row ELL
POWELL
been tutor at Hamilton college, 1856-57. He was
stated supply at Deiinsboio. N.Y., 185S-61; was
ordaine.l. Oct. 29. ISOl; was i)asti)r of Plymouth
ConjLcrt'gatioual church, Adrian, Mich., 1861-71;
of Mayflower church. St. Louis, Mo., 1871-73;
editor of the Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, 1873-
74. and jmstor of the Tliird Unitarian church,
Ciiiciigo, 111., 1874-77. After 1877 he resided in
Clinton. N.Y., where he engaged in literary as
well as lu)rticultural pursuits, besides preaching
in Utica, N. Y., 1880-86. He was elected a member
of the Chicago Academy of Sciences; the Ameri-
can Arbitration congress, Washington. 1S96; the
American Historical society; vice-president of
the Congre.ss of Keligion, and member of the
committee of one hundred to establish a Na-
tional University at Washington. His pub-
lished writings include: Our Heredity from God
(1886; Berlin. 1889); Liberty and Life (1890);
Xullijication and Secession in the United States
(1896); Windbreaks. Hedges and Shelters (1900);
Old Home Days (1901). In 1903 he was editor of
the Independent, and a frequent contributor to
periodicals.
POWELL, John Wesley, geologist, was born in Mount Morris. N.Y., March 24, 1834. His father, a Methodist clergyman, emigrated from England to New York city; removed to Jackson, Ohio, in 1841; to Walworth county. Wis., in 1846, where he continued
- ^
T?i'
':M
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to preach, leaving the
entire care of the
farm to his son; to
Boone county, 111., in
1851, and finally to
"Wlieaton, where he
was a trustee of the
college. John Wes-
ley Powell had few
educational advan-
tages beyond attend-
ing W^lieaton and Il-
linois colleges irregu-
larly to hear lectures,
and in the mean-
time earned money
by teaching and lecturing in geography to pros-
ecute his studies further. He took a special
two years' course at Oberlin, and having at
an early age developed an inclination toward
natural science, made an extensive collection
of shells, plants and minerals from various wes-
tern states, and in 1859 was elected secretary
of the Illinois Natural History society. He was
married in 1861 to Emma Dean of Detroit, Midi.
He enlisted as a private in the 20th Illinois volun-
teers in 1861; was promoted lieutenant in the 2d
Illinois artillery, and at the battle of Sliiloh hjst
his right arm. He declined the colonelcy of a
ITHSOAJIAAJ
colored regiment; was promoted major and
became chief of artillery of the 17th army corps,
and later of the Department of Tennessee, serv-
ing until the end of the war. He was professor
ot geology and curator of the museum at the
Illinois Wesleyan university, 1865-68; in the sum-
mer of 1867 organized a party of students for the
purpose of making a geographical study of Colo-
rado, ascending Pike's Peak and Mount Lincoln,
and in 1868, under the auspices of General Grant
and of several educational institutions, especially
the Smithson-
ian Institu-
tion, explored
the Colorado
canons, reach-
ing the Grand
canon, Aug.
13, 1869. As
a result of his success in this expedition, and
through his efforts, congress created in 1870
the topographical and geological survey of the
Colorado river, of which Major Powell was placed
in charge. In 1879 he was made a member of the
public lands commission, and after the consolida-
tion of the different surveys, under the direction
of the Smithsonian Institution, into one national
survey in 1879, he was chosen director of the
bureau of ethnology, and succeeded Clarence
King (q.v.) as director of the U.S. geological
survey in 1881, resigning in May, 1894, on account
of ill health. In 1900, accompanied hy Prof.
W^. H. Holmes, anthropologist of the National
museum, he conducted an exploring expedition
in Cuba to study the remains of the pre-historic
inhabitants, and brought back a valuable and
interesting collection of human bones and speci-
mens pertaining to the life of the Arawaks and
Caribs. He received the degrees A.M. and Ph.D.,
upon examination, from Illinois Wesleyan uni-
versity in 1877; the honorary degree of A.M.
from Oberlin college, 1882; LL.D. from Colum-
bian, 1882; Harvard, 1886; Illinois college, 1889;
Ph.D. from Heidelburg, 1886. and was awarded
the famous Cuvier prize by the French Academy
in 1891. He was a lecturer on primitive medicine
at Columbian university in 1881, and a trustee,
1881-1902. He became a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in
1875, vice-president in 1879, and president in 1887;
was president of the Anthropological society of
Wasliington, 1879-88; became a member of the
National Academy of Sciences in 1880. and of
the American Philosopliical society; a fellow of
the American Academy, and organized a social
club of scientific men in Washington, D.C. He
is the author of: Exploration of the Colorado
River of the West and its Tributaries, Explored
in lSCO-72 (1875); Sketch of the Ancient Province
