Peter Powell

As printed in 1880

ELDER PETER POWELL, minister; Marengo; was born Oct. 18, 1804, in Fairfield Co., Ohio; his parents, Moses and Rebecca (Meredith) Powell, were natives of Virginia, and about the year 1800, emigrated to this State, locating in Fairfield Co. They had nine children— Stephen, John, Aaron, Peter, Elizabeth, Prudence, Nancy, Isaac and Moses. The died in 1817 and the father in 1826; they mother were members of the Baptist Church. When Elder Powell was a boy, the opportunities for obtaining an education in Ohio were of the most meagre and primitive kind; the country was an unbroken forest, the settlements were but few, and but recently made, and the little community that could boast of a log cabin school-house, was considered highly fortunate; but Mr. Powell made the most of his opportunities, and in the course of events, became a minister of the Gospel. May 3, 1827, he was married to Esther, a daughter of Elder Christian and Christina Coffman; her parents came from Virginia to Ohio in 1808, and become residents of Fairfield Co.; they were the parents of eight children, as follows — Anna, deceased; Esther, Rebecca, Gideon, Rachel, Fannie, Joshua and Joel. The father was an Elder in the Baptist Church for over fifty years. Mrs. Powell was born March 29, 1809; after marriage they settled in Hocking Co., and engaged in farming. In 1832 they found a home on a farm in Trenton Tp., Delaware Co., and in 1834 moved to Lincoln Tp., now in this county, where they engaged in the nursery business, which proved a successful enterprise; in this a snug fortune was realized, a portion of which Mr. Powell distributed

+ among his children. A few years ago he purchased twenty acres of land in Harmony Tp., where he now resides; he retired from the active duties of life, devoting, however, some of his time to the ministry which he entered in 1843. He now has two regular appointments, one in Westfield Tp., of this county, and the other in Harlem Tp., Delaware Co. Mr. and Mrs. Powell are the parents of six children — Ann, who married George Ulrey, they have two children — Esther B. and Sarah M.; John (whose biography appears in Lincoln Tp. Rebecca, who became the wife of James S. Dunham, and has seven children — John B., Minerva J., Monroe H., Peter I., Esther A., Amos M. and Minor B.; Isaiah, who married Elizabeth Long, nine children have been born to them, viz. — John O., William and Allen, deceased, Barton. Emily, Peter J., Manford P., deceased, Tilman and an infant not named; Maria J. married Eli Ulrey, to whom three children have been born — an infant deceased, Delbert D., and Lyman P.; the sixth of the family, Minerva married John W. Porter, they have had two children — Alice F., deceased, and an infant un-named. A party, consisting of Elder Powell’s paternal grandfather and a brother Robert, and the Elder’s father, while crossing a ford of Cheat river (afterwards called Powell’s ford), in West Virginia, were assailed by the Indians; the grandfather was shot, and his brother Robert was tortured to death by pine sticks being stuck into the flesh of his legs and set on fire. Mr. Powell’s father, Moses, escaped.

As printed in History of Morrow County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio ... a history of Morrow County ... biographical sketches, portraits of some of the early settlers and prominent men, (1880). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.