ST. CLAIR POWELL, one of the enterprising and prosperous
farmers of Liberty township, residing on section 35, was born in Marion County,
Indiana, January 31, 1842, a son of Lewis B. and Jane (Smith) Powell. His parents
were born and reared in the State of Virginia, living there till after their
marriage. They were early settlers of Marion County, Indiana, where they made a
home out of the dense forest, both dying at their pioneer home. Their family
consisted of four sons and four daughters, of whom our subject was the seventh
child. Only two besides our subject are now living: Mrs. Frances Morein, living
in Hiawatha, Kansas, and John B., the youngest of the family, living in Grundy
County, Iowa. St.Clair Powell was united
in marriage in June, 1862, to Miss Savilla Shinn, in Henry County, Illinois,
and to this union were born two children – Merrick, who died at the age of
thirteen years and Adella. In August, 1862, Mr. Powell enlisted in Company I,
One Hundred and Second Illinois Infantry, and in November, 1862, was broken
down by a forced march of his regiment, going to the relief of Frankfort,
Kentucky. After an attack of bilious fever he rejoined his regiment, but
failing health necessitated his discharge at Gallatin, Tennessee, in March,
1863. Mr. Powell located in Grundy
County, Iowa, in 1865, buying property there with the intention of improving and
making a home, but his wife’s health failing made a change necessary. He then
sold the property and went to Coffey County, Kansas, where his wife died in
October, 1867. Mr. Powell then returned to Grundy County, Iowa, with his two
children, where he remained until coming to Clarke County, Iowa, in March,
1871. He has brought his land from a
wild state to a well-cultivated farm, and has made all the improvements on his
place. Not a tree had been planted nor a furrow turned. Now his buildings are
sheltered by a fine maple grove, raised from seed planted twelve years before,
the trees being now fully twenty feet in height. His fine farm contains 400
acres of as good land as can be found in the township, and the products of the
farm are used for feeding his stock, his attention being devoted to
stock-raising. September 8, 1872, Mr. Powell married for his second wife Miss
Maria J. Barnes, and to them have been born seven children – William J., Lottie
M., Annie B., Charles, Frank E., Bertie and Hattie. In politics Mr. Powell is
an ardent Republican. He is a member of
Unity Lodge, No. 212, A.F. & A.M. of Woodburn, and is a highly-respected
citizen of Liberty Township.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 333
