Powell, Oliver Samuel, 1831-1888.

Nathaniel N. Powell (1827-1862) led the Powell migration to the Northwest when he moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota, from Augusta, Illinois, in 1849. In 1850 he was followed by his brother, Oliver Samuel Powell (~1832-1888). The brothers then moved to River Falls, Wisconsin, where they platted the town of Kinnickinnic (later renamed River Falls). They opened a general store; farmed; operated a threshing machine commercially; erected saw, flour, syrup, and vinegar mills; and took an active part in community life.

In 1860 Oliver Samuel Powell married Lydia Elmira Nichols, daughter of Joseph Nichols, who with his wife (Lydia Pratt Nichols) and family moved to River Falls from Dover, Illinois, in 1854. Oliver Samuel and Lydia Elmira Powell had several children. Among them were Harvey Oliver Powell (1868-1944), who became a banker in South Dakota and Canada, and Lyman Theodore Powell (1873-1941), who became a lawyer in West Superior, Wisconsin. Harvey Powell married Elizabeth Knox (1869-1954), a teacher from New York. Among their children were Louis Harvey Powell (1904-1957) and Oliver Stanley Powell (1896-1963). Louis, director of the St. Paul Science Museum, married Virginia Wetherbee.

From the guide to the Oliver S. Powell and family papers., 1832-1982., (Minnesota Historical Society)