I. BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 



JOHN WESLEY POWELL was born of English parents at 

 Mount Morris, New York, on the 24th of March, 1834. His 

 father, Joseph Powell, while in England, had been a preacher of 

 the Wesleyan Church, and after reaching America he continued to 

 preach. A diligent reader, a terse speaker, a sound thinker; honest, 

 precise, and devout, the stern morality which he taught in the 

 pulpit was exemplified in all his social relations and particularly in 

 the government of his household. The severity of the father's dis- 

 cipline was, however, softened by the gentle influence of the 

 mother. Remarkable alike for her womanly graces and rare gifts 

 of mind, she shone like an angel of light in the home, planning a 

 thousand pleasures for her children and judiciously managing her 

 domestic affairs while her husband itinerated through the country 

 on his ministerial labors. 



Even as a child young Powell evinced his investigating ten- 

 dencies. He instinctively gathered every curious shell and pebble 

 within his reach, and read a lesson in every leaf and flower. Yet, 

 judging from the interest he took in his Biblical studies, it would 

 have been more reasonable to predict for him future eminence as 

 an ecclesiastic than the brilliant career as a scientist upon which 

 he was destined to enter. He early committed to memory the 

 entire Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, much to the 

 delight of his father. When he was about seven years of age, the 

 family moved from Mount Morris to Jackson, Ohio. At this time 

 the Anti-Slavery agitation was extending over the country, and in 

 it the father took an active part. Associated with him in this work 

 were Doctor Isham, Mr. Montgomery, and Mr. Crookham, resi- 

 dents of the same place. He was also on intimate terms with other 

 men identified with the movement throughout the State, and the 

 boy frequently saw Professors Finney and Williams, then of Ober- 

 lin College, Salmon P. Chase, afterwards Chief Justice of the 



