Erasmus S. Powell
Erasmus S. Powell, was born near the city
of Shelbyville, February 8, 1838, and is the son of Erasmus and Mary (Allen) Powell. He is of
Scotch-Irish and Welsh extraction. His father was born in Washington County, Pa., December 25, 1788, and
died at La Porte, Ind., February 25, 1843. The mother of Mr. Powell was born in North Carolina, January 25,
1796, and died December 31, 1872. The family came to what is now Dearborn County, Ind., in 1810, and moved
to Shelby County in 1826. Thus his father was one of this county's pioneers. The subject of this sketch
is the youngest of a family of eleven children, five of whom are yet living. He received a common school education.
Since his school days he has been somewhat unstable in the occupations he has chosen. He served quite
a while as Justice of the Peace. He then began the business of a merchant, dealing in hats and caps. Later
he was appointed to a position in the United States Internal Revenue Department and spent the whole of President
Arthur's term in that place. in 1885, he was made President and Superintendent of the Shelby County Creamery Association
and now fills both positions. Mr. Powell was a soldier. He enlisted in Company "C," Seventh
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, served in this company three months, then enlisted in the Forty-second Regiment and
did not come out until the close of the war. He was the second man in Shelby County to enlist. He was
married in 1865, to Mrs. Triffie Smithers who was born in Delaware. In politics he is a Republican.
He and his wife are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Powell is a straight-forward, honorable gentleman
and stands high in our community.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Brant and Fuller, 1887, page 523-24.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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