JOHN WESLEY POWELL/' 



By (t. K. (tii.bkkt. 



John Wesloy Powell was l)orii March 24, ISS-t, at Mount ]\Iorris, 

 N. Y. He died September 23, 1002, at his sunnner home in Haven, 

 Me. He was married in 1862 to Emma Dean, of Detroit. His wife 

 and daug'hter, an only child, survive him. 



His parents were Enolish. having- readied this country only a few 

 years before his birth. His father was a Methodist preacher and soon 

 removed from New" York, living- successively in Ohio, Wisconsin, and 

 Illinois. His father's occupation took him nmch from home, and 

 upon the son, while yet a boy, devolved the duty of conducting- the' 

 farm from which the family derived its principal support. PowelTs 

 early schooling was that ordinarily obtainabl(> in a rural comnumity. 

 His later education was largely independent of schools, but he attended 

 Illinois College, at Jacksonville, 111., for a short time, and was at 

 01)erlin College two yeai's pursuing a special course. In early man- 

 hood he supported himself l>v teaching, being at th(^ same tiuK^ a hard 

 student and pursuing natural history studies with enthusiasm. He 

 traversed portions of V-^isconsin. Illinois. Iowa, and Missouri on foot, 

 collecting plants, shells, minerals, and fossils, and these collections 

 brought him into relation with various colleges of Illinois. At the 

 out])reak of the civil war he enlisted in the TwcMitieth Regiin(Mit of 

 Illinois Volunteers, and abruptly changed the course of his studies to 

 military science. His successive commissions ranged fi-om second 

 lieutenant to colonel, l)ut the rank of major gave the title ])y which he 

 was known colloquially in later years. His service was chiefly with 

 artillery, but some of his most important work was of a character 

 commonly assigned to engineer officers. In the battle of Shiloh he 

 lost his right arm, and the resulting physical disability atl(H;ted his life 

 in important ways. On the one hand, the wounded arm caused him 

 at various periods much pain, and tlius weakened an exceptionally 

 strong constitution. On the other, lu^ was led in early manhood (o 

 employ an amanuensis, and the resulting freedom from tlu^ mechan- 

 ical factor in writing was a distinct advantage to his literary work. 



<■' Rfvined by tlic luitlidf fri)in article puhlislicil in i^ciencc, Octolicr 1(1, 1!K)2. 



