1858 Mercer Co, MO, 6 miles SE of Princeton. He was a farmer,startin g in 1858 with only a colt worth $50, which was a gift fromhis father. H e traded for a mare and colt, then traded the colt foranother mare to f orm his 1st team.
6/12/1860 Ravanna Twp, Mercer Co, MO, was his address at census timew here he was listed as JL, 20, "Alla" was 19, and the familyconsisted o f only 1 little girl ML, 1. John was a farmer but hadonly personal pr operty valued at $500.
In 1862, he traded a mare for 40 acres worth $100 and eventuallyamasse d 1200 acres in one tract, eventually giving each of hischildren a far m on which to set up housekeeping.
He served in Co I, 4th Regt, Missouri Militia, during in the CivilWar.
7/28/1870 Morgan Twp, Mercer Co, MO. He and Allie's family had grownt o 7 children by the time of the next census. John was 31 years old,a f armer, Allie was 28. Their children were: Martha I, 11; Andrew,9; Na ncy A, 7; Jane W (actually James, recorded as female), 6; LutherM, 4; E liza A, 3; and Charles W, 8 mo. Next door was brotherBenjamin and on t he other side was a Picket family.
6/1/1880 Washington Twp, Mercer Co, MO. By census time John was 40ye ars old, still farming, and had remarried. Mary was 35 and thechildre n included: Martha B, 21; Andrew J, 19; Nancy A, 17; JamesW, 15; Lut her M, 13; Eliza P, 12; Charles W, 10; Rachel E, 4; andGeorge A, 1.
6/6/1900 Same place. That census taker listed the family as Powl.John L w as 61, married 40 years to Mary, 58, who had given birth to 9children b ut only 6 still survived. Living with them were divorceddaughter Leo A , 19, married less than 1 year with 1 child, JoelHammond, 2 mo; Bertha E , 16; Clella M, 12; and Elna N, 8; plusEarnest Honn, 31, servant/farm l aborer. John was still farming.Daughter Edith and Waldo Coon lived n ext door.
4/15/1910 Still at Washington. That year at census time John L was a7 0 year old general farmer, married 37 years to Mary, 63, who hadbirthe d 8 children, 2 of whom had were deceased. Living with themwere 18 ye ar old daughter Elna Moss, her husband, Noel, 19, generalfarmer and ma rried 1 year; and James Doyle, 12, listed as a servantand farm laborer r ather than adopted son.
1913 Princeton, Mercer Co, MO. Following retirement he moved to thec ity.
The Telegraph carried John's obituary:
JOHN L POWELL CALLED
Wealthy Retired Farmer Crossed The Bar At His Home In This City AfterA W eeks Illness
John L. Powell, one of Mercer co. oldest and best known citizensanswer ed the call of the grimm reaper Sunday evening after about aweek of il lness. He was stricken with partial paralysis and acuteindigestion aft er which the physician and his family entertained nohopes of recovery, a lthough everything that loving hands could do toalleviate his sufferin g was done. With his passing, our county losesone of its foremost farm ers and one who for more
than a half century exerted great influence for good on the communityi n which
he lived.
John Powell was born in Hamburg, Wayne Co. Indiana, July 15, 1839, andd ied in Princeton Mo. on May 12, 1918, aged 78 years, 9 months and 77da ys. When he was 7 years of age, the family moved to Shelby Co.Illinois , where they remained until he was 15 years old. In 1854 hecame to Mer cer Co. and settled in the Oak School District, 6 milessoutheast of Pr inceton, where he continued to reside until 1913, whenhe retired from t he farm and moved to this city, where he has livedsince. He started to w ork for him-self, when 19 years of age havingnothing but a colt that h is father had given him. This he traded fora mare and a colt, and this c olt he traded for another mare and thismade him the owner of a team. H e was a tireless worker and byindustry, thrift, and good management, h e built up a large estate. Atone time he owned more than1200 acers of M ercer Co. land in one body.He has given each of his children a farm.
He was first married to Allie Kilgore, now deceased of July 15, 1858.F rom this union 8 children were born, of whom the following areliving: M rs. Belle Owen, Andrew J. Powell, both of this county, Jamesof Lewisto wn Montana, Luther Powell, of Pocatella Idaho, CharlesWesly Powell of S tarbuch Washington. The deceased are, Mrs NancyMIller, Mrs. Eliza Perr y, and Dora Alice Powell. On March 17, 1872,he was married to Miss Mar y Patten, and to this union the followingchildren were born: Arther El mer, and Iola, deceased, Mrs Edith Coon,George Powell, Mrs Lea Mantla, M rs Bertha Ramsey, Mrs Clella Evans,Mrs. Elna Moss, His was a large fam ily of children, 13 of whom grewinto maturity, married and had homes o f their own. They are allhighly respected and are numbered among our c ounties best and mostinfluential citizens. He also gave a home to a 6 y ear old orphan boy,James Doyle, whom he reared to manhood and educated . thanks to theinfluence of Mr. and Mrs Powell, "Jimmie Doyle" is a hi ghly respectedyoung man and is now with General
Pershing's army in France.
During the Civil War Mr. Powell entisted in Co.1, 4th Regiment, Prov.E nlisted Mo. Militia, and served to the close of the war. In 1882, hewa s converted and united with the Christian Union Congregation at thePin e Church. he afterward united with the Brantley Christian Church,and u pon coming to Princeton, placed his membership with theChristian Churc h here. He was a strong christian character, but wasvery liberal in hi s religious views. While he was loyal to the churchof his choice, he d onated land and materaly assisted,
financially and otherwise, in the building of the Powell ChapelMethodi st Organization that bears his name and with which most of hisfamily a re identified. He has been a resident of Mercer Co. for 64years and af ter a bursy and useful career, in which his influence forgood will lon g be felt, he has laid down his working tools of life,respected and ve nerated by all who knew him, he died as he had lived.In Peace with his G od, and with his fellow
man.
After a short prayer service at his home in the northwest part oftown, h is body was conveyed Monday afternoon to the Powell Chapel,near his ol d home, where the funeral was conducted by his pastor TheRev. Jas. E. T odd. Assisted by Rev. D.F. Harrison of Skidmore,formerly pastor of The M ethodist Church here, whom Mr. Powell hadgreatly admired and who was i nstrumental in building the PowellChapel.
The pallbearers were six of his grandsons: Lyle Coon, Paul MIller,Leon P owell, Omar Hammond, Harry Owen, and Loyd Owen.
We leave to mourn his death, his devoted wife,2 brothers, B.F. Powello f this County, and Thomas Powell of Hepler Kansas, 11 children, anda h ost of other relatives and friends to mourn is loss."
The obituary from the Post was much shorter:
"John L. Powell was father of 16 children. All the children were herea t time of death except J.W. Powell of Montana, who was here andreturne d home last week. The first land he owned was 40 acre tractin this co unty, in 1862 for which he traded a mare. The land wasthen worth abou t $100."
John was first buried in the Collings Cemetery, located SE ofPrinceton , but was later moved by the family to Princeton. TheCollings Cemeter y was small, had no fence, and cattle had run over itfor several years .
