SKETCH XXVII
A PIONEER “MEETIN’” AT FATHER ABRAHAM POWELL’S
Abraham Powell, was a U. E. Loyalist. He and Israel Wood were brothers-in-law in New Brunswick, Mr. Powell having married Ruth, sister of Mr. Wood. This accounts for the similarity of names among the descendants of the two families in Norfolk.[1] Both families came to Long Point about the same time—near the close of the last century.[2] The Powell family settled in the south-easterly part of Windham, on what was afterwards known as Powell’s plains, or “Buckwheat street.” Here Mr. Powell built his log cabin; and here, a little later on, he kept a small store. We have not been able to learn the date of the opening of this pioneer store, but it is claimed by some that it was the first store in Windham.[3]
Mr. Powell was a zealous Methodist of the old school. He was a very religious man, and meetings were held at his place at frequent intervals by the early missionaries who travelled about in the new settlements. Mrs. Philip Forse, who has reached her eighty-eighth year, hale and hearty, and in possession of much of the constitutional vigor that characterized her younger days, distinctly remembers one of these religious meetings which she attended with her mother when she was seven years old. Mrs. Forse was a daughter of John Tisdale—one of the original Tisdale brothers—who settled in Windham in an early day. Mrs. Forse describes the meeting as follows:
“Uncle Powell was a good man. He was a strong Methodist, and our folks were strong Episcopalians, but that didn’t make any difference. It was different then; the settlers were few and widely scattered, and they all seemed like members of one common family. There was only one kind of ‘meetin’,’ as we called it, in those days, and that was a religious meetin’ , and we all attended it. I remember a meeting at Uncle Powell’s when I was only seven years old. It seems only yesterday, I remember it so distinctly. The meeting was held by a missionary named John Youmans, and when we got there he was sitting on a splint-bottomed chair, behind a little board table that had a tallow candle on it. It was a cold night, and it seems as though I can hear the fire snap and crack in that big fireplace now. It was a small log-house, with only one room. The bed had been taken down and put out of the way, and split slab seats put up for the people to sit on. I sat on a little stool by the side of my mother, and next to the fireplace. When the neighbors had all come in Mr. Youmans opened the meeting. They didn’t have hymn-books, but everybody, old, young, big and little, took part in the singing. The elder read two lines of the hymn, and then some one would start the tune, and before the middle of the first line was reached all the people would be singing with all their might. This was repeated until the hymn was finished. I can see the sparkling flames leap up and disappear in that old fireplace now just as I saw them that night so many years ago, as I knelt by the side of my little stool and listened to the prayer of the missionary and the hearty ‘Amens’ that came from the benches. After reading a portion of Scripture, Elder Youmans commenced his exhortation by pointing towards Uncle Powell and shouting: ‘Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? Methodists? No. Presbyterians? No. Episcopalians? No. Universalists? No. Baptists? No. Who then in the name of God have you in heaven, father Abraham?’ ‘Christians,’ shouted the elder in a loud voice. This novel way of introducing his subject made a lasting impression on my childish mind, and I have never forgotten it.”
In 1804 Abraham Powell was overseer of public roads for Norfolk County, District of London, as evidenced by an order made by Nathan B. Barnum and Peter Teeple, County Commissioners. By this order Mr. Powell was directed to “perform the road labor from James Russell’s mill to William Culver’s mill, and through the Lot Tisdale’s to the front road at Potter’s Creek.” Russell’s mill stood on the site afterwards occupied by the old red mill at Vittoria. In this same year Mr. Powell had a hog skin tanned at Joseph Tisdale’s tannery, as shown by the old tannery blotter.[4] When he obtained the patent for his land he walked to York (Toronto) for it, and carried his daily rations with him.[5] He had four sons—Jacob, Caleb, Israel W. and Sylvanus; and two daughters—Mary and Phoebe.[6]
Jacob, the eldest son, married Elizabeth Jewell, and settled near the homestead. He was a carpenter and framer, and when the old red mill was built by the Tisdale’s, in 1816, he helped to frame it, receiving twelve shillings per day as wages. He had five sons—Isaac, William, John, Henry and Caleb; and four daughters—Sarah, Mary Jane, Maria and Eliza. Of this large family all are dead or gone away except Charles, son of Henry, who lives in Simcoe.[7]
Caleb Powell, second son of Abraham, married Eliza Forse, and settled near the homestead. He had two sons—William and Sydney. Sydney married his own niece and moved out of the country. This is the only case of the kind known among the old families, and it should go on record.
Israel W. Powell, third son of Abraham, married Melinda Boss, and settled in Colborne, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Previous to this he had served as a clerk in the store of Job Loder, in Waterford. Subsequently he left Colborne and went to Port Dover, where he engaged in business quite extensively. In 1841 Mr. Powell was elected to represent the county in parliament, which position he held until 1848. Israel Powell had a family of seven or eight children, one of whom, Walker Powell, defeated Thomas W. Walsh in 1858, in a contest for parliamentary honors. He was succeeded by Aquila Walsh in 1861. On February 8th, 1842, the first District Council convened at Simcoe, and Israel W. Powell was the first Warden. He was also a member of the first Municipal Council of the County of Norfolk, which came into existence January 28th, 1850, he being Deputy-Reeve of Woodhouse. In 1856 Walter Powell succeeded Lawrence W. Hunt as Warden of the County.
Sylvanus Powell, fourth son of Abraham, died single.
Mary Powell, eldest daughter of Abraham, married Thomas Fowler, and settled in Burford. She had one son, Milton; and two daughters—Phoebe and Eliza.
Phoebe Powell, second daughter of Abraham, married Morris, son of Frederick Sovereign. They settled in Illinois.
Six children and eleven grandchildren of Abraham Powell have lived on Powell’s plains in Windham, and yet twenty years ago there was not a Powell in the neighborhood; and in this year of grace, 1897, the name is scarcely known in the county.
[1] There was actually a much earlier relationship between the Wood and Powell families resulting in a similarity of names. This was noted in, Matthew Wood, “Jonas Wood “Halifax” of Huntington, Long Island in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 123, No. 3, p. 144. In seventeenth century Copiague Neck, Huntington County, Long Island, Thomas Powell was a servant in the home of Jonas Wood and married Jonas’ daughter Abigail. Thomas Powell was Abraham’s great-grandfather, and Jonas Wood was Ruth’s great-great-great grandfather.
[2] Abraham Powell preceded Israel Wood at Norfolk by several years. On June 8, 1796, Abraham filed a land petition stating that he “lately arrived.” (Upper Canada Land Petition “P” Bundle 2, Doc. No. 19. Israel Wood’s first petition was dated on June 27, 1799 (“W” Bundle Leases 1797-1817, Doc. No. 25).
[3] Abraham Powell settled first on his Crown Grant in Lot 1, Front Concession of Woodhouse Township on Lake Erie east of present Port Ryerse, his place of residence mentioned in his second land petition of December 29, 1798 (Upper Canada Land Petition “P” Bundle Leases 1798-1820, Document No. 2). He next moved several miles west to a 30 acre property in the south end of Lot 23, Concession 2, Charlotteville Township which he purchased from Joseph Ryerson on July 2, 1803, recorded in the Abstracts of Deeds Register. Powell was recorded in the 1808 and 1809 Assessments of Charlotteville Township. On October 7, 1809, Powell purchased from Peter Hare 100 acres of land in the west half of Lot 6, Concession 9, Windham Township, recorded in the Abstracts of Deeds Register. He made this his subsequent home. This was located about a mile North of the present village of Lynnville. Buckwheat Street runs west from the present Highway 24 across the south side of this lot.
[4] This order was during Abraham Powell’s residency in Charlotteville Township. The road then seems to have run south from Vittoria to Fisher’s Glen on the lakeshore then west to Normandale. James Russell had a Crown Lease of Lot 21, Concession 3, Charlotteville Township on the south side of the village of Vittoria (Charlotteville Township Papers, Doc. No. 627) and built his mill on Ryerse’s Creek which flowed through the lot. William Culver’s mill was near the Lake Erie shore in Lot 19, Concession 1, Charlotteville Township at Fisher’s Glen, which he purchased from David Secord on September 11, 1804, recorded in the Abstracts of Deeds Register. Lot Tisdale had a Crown Lease of Lot 17, Concession 1, Charlotteville Township at present Normandale (Upper Canada Land Petition “T” Leases 1798-1831, Doc. No. 2).
[5] This would be referring to Powell’s Crown Grant of Lot 1, Front Concession of Woodhouse Township.
[6] Abraham Powell wrote a letter dated at Windham on July 3, 1825 to an unnamed niece, a copy of which is in the family files at the Norfolk Historical Society Archives. In this, Abraham stated that he had ten children of whom five were living. Owen identified six. Three seem to have died quite young before filing an Upper Canada Land Petition as the child of a United Empire Loyalist. Abraham Powell had an additional son who reached maturity and fathered a family. William Powell filed a land petition dated June 15, 1815, stating that he was of the full age of 21 years and requesting a grant of 200 acres of land as a son of Abraham Powell, UE of Windham Township. (Upper Canada Land Petition “P” Bundle 10, Doc. No. 42). William died on January 19, 1836 according to the probate papers attached to his will (Norfolk County Surrogate Registry, Doc. No. 252). In his will, William named his wife Lydia, his children Zelica, Abraham, Perry, Alfred, Rebecka, Ruth, William and Elijah, his sister Phoebe Sovereign, niece Harriet Collver, and brother Israel Wood Powell.
[7] Israel Wood Powell had the following children in addition to his son Walker Powell, recorded with him in the 1852 Census of Woodhouse Township—Edwin R., born c. 1831; Berkeley, born c. 1833; Israel Wood, born c. 1836; George, born c. 1839; Cicero, born c. 1841; Robert D., born c. 1844; and Mary born c. 1849.