Powell, Abner

Abner Powell Family of Monroe Co., Ohio

Mr. Moore, editor of this paper [The Spirit of Democracy] turned over to me several letters for genealogical information which this paper had received and among that material was an account of the Powell family, not dated, signed, or documented, however interesting. I have run across the name of Abner Powell before, especially in Hardesty's History, but this material carried a few more pieces of information. However, the reader is cautioned that this account is not documented, and should be used as a frame work for further research and proof!

[Mrs. Fedorchak doesn't cite page numbers to the Hardesty reference. REH]

Mr. ABNER POWELL was one of the first settlers in what is now Washington Township, [Monroe Co., OH] having settled there about 1816. (The first place to look then is the 1820 census to see if that statement appears to be true.) He was born in Va. in 1760 (census schedules would also verify that) and he was married twice. His first wife Sara Hall. (I have written of a Rev. soldier Wm. Hall in this columns [sic] and I believe he was her father, but more work needs to be done there.) There were several children born to this union among them Hiram Powell who was born in 1808.

[Abner Powell was living in Centre Township at the time of the 1820 census, page 123. The census records of 1850 and 1860 do not verify the year of birth as, 1760. In the 1850 census he is listed as age, 80, and in the 1860 census he is listed as, age, 90, both of which give a calculated birth date of, Abt. 1770. A birthdate for Hiram H. Powell of Abt. 27 Feb 1808 in Ohio has been listed, with on source citation. The children of this marriage were: Hiram H. ; Alfred; John; and Isaac. Alfred married a woman named, Elizabeth, and had at least 9 children. REH]

Abner's second marriage occurred when he was an old man, and his second wife was much younger, Catherine Eaky. Four sons were born to this union, one son, Anthony was born when Mr. Powell was 93 years old. (Hardesty's History also carries this statement.)

[Again, no page citation for the Hardesty reference. Catherine (Eaky) Powell was age, 70, at the time of the 1870 census, thus her birth year can be calculate to Abt. 1820. Children of this union were: Joseph, b. Abt. 1845; George W., b. Abt. 1848; William, b. Abt. 1849; John D., b. Abt. 1850; Josiah C., b. Abt. 1856 and Anthony Barnbas, b. Abt. Nov 1856. If her first son, with Abner Powell, Joseph, was in fact born, Abt. 1845 in OH, she probably married to Abner Powell, Abt. 1844/1845 when she was Abt. 24/25 years old and Abner was Abt. 74/75 years old, a very unusual marriage. Her son, Anthony Barnbas Powell, has been listed as born in, Nov 1856 with no source citation. In the 1860 census he is listed as age, 3, born in Ohio which calculates to born, Abt. 1857. His father was listed as, 90 years old in that census, thus making him, Abt. 87 years old at the time of Anthony's birth. REH]

Agner [sic, Abner] Powell owned and cleared the land where Graysville, [OH] is situated, helped build the first school house in that community, and was the first justice of [the] peace in Washington Twp.

One night, when he was about 65 years of age, returning home from a visit, he was waylaid and shot, the bullet going entirely through his body, but hitting no vital organ. In order to clean the blood from the wound, a silk cloth was drawn through the hole left by the bullet. A brother-in-law was arrested for the crime, but was never proven guilty because of insufficient evidence. It was supposed that the brother-in-law was angry because of a decision which Mr. Powell had rendered against him in his court.

Abner Powell served in the War of 1812, and died in 1856, as the age of 96. He and the first Mrs. Powell are buried in the old cemetery at Graysville.

[Abner Powell didn't die in 1856. There are census records for him in 1850 and in 1860. He was listed as age, 70, in the 1850 census and age, 80, in the 1860 census, which both calculate to a birth date of, Abt. 1770. Assuming that the age at death was, in fact, 96 years old we arrive at a calculated death date of, Abt. 1866. We know he was alive in 1860 and dead before 1870 because Catherine Powell was head of household at the time of that census. REH]

Hiram Powell, son of Abner and Sarah, was born in 1808. In 1833, he married Miss Mary Sill, who was born in 1811 in Westmoreland Co., Md. She came to Ohio with her parents in 1822 (An early settler here was Oswald Sill, possibly her father - my note.) Hiram and Mary settled on the Little Muskingum River about 1 mile north of Rinards Mill. Their children were: Abner, Christopher E., Otty (probably for her father Oswald Sill), Thomas H., Wm. R., Sarah A., Abigail, Dorothy and Mary I. One child died in infancy. Hiram Powell died in 1857, and his wife, Mary, died in 1886. There are both buried in Lowgap Cemetery, 5 miles south of Graysville, Ohio on Rt. 26.

Thomas H. Powell, son of Hiram and Mary, was born in Monroe Co., Sept. 30, 1844. His first wife was Miss Liza Crow who died at the birth of her first child. Both mother and child were buried together. On Feb. 18, 1869 Thomas was married again to Sarah Isabell McVey, b. Jan. 25, 1852. She was the dau.[ghter] of John and Louise (Hupp) McVey. Mrs. Powell's mother, Mrs. Louise McVey died in 1866.

Thomas Powell had two brothers, Christopher E. and Otty, who served in the 77th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, both were fatally wounded at the battle of Shiloh. They were taken to a hospital at Louisville, Ky. and both died. Christopher is buried at Louisville, Ky. and Otty is buried at Lowgap Cemetery. Mrs. Thomas H. Powell had three uncles in the Civil War, and Thomas Powell also saw service when he was called up to stop the advance of Col. John Morgan, Confederate general, when he was making his raid through Ohio.

(Source: Extracted from the column, "Family Research in Monroe Co.," by Catharine Foreaker Fedorchak, "The Spirit of Democracy," Woodsfield, Ohio, 6 Jan 1981, republished in "Family Research in Monroe County, Ohio," Volume V, pages 41-42. Comments in square brackets [ ] by Richard E. Henthorn, 10 May 2004)