Dr. Stephen L. Powlett, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Nov. 2005
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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DR. STEPHEN L. POWLETT

BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian

One of Ponchatoula's late nineteenth century physicians, Dr. Stephen Lennox 
Powlett was born in March 1833 in England, and immigrated to the United States in 
1861.  Little is known of his early life, but after serving in the Civil War, he 
migrated south and was in New Orleans by 1880 when he married 12 February 1880 to 
Miss Sophie E. Walker.  Sophie was born about 1858 in Springfield, LA, and was the 
daughter of George and Lucretia Walker.  She lived in Livingston Parish as a young 
child, but by 1870, her father, who was a railroad conductor had moved the family 
to New Orleans. 

After their marriage the couple lived in New Orleans for a time and had a daughter 
Edna Mae, who was born in 1883.  By 1886, Dr. Powlett had moved his young family to 
Guatemala, where their second daughter Sophia was born in February 1886.  Within a 
few yew years, probably around 1891, Dr. Powlett returned to the United States and 
began to practice medicine in Ponchatoula.  He practiced general medicine and 
surgery in the growing community of Ponchatoula in the 1890's. 

As was common in those days, Dr. Powlett sold some medications for specific 
ailments from his office.  For those who complained of kidney problems, he 
recommend a patent medicine called "The English Remedy" which was touted as 
relieving several different internal problems of the body.  Dr. Powlett had ordered 
"The English Remedy" and other medical products from the Van Vleet & Mansfield Drug 
Company in Memphis from 1894 through 1896.  A problem arose in early 1896 when a 
delegation of Ponchatoula citizens came to Dr. Powlett's office and told him that 
"The English Remedy" could no longer be sold in his office because it contained 
alcohol and Ponchatoula had passed an ordinance against the sale of alcoholic 
products.  Dr. Powlett tried to return the cases of "The English Remedy," whose 
main ingredient was Holland's Gin, to the drug company, but the company refused to 
take the product back.  The company said their product was not intoxicating when 
taken as directed and sued Dr. Powlett to recover the money he owed for that 
medicine.  The court in Tangipahoa Parish ruled in favor of Dr. Powlett saying 
that the company failed to inform him that "The English Remedy" was an intoxicating 
beverage.

Perhaps because of this incident, but more probably because of better business 
opportunities, Dr. Powlett closed his office in Ponchatoula and moved to Hammond by 
1900, where he continued his practice for many years.  Dr. Powlett and his wife had 
three children: George Lennox, m. Susan C. Kennedy in 1907 and later moved to 
Natchez, MS; Edna Mae, b. April 1883, married 1901 to Spencer Floyd Robertson; and 
Sophie V. Powlett, b. Feb. 1886, lived in Hammond for many years and later moved to 
New Orleans, where she was living in 1930.

Dr. Powlett was a respected doctor and civic leader in Hammond and was twice 
elected Mayor of Hammond, serving from 1905 to 1907, and from 1909 to 1911.  He 
died 7 Jan. 1914 and was buried in Hammond's Greenlawn Cemetery.  His wife Sophie 
continued to live in Hammond for many years.  She later moved to New Orleans and 
died there in December 1937 and was buried in the Cypress Grove Cemetery in the 
Crescent City.

Although not a long time resident of Ponchatoula, Dr. Powlett helped solve the 
medical problems of the residents of this area for many years.

Anyone with comments, questions, or additional information about Ponchatoula's 
rich heritage may call Jim Perrin at 386-4476.