Yavapai-Maricopa County AZ Archives Biographies.....Powers, Ridgely C. 1836 - living in 1896
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/az/azfiles.html
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 5, 2005, 7:00 pm

Author: McFarland & Poole

p. 492-493

  HON. R. C. POWERS. The American product, man, is the finest type upon the face
of the earth, for the reason that he is not pampered and spoiled by luxury and
for the further reason that he knows he may aspire to any height without
prejudice against him as to birth or previous condition. While the subject of
this sketch received excellent educational advantages in his youth, he has
practically made his own way in the world, and his present substantial position
in the business world is due to his own efforts.

He was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, December 24, 1836, a son of Milo and Lucy
A. (Dickenson) Powers. The ancestors were early settlers of New England and
Pennsylvania, and fought bravely and well for American independence in the
Revolutionary War. This independent spirit also asserted itself in the War of
1812, for in that struggle both grandfathers were participants, and Samuel
Dickenson held the rank of lieutenant. The male members of both the Powers and
Dickenson families were sturdy and prosperous tillers of the soil as a general
thing, but there were exceptions to this rule. Both grandfathers died in
Trumbull County, Ohio, of which region they were pioneers, and here they found
their greatest field of usefulness, for the country was inhabited by Indians and
wild beasts and was in a wild and unsettled condition. They assisted in bringing
about a changed condition of affairs, drove the red man from his haunts,
captured and killed many wild animals, cleared and cultivated and improved the
soil, made roads by blazing trees, built bridges, in fact, assisted in all work
incident to pioneer life. Milo Powers followed in his ancestors' footsteps and
became a tiller of the soil. While in Noxubee County, Mississippi, his death
occurred, but his widow still survives him. Of a family of seven children born
to them, three survive: Mrs. James McKee of New Orleans, whose husband is clerk
in the United States Court of Appeals; Mrs. C. W. Loomis of Cleveland, Ohio, and
Ridgely C., the immediate subject of this biography. In the county that gave him
birth his youthful days were spent, and there he received far more liberal
educational advantages than the average boy of his day. At the age of twenty-one
he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he completed a course,
after which, in June, 1862, he was graduated from Union College, Schenectady,
New York. He had long been imbued with the patriotic spirit that had influenced
his ancestors at Bunker's Hill and Lundy's Lane, and immediately after his
graduation he enlisted in Company C, I25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which
he served until the close of the war, being mostly on detached duty. He was
captain and assistant adjutant general the greater part of the last year of his
service, to which position he attained through force of pluck and native
ability. He was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel for gallant conduct
during the Atlanta campaign, and his entire military career was characterized by
a marked fidelity to duty and by the utmost courage on all occasions. He was in
all the most important engagements in which his regiment participated and in the
battle of Jonesboro was slightly wounded. In December, 1865, immediately after
being mustered out of the service at New Orleans, he located in Noxubee County,
Miss., where he purchased a cotton plantation and followed planting for fifteen
years. He became prominent in that locality, was in favor of reconstruction, and
in 1869 was elected lieutenant-governor of Mississippi on that ticket, with J.
L. Alcorn, who two years later was elected United States Senator, at the end of
which time Mr. Powers became Governor and filled the position with marked
ability from 1872 to 1874. He continued his planting operations, however, up to
1879, when he came to Arizona and located at Prescott, in which place he has
since been engaged in mining surveying and engineering and has been an active
promoter of mining interests and quite an extensive dealer in real estate. He is
the owner of the "Model" gold mine and also owns an interest in the "Emmett"
gold mine, both of which are paying. Since locating in Prescott he has taken no
active interest in political matters, but has devoted his time and attention to
his business interests, in the management of which he has shown excellent
business capacity and foresight. He owns a ranch on the Gila River below
Phoenix, which is a valuable one, besides other real estate interests. Mr.
Powers is a member of the G. A. R. and politically is a life-long Republican, He
was married in 1875 to Miss Louise Born, by whom he became the father of one
son, Ridgely C., Jr. His second marriage occurred in 1893, his wife being Miss
Mary Wilson of Cleveland. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him in 1866 by
Union College.


Additional Comments:
From:

A Historical and Biographical Record of the Territory of Arizona
Published by
McFarland & Poole, Chicago, 1896


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/az/yavapai/bios/gbs62powers.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/azfiles/

File size: 5.5 Kb