General Notes

     JOHN POWELL.  There is nothing in life so greatly to be desired as an upright character. There is nothing that can be left so valuable as an honored name. The wealth which one leaves behind becomes the property of others, but an untarnished name and good deeds remain as the monument which keeps his memory alive in the hearts of his friends. The record of John Powell is one which his descendants have every reason to be proud of.

     "His life was noble, and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to the entire world, 'This was a man.'"

     John Powell, who died in Portland, April 26, 1899, was born in Pike county, Ky., May 28, 1823, and came of Welch ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Cader Powell, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, while Allen Powell, his father, belonged to one of the old southern families, being a native of Virginia. Both the parents of our subject died in Kentucky, and the children were thus early thrown upon their own resources. There was a family of five sons and a daughter that came to the northwest. May 10, 1847, the brothers started across the plains, on that day crossing the boundary line of Missouri and ultimately arriving at Portland, OR. Of these children we mention the following: David, who was married in Missouri, died on his ranch on the Columbia river in 1888, leaving a family who still reside upon the home farm; James, who was married in Missouri, died in East Portland in 1896, leaving a wife and children; Jackson, who died in 1890, also left a family; William died amid the Blue Mountains while crossing the plains; John is the next son of the family, and the daughter, Jane, became the wife of a Mr. Pugh, and died at Mount Tabor. The long journey across the country over the stretches of hot sand and through the mountain passes was at length accomplished in safety. The party did not suffer from cholera nor were they troubled with the Indians, but they were ill of fever and measles, and, as before stated, one of the brothers died on the trip. The others, however, at length reached The Dalles, where they went into camp and there cut down trees with which to make a raft. In this they proceeded down the river to Portland.

     John Powell, whose name introduces this interview, had pursued his education in the public schools and had engaged in teaching in Missouri for some time prior to the emigration westward, he joined his brothers, however, when they were preparing to start for Oregon, and the little party was among the vanguard of the great army of emigrants who afterward crossed the plains to this section of the country. Mr. Powells first work in Oregon was cutting logs. He soon afterward, however, purchased a squatters right of three hundred and twenty acres, located about six miles from Portland, on the Columbia river. On the place was a log cabin, and two acres of the land had been cleared and sown to wheat. In 1848 gold was discovered in California, and Mr. Powell went to the mines on both the Feather and American rivers, but being taken ill, he returned to Oregon. The next summer, however, he started again for California, but met his brothers returning and came back with them. In 1850 they once more made the trip to the Golden state and spent a year in placer mining, meeting with moderate success. They then returned to Oregon, where Mr. Powell began farming, locating a grant of land seven miles from Portland on the Columbia River. He at once went to work to make a home, and in his farming operations he prospered.

     December 20, 1852, was the day of the marriage of John Powell and Miss Martha Milliorn, who was born in Virginia, and was a daughter of John Milliorn, who was a native of Pennsylvania. In early life, however, he removed to the Old Dominion, where he was married and afterward became a resident of Missouri, settling near Independence. He was a wagon maker by trade, and for some time followed that pursuit. In 1852 he came with his wife and nine children to Oregon, arriving after a six months trip. Cholera broke out in the train with which the party traveled, and some of the family was carried off by the dread disease. Mr. Milliorn, however, lived for some time as an active honored and respected citizen in this state, and at length died in Junction City, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife had died two years previously, when about seventy years of age. Mr. Milliorn was a free-hearted, jovial man of kindly spirit, of strong purpose and of unfaltering honor. He was never an aspirant for office, but he assisted in the work of the schools and in support of all measures calculated to prove of permanent benefit to the community. He held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was one of its early organizers in Lane County. In his business affairs he prospered, becoming well-to-do, and he made a division of his property before his death. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Milliorn we mention the following: Thomas A., who was a pioneer of California, preceded the family to the west and is now a resident of Junction City, Ore.; Catherine, who married R. Ray, is now deceased; Sarah: who married a Mr. Myrtle, is also deceased; Martha A. is the widow of John Powell; William H. is living in Crook county, OR; John died soon after arriving in Oregon; James is a resident of Junction City, Ore; Mary is the deceased wife of William Pickett; Eugenia is the wife of J. Hoffman, a resident of Eugene, Ore., and Helen is the wife of Henry Hoffman, of Eugene, a brother of her sisters husband.

     After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Powell remained upon his farm, and there eight children were born unto them; William Franklin, who still resides on the old home place, is married and has a family; Sarah, who is the wife of James Stott, is living in East Portland; T. Cader, a resident of Portland, is engaged in the Real Estate business; Fannie became the wife of William Gilson and died in East Portland; S. Douglas makes his home on a farm in the Nehalem Valley; Rosa is the wife of Carl Brandes, by whom she has two children, and they resides with her mother; Irene became the wife of John Sewell, and died in Portland, leaving one children, Norris, and the other member of the Powell family died in infancy. For many years Mr. Powell resided upon his home farm, but ultimately removed to Portland in order to provide his younger children with better educational privileges. Cader is a graduate of the State University of Eugene, and Rosa of St. Marys Academy, while Irene is a graduate of the east side high school of Portland.

     In 1883 Mr. Powell purchased the home now occupied by his widow. He was ever devoted to his family, and did everything in his power to promote their happiness and enhance their welfare. In his business affairs he prospered, and at the time of his death he was the owner of several hundred acres of valuable land, which enabled him to leave his wife and children in very comfortable circumstances. Prior to the war, Mr. Powell was a Douglas Democrat, but at the time of the inauguration of hostilities between the north and the south he joined the Union party, and was ever afterward a stalwart supporter of Republican principles. At the time of the war he was very active in support of the Union cause, doing everything in his power to promote its success. During the Indian war in Oregon he was a member of the Home Volunteers, organized to protect the settlers in the valley. In the latter part of the 60s Mr. Powell was elected a member of the state legislature, and had the pleasure of casting his vote for the amendment declaring that slavery should not exist in the state. He never joined any fraternal organization, but was a consistent, helpful and generous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Powell was, indeed, a self-made man. He started out in life on his own account when only seven years of age, being left an orphan at that time. He was also self-educated. He worked his way to Oregon by driving a team and looking after the stock. He was always quick to note an opportunity and to improve it, and thus, as the years advanced, he prospered. His business methods were ever honorable and straightforward, and he was never known to take advantage of the necessities of those with whom he had business relations. His last years were spent in honorable retirement in Portland, where he located in 1883, living there up to the time of his death, sixteen years later. Both he and his wife were members of the Pioneer Association of Oregon. In the summary of his life we note his loyalty in citizenship, his honor in business, his fidelity to friendship and his devotion to his family. These, perhaps, were the salient traits of his character, and made him a man honored among men.

    (Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon: containing original sketches of many well known citizens.  Publishers: Chapman company, Chicago - 1903, pgs 808 - 810 Anonymous.  Book available in Family & Local Histories on Ancestry.com)

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Jackson and John Powell came across the Oregon Trail in 1847. Jackson and brother John ended up in Sandy precinct, what is now Troutdale, Multnomah co., OR where they spent the rolling logs from the mouth of the Sandy to the Government sawmill at Vancouver, WA., then part of Oregon Territory.

Jackson Powell joined the 49ers in the California Gold Rush, remaining there two years before returning to the area where in 1852 he staked one of the first claims in the Gresham area. He married Nancy Pugh in 1852, almost simultaneously with his 320-acre land claim. Because of the marriage Jackson was able to double his claim size. His brother James, and his wife Eliza, (sister to Nancy Pugh) settled nearby.
The marriage of the two brothers to two sisters on more than 600 acres in what is now Gresham, Multnomah county, OR resulted in 15 children from the 2 families, all double first cousins.

(from the Gresham Outlook's Centennial Commemorative Edition 2005)

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Oregon Republican League's "Republican League Register of Oregon", The Register Publishing Company, 1896, page 260:


POWELL, HON. JOHN, of Portland, was born in Piketown, Kentucky, May 28, 1823. He became an orphan at the age of seven, and at fifteen went to Western Missouri and Kansas, coming to Oregon in 1847. The next two years he spent chiefly in the California mines. He then located on a claim in Multnomah County, where he lived until he moved to Portland in 1883. Mr. Powell was a Douglas Democrat until the war broke out, but has ever since been a Republican. In 1884 he was elected to the state senate.

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  Recorded Events in His Life

• He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ¹

• He has conflicting birth information of May 1824 and Kentucky, USA. ⁸

• He has conflicting birth information of May 1825 and Kentucky, USA. ⁴

• Fact: lived with Theophilus Powell after parents' deaths, after 1837.

• He emigrated to Oregon along with his brothers and one sister on 10 May 1847 from Missouri, USA. ¹

• Fact: 3 Powell brothers (David, John, & Jackson) went to California for the gold rush. After 2 years of unsuccessful search for gold, they returned to their homesteads on the Columbia River., between 1848 and 1850.

• He owned took claim 3 miles from brother David's homestead on what was known as the Hogan place; he later relinquished this to take up a better property adjoining David's property. About 1849.

• He appeared on the 1850 US Federal Census on 23 September 1850 in Clackamas County, Oregon, USA. ⁸
  

W.G. Wilks     32     M     Farmer     2000     Virginia
Elizabeth Wilks     31     F     --     --     Virginia
Jackson Powel     34     M     Brick Mason     --     Kentucky
John Powel     26     M    --     --     Kentucky

• He appeared on the 1860 US Federal Census on 29 July 1860 in Sandy Precinct, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA. ⁴
  

John Powell     35     M     Farmer     4000     1300     Kentucky
Martha Powell     26     F     --     --     --     Virginia
Wm Powell     6     M     --     --     --     Oregon
Sarah Powell     4     F     --     --     --     Oregon
Thos Powell     3     M     --     --     --     Oregon
Steven Powell     6/12     M     --     --     --     Oregon
Geo Woodsum     29     M     Laborer     --     --     Maine
Margt Pierson     10     F     --     --     --     Missouri

• He appeared on the 1870 US Federal Census in 1870 in Multnomah County, Oregon, USA. ⁵
  

John Powell     47     M     W     Farmer     6000     1500     Kentucky
Martha Powell     38    F     W     Keeping House     --    --     Virginia
Frank Powell     16     M     W     At Home     --     --     Oregon
Sarah Powell     14     F     W     At Home     --     --     Oregon
Kater Powell     13     M     W     At Home     --     --     Oregon
Douglass Powell     10     M     W     At Home     --     --     Oregon
Fanny Powell     6     F     W     --     --     --     Oregon
Rosa Powell     4     F     W     --     --     --     Oregon
Irena Powell     7/12     F     W     --     --     --     Oregon

• Gallery: Biographical sketch of John Powell, in 1893, in East Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA. Biographical sketch and image of page 383 are from H.K. Hines' An illustrated history of the state of Oregon : containing a history of Oregon from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future, illustrations and full-page portraits of some of its eminent men and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1893).