John was described as an active and energetic farmer/cattle raiser. Heo wned 626 acres of which 619 was in 1 body. His wife's obituarystates: " (They) went to house keeping in an humble home a shortdistance south o f Sullivan. By their combined industry and good
management they prospered and accumulated a good farm, adjoining theso utheastern limits of (unreadable) to Sullivan in the spring of1872."
Residences & events:
12/26/1841 Shelby Co, IL. Apparently John and Simon inherited somela nd from their father. When a judgment was made against them infavor o f Byrd Monroe, assignee of George M Hanson, for $42.86 plus$5.56 for t he cost of the suit, the sheriff found they had nopersonal property wi th which to pay it so he sold 40 acres of theirland to Joshua
Patterson as highest bidder for $43.
1846 John and Sarah joined the First Christian Church of Sullivan,IL, m eeting in a log house used as the school during the week.
1847 Moultrie Co, 1 mi SE of Sullivan, IL. One reference said he andS arah settled in Moultrie Co in 1879, however, his daughter's date ofse ttlement confirmed the 1847 date.
1850 Moultrie Co, IL. John was the only Powell listed in the countyc ensus, the rest being still in Shelby. His property = $375 and hisbro ther, William, was living with him. He served as administrator ofWill iam's estate 2 years later. Next door was George and MahalaPurvis and 3 d oors down was Peter Harbaugh, Sarah's relatives.
3/1857 He was mentioned in the county treasurer's report, and againon 9 /3/1860.
1860 At census time, John had a large household. He was 36, Sarahwas 3 7, and their children were: Mary A, 15; Sarah S, 13; Angeline,11; Mar tha A, 6; nephew, James Bathe, 13, besides a David Niele, 18,farm hand , and George Thompson, 21, boarder. John's occupation wasfarming and h is property = $4000/1600. In the same area was WilliamBathe, 10, livi ng with the David Patterson family next door to DavidHarbaugh.
John was mentioned in the McPheeters family letters during the CivilWa r:
6/4/1863 - "The war has broke out again betwixt John Powell andOl d dad (McPheeters). As usual Old dad is wrong and acting thefool - c arry his revolver, but is too big a coward to use it."
8/20/1863 - "The copperheads are down on Smyser for coming outand a pproving conscription act. Smyser wrote to John Powell andhe had S mysers letter published (in the newspaper at Sullivan)."
1865 He was included on the road district list.
6/3/1870 Sullivan, Moultrie Co, IL. John's property value hadincrease d considerably to $15,000/500 and he was still farming at age48. Sara h was 49 and 3 children were still at home: Angie, 21;Mattie A, 16; a nd Charlie M, 9 (?). Next door neighbors were theBupp and Hoke famile s.
1880 Same place. Son, Cash, was the only child still at home andJohn w as a retired farmer at age 57.
In the 1900 census, Cassius reported his father was born in Ohio and
his mother in KY. However, John may have been born in Moultrie Co, 1
mile SE of Sullivan, per History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties.
His will was dated 3/26/1883 and filed 5/4/1891. Heirs included:
Mary A Green, Elizabeth McDonald, Martha A Harris, Cassius M Powell,
and Angeline Wright, and his wife, Sarah.
