Robert West Powell
Captain Rice's Company
Kentucky Mounted Infantry
War of 1812
Robert West Powell was born in Culpepper County, Virginia on 4 Feb.1787; the son of Robert Powell (1753-1815) and Ann West (1762-1837). His father, Robert Powell was a Captain, 3rd Virginia Continental Line, 1776-1779 and a Major in the Virginia Militia, 1779-1786; during the Revolutionary War.
Robert moved to Adair County, Kentucky in 1810. We are not sure whether he met his wife in Virginia or Kentucky, but on 25 November 1810 they were married in Adair Co. and by 13 Aug. 1811, their first child was born. His wife was Elizabeth G. Dawson, who was born in Virginia on 3 Nov. 1790.
He was one of the first settlers to ride a flatboat from Northern Kentucky to New Orleans. In 1811 he was in New Madrid, Missouri, on one of his trips, when the earthquake of that year took place. He referred to the experience as the most pequliar and interesting of his life.
Robert Powell enlisted for three months in 1813, as a private in Capt. William M. Rice's Company of Kentucky Mounted Infantry. The following year he was a member of Capt. Robert Henley's Kentucky Volunteer Militia.
In 1822, he represented Adair County in the Kentucky Legislature for two terms. Subsequently, in 1827; Robert moved his family, now numbering 8 children, to Weakley County, Tennessee. Shortly after arriving he was elected the first sheriff of the county. While acting as sheiff, he and the legendary Davy Crockett had one of the most sanguinary encounters ever known in the region. They fought with bare fists and were both badly used up. They ultimately became very close friends.
Robert brought his family to Fulton County (then Hickman County) in 1829, moving to Mill's Point. At that time he opened a hotel and later bought a plantation, where he lived until he died in 1853. On 1 April 1845. he was appointed by the Governor to the position of coroner for Fulton County.
Robert West Powell died on 13 June 1853 and was buried in Poplar Grove Church cemetery. His wife Elizabeth died on 2 Oct. 1866 and lays next to him.
Children of Robert and Elizabeth (Dawson)
Powell:
1. Mary Ann - born 13 August
1811 in Kentucky
2. Benjamin D. - born 29
May 1813 in Kentucky
3. Amelia Francis - born
23 Feb. 1815 in Kentucky. She married John T. Darby on 24 July 1831 and
they had
one son - James Andrew Darby, born in 1832.
4. Eliza Margaret - born
24 May 1817 in Kentucky. She married (1) Eli Scott on 24 Jan. 1838 and
they had
one son, Benjamin P. Scott (1838-1876). Eliza later married, (2) Samuel
Louis McDaniel on 7 September
1841 in Hickman, Kentucky. They were the parents of 5 children: William
Clement (1842-1915), Samuel W.
(1844-1890), Walter Irvine (1849-1926), Robert Mosby (1853-1930) and Fountain
Pitts (1854-1937).
5. Robert R. - born 22
Mar. 1819 in Kentucky. He married Kessia Shaw on 23 Jan. 1844 in Hickman
County,
Kentucky. They had two children: Ann E. (1845- ) and
Keshia F. (1847- ). he later married Mary P.
Moore.
6. Susan C. - born 17 July
1821 in Kentucky.
7. John West - born in
Adair Co., Kentucky on 3 September 1825. He married Editha James Douglas
on 28
July 1853 and they were the parents of 7 children. Martha Elizabeth (1855-
), Mary Catherine (1856- ),
Cora Alice (1858- ), John West (1861-1869), Lue Ella
(1864- ), William Douglas (1867-1936) and Editha
James (1869-1870).
8. William Dawson - born
4 June 1828 in Kentucky. He married Julia M. Binford and they had two children;
Baily D. (1873-1875) and Pansey (1876-1877)
Veteran's Day
"Robert West Powell Day"
On Veteran's Day, Friday November 11, 2005; a new Veteran's Administration headstone was erected at Poplar Grove Church cemetery in Fulton County, Kentucky to honor the service of one the areas distinquished citizens. The Fulton County Judge Executive and the Fiscal Court issued a proclamation declaring the day as "Robert West Powell Day" in the county.
John Ward of Fulton, Ky. and Darvin Ousley
of Dukedom, Tn.
in War of 1812 period military dress, came
to honor Mr. Powell.
Powell Descendants
A number of Robert West
Powell's descendants were present for the festivities, including (left
to right):
Keith Fletcher of Manassas, Va.; Bonnie G.
Fletcher of Estill Springs, Tn.; Flossie McDaniel of Obion Co., Tn. (wife
of Dale McDaniel); Roger Williams of Crystal, Tn.; Hazel Williams of Union
City, Tn.; Dale McDaniel of Crystal, Tn.; Jo G. Syler of Cowan, Tn.; and
Kevin Johnson of Beavercreek, Ohio.
The military tradition is continued in the family down to the present generations. Keith Fletcher is a Lt. Colonel assigned to the Pentagon and Kevin Johnson is a Major, stationed at Dayton, Ohio. Both men are members of the United States Air Force.
Others in attendance were members of Poplar Grove Church, friends, Boy Scouts of America, D.A.R., American Legion, VFW, Fulton County Genealogical Society and members of the press.
References:
1830 and 1840 Hickman County, Kentucky Census
1850 and 1860 Fulton County, Kentucky Census
Histories and Biographies of Ballard, Calloway, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, McCracken and Marshall Counties, Kentucky. A Reprint of Part II of Battle, J. H.; W. H. Perron and G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky: A History of the State. First Edition, Louisville, Chicago, F. A. Battey Publishing Co.,, 1885. Reprinted in 1972.
Hickman County Marriages, Volume 1
Fulton County Marriages, Volume 3
Fulton County Vital Statistics, 1874-1879
Application of Kevin Johnson to the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.
E-mail correspondence with Kevin Johnson and
Keith Fletcher.