HYRUM SMITH POWELL
Hyrum
Smith Powell, the son of Daniel Powell and Margaret Williams Powell, was born
at Rhymney, Monmouthshire, England on July 10, 1850. (It formerly was a Welsh
county.) He came to the United States with his mother in 1865. His father and
the other children had come earlier. The trip on a sailing vessel took six
weeks. They first settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania and lived there five years.
His father was killed in the Civil War. He was given the middle name Smith
because of his mother's admiration for Hyrum Smith who defended his brother
Joseph during the days of persecution.
Hyrum
with his mother left Scranton for Tooele, Utah where she had a brother. They
lived there about a year; then they came to Salt Lake City. During part of that
time he took care of the horses for Brigham Young.
One
brother and a sister went to Australia where the brother prospered. Somehow
Hyrum obtained his address but too late to contact him before his death. His
sister Mary came to Utah and settled in the Murray area.
While
living in Salt Lake City Hyrum met and married Rachel Davis McGuire, a widow
with three small children. They were married in October 1877. The children's
names were Minnie, Mary and William James McGuire. However, they used the name
of Powell. They next moved to Samaria, Idaho. His mother had married John Evan
Price and moved to the same place earlier.
Hyrum
and Rachel had six children--Hyrum D. Powell, Daniel D. Powell, Margaret Jane
Powell, (Hill) Rachel Powell, (Williams) John D. Powell, and Eliza Powell who
died in infancy.
He was
a stone mason by trade. He served as sexton, Samaria town marshal, and as
county road supervisor while living in Samaria. When his daughter Margaret and
family moved from Samaria to Tooele, Utah, her father moved their furniture by
wagon and team a distance of over 140 miles.
Hyrum
Powell was a jovial man, well liked by children. He enjoyed playing pranks and
pulling tricks on children especially his grandchildren. He died July 12, 1920
in Provo, Utah but is buried in Samaria by his first wife. He had lived in
American Fork for a number of years before moving to Provo.
-
Daniel H. Hill, grandson
