New York in his honor to celebrate his 75th birthday (1902) was assembled the President of the United States and more than four hundred prominent men and women in literature. He received congratulatory messages from literary celebrities all over the English-speaking world. President Taft said in part:
I have traveled from Washington here to do honor to the greatest living American writer and novelist. I have done this because of the personal debt I feel for the pleasure he has given me in what he has written, in the pictures of American life and society he has painted, and with which I have had sufficient familiarity to know the truth and the delicacy of his touch… Easily at the head of the living literary men of the nation, Mr. Howells is entitled, on the celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday, to this tribute of respect.
Mr. Howells is not a writer whose periods of inspiration are fitful and occasional, but he has educated and prepared himself to do literary work, as men of other professions, making his mind and imagination respond to the regular demand on duty. Mr. Howells in his long and useful life has been content to live in literature. He has attempted to play a part in no other sphere. By taste, by ability, by imagination, by the genius of taking pains, he finds himself five years beyond the age of the psalmist, representing the best and highest of American literature. Everything that he has written sustains the highest standard of social purity and aspiration of refinement and morality and wholesome ideals, and he has added to American literature a treasure of literary excellence, the enjoyment of which will make coming generations grateful.
William Dean Howells
Conclusion
As Henry Louis Gates, Jr. makes clear on every episode of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots”, digging into our past not only helps explain who we are, but stirs up strong emotions. My Powell forefathers were hard-working and hard-headed, serious and opinionated, and devoutly Christian—though they disagreed strongly about how that was to be expressed in their lives. My foremothers seem to have been loving and generous and often more compassionate than their husbands.
My story is one of thousands of American stories, with its themes of immigration and frontier life and its inescapable involvement with the issue of race in this country. My Uncle John’s story in particular is painful to record, especially after recently reading Twelve Years a Slave, a memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson.
But as is often said, we don’t get to pick our families. There is always much to admire and be grateful for and much to inspire us to do better.
David Powell
May 8, 2022
My story is one of thousands of American stories, with its themes of immigration and frontier life and its inescapable involvement with the issue of race in this country. My Uncle John’s story in particular is painful to record, especially after recently reading Twelve Years a Slave, a memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson.
But as is often said, we don’t get to pick our families. There is always much to admire and be grateful for and much to inspire us to do better.
David Powell
May 8, 2022