Peter Powell

PETER H. POWELL.

Peter H. Powell has for many years been identified with agricultural pursuits in Eagle township, Hancock county, and his farm, being in the oil belt of this state, now has upon it a number of ])reducing oil wells, whereby his income is materially increased each year. He was born July 17, 1838, on the farm which is yet his home, his parents being Philip and Elizabeth (Fellers) Powell, the former a native of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, the latter of Fairfield county, Ohio. The Powell family is of Welsh origin as far back as the ancestry can be traced and for two centuries has been represented in m NEW YORK

ASTOR. I.KNOX A.ND TILUKN KOUNUATiONS B I.

America, five brothers of the name having come to this country at one time about two hundred years ago. They became scattered, however, and no authentic record of their descendants is obtainable. The one who located in Pennsylvania was William Powell, who operated a ferry on one of the principal rivers of the Keystone state,

John PhiHp Powell, the first to settle in Ohio, was a pioneer of Fairfield county. He entered several hundred acres of land from the government and divided it among his children. Peter Powell, the grandfather of our subject, entered one hundred acres for each of his children and settled the following sons in Hancock county: Peter, John, Henry, Samuel. Philip and Jacob, although Peter died in Fairfield county. Two other sons, George and Daniel, were settled elsewhere, the former in Wood county, Ohio, the latter in Carey, this state. Samuel and Henry were the pioneers here, coming in 1830 or 1 83 1. Their father, Peter, spent his last years here, passing away when eighty-five years of age. He was a man of decided views, fearless in defense of his honest convictions and was respected by all who knew him. All of his sqns have now passed away, the last being Jacob, who departed this Ufe in Findlay, at the age of eighty-five.

In 1834 Philip Powell, the father of our subject, came to Hancock county and settled in the midst of the green woods, where he began to make a farm, carrying on the work of its improvement until his death, which occurred in 1866. The mother of our subject had died about 1841, when only twenty-five years of age. They were the parents of three children: Joshua, of Liberty township; Peter, of this review; and Simon W., who left the old farm in iks59 and is now a civil and mining engineer of San Francisco. About 1842 the father had married again. Susanna Tiissing, also of Fairfield county, becoming his wife. They had one child that died in infancy and the mother's death occurred in 1857. In 1850 Mr. Powell had built the house and in 1854 the bam and had made other substantial improvements on the property He was a shoemaker, having picked up the trade in his youth. His father agreed to buy the leather if J*hili]) would make him a pair of boots, which he did, and thus the father got a better fit than his sons, who had hired their boots made. In the winter months, in his own home, Philip Powell followed shoemaking and throughout the remainder of the year carried on farm work. He was a man of strict religious views and life and was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Association. In his family was much sickness, his second wife having been an invalid for seven years, while he was in poor health for about the same length of time. He broke up housekeeping and this necessitated his sons starting out in life for themselves.

Peter Powell was then nineteen years of age. He worked for his brother Joshua until he was married, March 24, 1861, to Elizabeth C. Cogley. After his father's death in 1866, he purchased the interest of the other heirs in the property and returned to the old home place in August, 1867. Here he has remained continuously since and has carried on general farming and stock-raising, both branches of his business being so well conducted that they bring to him success, lie also has thirteen oil wells sunk upon his farm and of these twelve are in operation and have produced a fair income. He has also become interested in property in Findlay in recent years.

In 1892 Mr. Powell was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died July 2, of that year, after a happy married life of thirty years. They were the parents of six children: Jacob Sylvester, of Eagle township, married Alice J. Decker; Alice A. is the wife of Oliver Yates, of Eagle township; Simon Joshua married Lizzie Billman and is living in Seneca county; Emma V. is the wife of J. W. Foreman, of Eagle township; Elmina is the wife of William Yates, of Liberty township; Clemmons L. is at home. On the 27th of December, 1894, Mr. Powell wedded Mrs. Jennie Deeds, the widow of Levi Deeds, and a daughter of James and Henrietta (Leeder) Beard, of Marion township, Hancock county, where she was born. By her first marriage she had one daughter. Ivy Deeds, now fourteen years of age.

With the exception of very brief intervals Mr. Powell has filled the office of justice of the peace since 1872 and his decisions are strictly fair and impartial, and during nine years of this time he was also township treasurer. For two terms he has been trustee and has been a member of the school board. He belongs to the Evangelical Association, and is a class leader and trustee in the church, and in every office in which he has been called to serve he has been found true and faithful to the trust reposed in him and to the obligations devolving upon him. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1872 he became a member of the Hancock Lodge, No. 73, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

As printed in A Centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio : embellished with portraits of many well known people of Hancock County, who have been or are prominent in its history and development (1903). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.