The death of young William Powers

When nothing better to do presents itself, I sometimes scour newspaper digital archives for references to Chariton and Lucas County published elsewhere during the "dark hole" years of our history --- years for which no collections of back issues exist. The Patriot began publishing in 1854, but we have nothing of it until the 1870s; The Democrat did not begin publishing until 1867.

This brief reference to teen-ager from Lucas County turned up in The Quad-City Times (still published in Davenport) of Monday, June 6, 1864:

"Wm. Powers, a mute belonging to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, was drowned while bathing in the Iowa river near Iowa City a few days since. He was thirteen years old and was from Chariton, Lucas county."

"Deaf and Dumb" grates on everyone's ears today, but the forbears meant no harm by it. "Dumb" signified mute. The first "Iowa Institute for the Deaf and Dumb" was established in Iowa City by act of the state Legislature during 1855. In 1866, two years after young William drowned, the Legislature decided to move the school to Council Bluffs and it opened there in 1870. Recognizing the unfortunate connotations of "dumb," the name was changed to the Iowa School for the Deaf in 1892. It still operates there at 3501 Harry Langdon Boulevard.

Online resources give William's date of birth as March 29, 1851, and identify his parents as John H. and Mary A. (Bell) Powers. John and Mary had 11 children, but were plagued by death. Eight of their children, including William, died relatively young. It seems likely that tuberculosis was the family curse.

John and Mary reportedly settled about four miles west of Chariton in Whitebreast Township during 1850, so William most likely was born here. He is listed in the 1860 census of Whitebreast Township as "deaf and dumb." The Powers were relatively affluent for their time, so would have been able to afford the expense of enrolling William in what then was the relatively new state school for the deaf.

We don't know if William's remains were claimed by his parents and brought home to Chariton for burial. If they were, he most likely was buried with other Powers children who had died young in what we now call Douglass Pioneer Cemetery, just southwest of Chariton. 

The only surviving Powers tombstone at Douglass is a double one (above left) marking the graves of  Nelson, who died at the age of 12 on Aug. 26, 1861, and Mahlon, who died at the age of 2 on Sept. 12, 1861. There may well have been other family stones here that disappeared during the years this pioneer cemetery was abandoned.

Mary Powers died on May 7, 1874, at the age of 47, and John died later that year, on the 15th of November, age 55. They were buried at Grimes Cemetery, a newer cemetery located closer to their Whitebreast Township home. Their surviving children eventually moved west.

Here's a link to another Lucas Countyan post --- from earlier this year --- that relates to this Powers family.