The Powers Family - Michael Powers

This post is dedicated to Mrs. Earline Powers who spent many years devoted to researching the Powers family.  She had a dream of publishing a book on the family that included every known descendant of Michael and Nancy Powers.  Some of her closest relatives never wrote her back about their families.  I wish I could make this dream of Mrs. Earline a reality, but I do not have the resources that Mrs. Earline had.  Though I only knew her for a few weeks before she passed away, I know that she was a very sweet and kind lady who had  a passion for family history.

Michael Powers is one of the men who interest me the most in my genealogy.  I have done a lot of research on this immigrate ancestor of mine.  He was born in Killicun Parish in Westmeath County in Ireland on September 29, 1830 to John Powers and Margaret Marcella Cole.  As the story is told by Michael's descendants, three brothers, Michael, John and James, came to America from Ireland. They left from a port in Ashburton in Liverpool, England on June 26, 1848.  They landed in, probably, New York and from there the three brothers came to Georgia.  Initially, the three brothers were together in Coweta County, Georgia.  One brother, John, decided that the climate of Georgia was much too hot and he moved to Evanston, Illinois.  Michael settled in nearby Carroll County, Georgia and James stayed Coweta County.  Some relatives believe only two brothers and a sister came from Ireland, but from the research of Ms. Earline, it appears the sister came later and did not know where her brothers were.
Little is known about Michael's early days in America.  We know in 1860 he was living with W. G. Huckabee in Carroll County.  He states in his Pension Application he had lived in Carroll County since 1860.  His obituary states he lived in the north for “about a year” after he came from Ireland and then moved to Georgia.  According to an article about his brother, John, the brothers were in Georgia before 1855, since that is when John left Georgia for Illinois. We do not know where he was between New York and Georgia or exactly when he actually arrived there.

Just a short time after coming to Carroll County, Michael met Nancy Louisa Michael, a daughter of Peter Michael and Rebecca Martin.  They were married on November 27, 1860 by Henry Asberry, J.P.  Together, Michael and Nancy had 9 children.  They were: John Peter, Rebecca Marcia, Mary E. C., James Wilburn, Loretta, Patrick C., Michael Sylvester, Joseph Lawrence and Sally Lee.  Loretta is my great-great-grandmother.  She was named after her father's sister, Ettie.
When the Civil War broke out, both Michael and his brother James signed up and fought for the confederacy.  John, not wanting to fight against his brothers on the battle field, hired a man for $300 to fight in his place.   Michael entered the confederate army in the Spring of 1862 in Carrollton, Georgia.  He served in Co. F in the 19th GA Infantry.  He was wounded in April of 1865 at Bentonville, North Carolina.   He was sent to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia where he was given a 30 day leave.  The war ended before his leave was up.
In 1911, John P. Powers Jr of Evanston, Illinois set out on a quest to locate his father's brothers.  His father, John, left Georgia in 1855 and had not seen his brothers since.  John Jr. sent letters of inquiry to Georgia where he knew the brothers had last lived.  The sheriff in Newnan, Georgia and a daughter of James responded to the letters and set up a reunion in Newnan for the brothers to see each other.  The articles about the reunion made it to national newspapers.  Though the articles state that Michael was living in Albermarle, North Carolina, this is incorrect.  He never moved from Carroll County once he settled there.  It is possible that between 1855 and 1860 he had been in North Carolina, since we do not know where he was, but he did not stay there if he did.  Through the newspaper articles, their sister, Ettie, found out about the reunion.  She at the time was living in Connecticut.  She made the journey by train to met her brothers she had not seen since they left Ireland.  

Michael was a devout catholic and refused to step foot into a church that was not catholic.  His descendants recall stories of Michael playing his fiddle on the front porch of his home.  Michael was a farmer, like his parents in Ireland were before him.  Michael died on April 4, 1912 in Carroll County, Georgia.  He had been sick for sometime. A catholic priest came from Atlanta to preform the last rites since there were no catholic churches in Carrollton.  Michael refused to have his funeral at the Methodist church his children attended, so the ceremony was performed at his home.  Michael was buried in the Lee's Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Carroll County, Georgia.  All of his children, except one, are buried at Lee's Chapel.

Ancestry Page
Find A Grave Page

Sources:
1860-1910 Census Records: Carroll County, Georgia.
Obituary of Michael Powers - 1912
Atlanta Journal and Newnan Newspaper Articles – March 18, 1911 and April 18, 1911
Research of Mrs. Earline Johnson Powers – received June 2010.
Civil War Pension Application – filed August 23, 1910