|
|
||||||||||||||
 |
The Powell Family |
|||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
| Three of the fifteen children of Joseph and Sarah Powell of Sugar Grove, Illinois, set out on the Oregon Trail with families of their own in 1851. The "Powell Train" was anchored by John and Savilla Powell and their ten children, Noah and Mary Powell with six children, and Alfred and Hannah Powell and their seven kids. Also in the Powell Train was John's married daughter, Theresa, who died two weeks after delivering a baby boy on the Trail somewhere around South Pass. Though there is no known diary of the journey, a rough chronology was assembled by family members from references in letters and a printed interview with one of the Powell children who came west in 1851. The train that I was with was known as Powell's train. It consisted of John A. Powell, Noah Powell, Alfred Powell, and George Alkire as the old men of the company. ... The reasons for leaving Illinois to come West were various. The old men with families came to get cheap land for themselves and their children, as well as milder climate, better health, and better financial conditions. Others were attracted by the gold mines. As for myself, I was an orphan boy, and my home was anywhere that I was treated kindly. I wanted to see the elephants, so I came West to grow up with the country. - S. Hamilton, January 9, 1900 April 3 - departed Menard County, Illinois April 4 - reached Havana on the Illinois River during a snow squall April 5 - crossed Illinois River April ? - crossed Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa April 28 - arrived at Kanesville (last chance to buy corn or other livestock feed) May 10 or 12 - crossed the Missouri River just above where Omaha, Nebraska, now stands May 27 - along the Platte River the Powell Train encountered a herd of buffalo being pursued by large, white wolves; the buffalo swam the river to get away from the wolves and 2-300 of them thundered past the wagon train June - rain and hailstorms were common throughout the month June 3 - Chimney Rock June 27 - Theresa Powell McFadden delivers a baby boy July 3 - Ham's Fork July 11 - Fort Hall July 21 - Salmon Falls August 10 - Theresa McFadden dies and is buried at Lee's Encampment (now known as Meacham) August ? - came into the country of the Umatilla Indians, whom the Powells found "not only friendly but quite sociable as far as we could understand each other" August 29 - started into the Cascade Mountains on the Barlow Road; started raining at noon and continued for four days straight September 3 - reached Philip Foster's farm, one day east of Oregon City The brothers settled near the town of Albany in Linn County. All three of them were preachers, as well as farmers, and they found that their services were in demand in the isolated rural settlements up and down the Willamette Valley. The Powell brothers became circuit riders -- itinerant preachers assigned to ride from town to town to "church up" the locals. [John Powell] was six feet in height, and weighed 225 pounds. ... His commanding appearance, his strong, clear voice, and his logic and magnetism easily enabled him to hold the undivided attention of his audience for an hour and often much longer. ... He was [of] a serious turn of mind, and seldom indulged in jest. In contrast to the fiery exhortations of his brother Alfred, his public discourses were quite and dignified in style... His sermons...were designed to give men food for serious thought concerning the great issues of life. - C. W. Swander In 1852, another of the Powell siblings headed for Oregon. Lucinda Powell Propst decided to head west with her husband, Anthony Propst, and their five children after receiving news of her brothers' safe arrival in the Willamette Valley. While the 1851 contingent came through more or less intact, the Propst children were orphaned when both Lucinda and her husband died en route to Oregon. Messages were sent ahead as to the time of their arrival in the valley, and Steuben Powell, son of the Rev. John A. Powell, was sent across the cascades with a fresh team of oxen to meet the small group which he found in great sorrow. Mrs. [Lucinda Powell] Propst had died of a fever just over the [Blue] mountain range and had been buried somewhere in what is now Umatilla County, Oregon. The bereaved family pushed on, and as they reached Foster on the Barlow route at the edge of the Willamette Valley two weeks later the father, Anthony, became so ill, also "of a fever," that he could travel no farther. John, the lad of 15, was left along with his parent, while the others hurried ahead for help from the settlers, and lone, the boy saw his father suffer and die. Relatives returned and buried the elder Propst near Foster. - John Propst, son of Anthony and Lucinda Propst, April 12, 1937 The five Propst children survived the journey and were raised by their uncles as part of the extended Powell clan. |
||||||||||||||
