Sally Clotilda Powell's paternal grandfather was William Powell. For years the old Powell line went from this William to a Joseph Powell and his wife, Deborah Scott, out of Long Island, New York. The years of birth and marriage did not add up on that connection, and no documentation has ever been found to support it.
William's will was made and recorded in Oneida County, New York.
"To all People to whom these presents shall come know (?) that I, William Powell, of the town of Western County of Oneida, and State of New York, being weak in body but sound in mind (thanks be to Almighty God for the same) do make, publish, and declare this to be my last will and testament in manner and form, following that is to say (?) I give to my beloved wife, Rebecka Powell, all my household furniture of every kind, six good (?), two good cows, one sorrel mare, saddle and bridle, one cutter and harness with the privilege of disposing of the same after my decease as she may think proper.
Secondly, I give to my son, John Powell, the sum of twenty-five dollars to be paid by my executors of the avails of my personal estate.
Thirdly, I give to my sons, James Powell, Dennis Powell, and to my daughters, Sarah VanBlack and Olive Randolph, the remainder of my personal estate to be divided equally between, except to my son, Dennis Powell, who is (?) double the sum of other children.
Lastly, I appoint Charles Flecher, Joseph Baker, and my son, William Powell, executors of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former will or wills by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at (?) this 25th day of April in the year of our Lord 1827. Wm Powell"
Signed, sealed, published and declared to be his last will and testament in presence of us who in in presence of the testator have hereunto subscribed our names. Wm Teller, Albert Keech, and Clift French.
William Powell and his son, James Powell, were just a few doors apart in the 1820 census of Western, Oneida, New York. James had five or six children at that time. William had one male, 16-26, who was likely William Jr.; 1 female 16-26, who was likely William Jr.'s wife; 1 f under 10 that was William Jr.'s first daughter (verified in the 1830 census); 1 m 45 and over that was William, and 1 f 45 and over which was his wife, Rebecka. James Powell and his brother, Dennis (Genesee County in 1820), moved into Cattaraugus County shortly after the 1820 census, and that could be part of the reason for William Powell Jr. being the one family representative for the will. The two girls had also moved on, and John Powell's location at that time is not known. William Jr. stayed on the land that had belonged to his father, and his mother was there with him in the 1830 census. William Jr.'s approximate age was taken from that; it appears he was William's youngest child.
William Powell's location in the 1810 census was a hurdle in the research. For a time it was thought William was the one living in Westchester, New York, but a will of the William Powell there proved otherwise. The land deeds did not help as his purchase in Oneida was never found. This may have been because some of the deeds that overlapped from Herkimer into Oneida before 1804 burned. William's great grandson, Josiah Marsh Ferrin, wrote in his journal that his great grandfather Powell had lived in Herkimer County. Deeds were not found for the early Salisburys that settled the same area.
With no luck anywhere else, the search returned to Oneida County. Perhaps William's name had been mispelled. The names of William's neighbors in 1820 were looked for in the hopes that William could be located living next to them in 1810. Another search was made with only the name of Powell and its variant spellings in Oneida County. Nine Powells were found; these only had an initial attached in that census year. However, there was no W. Powell. But there were three J Powells. The third J Powell down (Heritage Quest) made the connection. Directly above James in the census was a W Powell, but with the writing of the name it could have been mistaken for something like Powdell. There were several neighbor names that also matched up from the 1820 census including: W. Martin - William Martin; A. Ferguson - Ambrose Ferguson; E. Clarke - Ezekial Clarke; and a Capron.
In 1810 William had 1 m 10-16 which was William Jr.; 1 m 16-26 that was Dennis or John, (probably John); 1 f 10-16 which was one of William's daughters; and 1 m and 1 f 45 and over.
James Powell had married about 1804, and he and his wife, Clotilda, had just one son in the 1810 census whose name was Squire Madison Powell.
William was also living in Oneida County in the 1800 census. Both his sons, James and Dennis, said in the 1850 census that they were born in New York. The 1790 census was checked as that was the closest year to their birthdates. Again an exhaustive search was done with all the varient spellings of Powell and William. No match was found that could include the children listed in the will until a Willm Powell of Washington County, New York was located. The fact that he was the only possibility along with the family names of some of his neighbors in Washington who later moved to Oneida seemed good evidence. But a name that appeared three lines up from William in that census seemed to be the best evidence of all. The name was James Randolph.
William's daughter, Olive, married a Randolph (cited in William's will). It was thought from earlier research that her husband's name may have been Horace (1850 census). The Randolph name living that close to this William Powell was curious; James Randolph was followed through the census years. James and his son, James Jr. moved to Oneida County (unnamed township) by 1800. The two sub pages from Heritage Quest show that he moved into the same neighborhood as the Salisburys and Powells (see Salisbury section on this same website). Among the names on those two pages were Edward Salisbury and his sons, Edward S. Salisbury, Lodowick, and Alexander. Also there was Alpheus Wheelock, whose sister married Nicholas Salisbury, another of Edward's sons. Alpheus very well could have been the father of the Wheelocks that married into the Richard Salisbury family. On these same pages were Eseck Sheldon, the probable father of Russell Salisbury's wife, and his sons, Benjamin and Reuben Sheldon. There was also Vial and Richard Salisbury, and Richard's daughter would later marry James Powell, William's son.
James Randolph was not located in the 1810 census, but by 1820, James (or James Jr.) had moved to Seneca County living next to two other Randolphs - Abraham and HORACE, who were both likely sons to James. Horace was the husband of Olive Powell.
Also, there was a Benjamin Reynolds that was five down on the census page from William Powell in 1790 in Washington County. By 1800, he too had picked up and moved to the same neighborhood in Oneida County, and he was listed on the same two pages as was mentioned above. That much evidence about William Powell's location before Oneida County seemed too much for coincidence.
There were some other names to note from this search. In 1810 an A. VanVleck was living next door to William and James in Oneida County. William's daughter, Sarah, married a Van Black (cited in the will), but nothing more has ever been found on them. The will was a copy made from the original, and one could question whether the name was copied correctly or not. It is likely that Sarah's husband was in that VanVleck home or had come from there. Even if Sarah actually married a VanBlack, it is evident now from the census searches that both parts of these names need to be kept together in order to locate them in the census indexes. VanVleck is also written as VanVlack.
There has been a family tradition that where James Powell named his first son, Squire Madison, that Prudence Salisbury (James' mother-in-law) was a Madison or Mattheson from Rhode Island. There were several Squires families living around William Powell in the 1790 census making it possible that William married a Squires. If that was so, then Squire Madison Powell's maternal grandmother was likely a Madison, and Squire was named for the two maiden names of his grandmothers. This is only a note for future research.
In the 1790 census of Washington, William was living in Argyle, which was land set out to the people of the Argyle Patent. William, however, was not one of the original men that received land there. No Powell received any of the original land.
Living next door to William in 1790 was an Isaac Powell. Isaac had a Isaac Jr. and a Joseph Powell next to him in the 1800 census, and William was gone. It is interesting that a Joseph Powell later showed up in Oneida County, but whether or not it was the same one from Washington County is not known. Certainly these men were relatives of William's where they were living so near to him; there seemed to be only one other Powell in Argyle.
It was surprising to find that there were no land deeds in Washington for William Powell. Isaac sold out about 1817/18, but no record of his purchase there was located. The Albany County deed records were also searched without any luck.
An excellent Washington County Archivist said that he has searched for this William Powell in the past, and nothing has been found except for the record of a court case. A Morgan Powell took William Powell to court 3 September 1783 as William had not paid on some promissory notes to Morgan. It is highly unlikely that William would have been doing business with a Powell that was not a relative of his. A Morgan Powell and a William Powell were found on a 1778 list from Saratoga County, Half Moon township. But Morgan Powell and that William Powell still seemed to live there in 1790 when the William Powell, above, was living in Argyle. The archivist also explained that a search has been done by a volunteer there before to trace the 1790 Argyle William Powell to Oneida County; this has also been unsuccessful.
There were two names on the court documents that were interesting. There was a Thomas Dennis (did William name his son, Dennis, after his mother's family?), and there was a Peter French, who may or may not have been a relative of the Clift French that signed William's will.
The will of James Powell. "In the name of God Amen. I, James Powell, of Elk Creek in the County of Erie and State of Pennsylvania being weak in body but of sound mind, memory, and understanding, and considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof and to the end that I may be the better prepared to leave the world when it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and declare this my last will and testament, in manner following that is to say - First and principally I commend my soul to God who gave it and my body to the earth to be interred at the discretion of my executors. Item - First of all I give and bequeath unto my son, James Powell Jr. thirty acres of land off the east part of my farm commencing at a stake on the north side of the road at the southwest corner of Charles Winchester's land thence along said road westerly twenty two perches thence northerly in line parallel with the now standing lane fence running northwardly to the point of the old barn thence westerly to the east side of said lane fence thence northwardly alongsaid fence to a point sufficient to make thirty acres thence easterly a line parallel with said road to Charles Winchester's land thence alongsaid line south to the place of beginning. The said James I give one fourth of the fruit ground in my orchard and the use and occupation of the west part of the chamber on the second floor to my dwelling house, one cow, five sheep, with the understanding that the said James is to have the use of the said chamber room for his own use and at no time to transfer it or the orchard to a third person other than my son Richard Powell. Second, I give unto my son Richard Powell all the residue of all my real and personal property, money, and all evidences of debt, that I may be possessed of at the time of my death excepting household furniture. Third, I order and direct the said Richard, within one year after my death, to pay my daughters Sally Ferrin, Betsy Reed, Olive Sherman, Nancy Rush, and Mary Ann Winchester each ten dollars, and to Maria Landon, thirty dollars, and to my sons Squire Powell, Isaac Powell, and William Powell, each one dollar. Fourth , I will unto my beloved wife, Clotilda Powell (should she survive me) so much of my dwelling house as she may require, the use of all my household furniture during her natural life. Fourth, I order and direct the said Richard to provide for his said mother provision, clothing, washing, medical attention, and in all things to comfort and provide for her in sickness and in health during the term of her natural life and at her decease, to divide equally among my then surviving daughters all the remaining household furntiture. And lastly, I do appoint and constitute Richard Powell and John Thompson Jr. executors of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 3rd day of July A.D. 1856. Signed, sealed, and published by James Powell and for his last will and testament in presence of us and in his presence have subscribed our names as witnesses Harley Sherman, Andrew J. Campbell." FHL film #863,928 pp.10-12
Children of James Powell and Clotilda Salisbury. Those marked with an * have pictures on Stephen Kelsey's website at Geocities.
Betsy married (2) Amos Reed* born abt 1810 New York. The Reeds were in the 1860 Oneida, Knox, Illinois census with two Reed children and two Harvey children. Amos' first name could not be read, and he was indexed only as "Reed". They were in the 1870 census in the same place with two young Harvey children living with them that were likely grandchildren.
Amos Reed was in the 1850 census in Conneaut, Erie, Pennsylvania with a wife named Jane, born abt 1809 in New York. There were seven Reed children listed: Oscar, 15; Elizabeth, 14; Eunice, 12; George, 10; Mary, 7; James K., 5, and Matilda E., 2.
Olive's three living children in 1900 were Adalaide, John Murray, and George.
Daniel Landon was married to a Catherine, born abt 1819, in New York, in the 1850 census of Erie West Ward, Erie, Pennsylvania. They had George, abt 1842, Mary, abt 1847,and an unnamed infant that showed in the 1860 census as Joanna born 1850.
Notes on Dennis Powell. He was born about 1784 in New York, and he may have been William's oldest son. In 1820, Dennis was living in
Riga, Genessee, New York with at least five children. In 1830, Dennis was living in Randolph, Cattaraugus, New York next door to Adna Barmore.
He had at least eight children at that time. In 1840, he was living in Westfield, Chautauqua, New York, and it is evident from that census that his
first wife had passed away. In 1850, he was living in Elk Creek, Erie, Pennsylvania, with a new wife named, Joanna, and an apparent step-son,
Andrew J. Campbell. He also had his two children, Anna and Sydney Powell with him at that time. It seems he died by 1851 when Joanna sold
some land to a Richard Hulbert and his wife, Delia, of Ohio. A previous transfer of land was mentioned that included the land of Charles
Winchester. There is no evidence in the Elk Creek records of any purchase of land by Dennis, and only a mention of the sale of land from the
estate of Joanna Powell in 1911. There is also no probate info for Dennis. Andrew Campbell stayed on the land for years and cared for his mother.
Joanna may have owned the land from before her marriage to Dennis Powell according to the available probate and deed info.
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