POWERS, STEPHEN A. (Deceased.)   Among the pioneer
families of Steuben County, few have done more toward its growth and
development than the Powers family, and none can be more safely
placed among its foremost citizens than they.  Their honesty and
integrity has never been questioned, and their spirit of enterprise in every
thing they believe essential, is known in every household in the county.
They came of pure Celtic stock, the great-grandfather of the four
brothers who settled in this county being Arad Powers, a native of
Ireland, who married Lydia Bruce, a native of Scotland (of the noted
family of Bruces so well known in history), and emigrated to the
United States before the Revolutionary war, settling in Massachusetts.
Oliver Powers was born in Massachusetts, of this marriage, where he
grew up and was married to Lydia Winn, a native of that State, to
whom was born the following children:  Jacob, Josiah, Oliver, Lydia,
Lucy, Dolly and Betsey.  Oliver Powers served throughout the Revo-
lutionary war under Washington, and shortly after that struggle for
independence closed, he moved with his family to Oneida County, N.
Y., and afterward to Ontario County of the same State, where he and
wife died.  Josiah was the second in the family, and was born in
Massachusetts, June 16, 1772, where he grew to manhood, and married
Hannah Church, January 6, 1799.  She was the daughter of Josiah
and Hannah Church, natives of Massachusetts, where she was born
January 16, 1776.  The year of their marriage, they moved to Oneida
County, N. Y., and in 1805 removed to Ontario County of the same State,
where Josiah died August 8, 1808, leaving his wife with five small
children as follows:  Stephen, born January 2, 1800; Winn, December
8, 1801; Clark, December 12, 1803; Josiah, February 4, 1806, and
Calvin, March 5, 1808.  The four eldest she "put out" with friends
to care for, and, with her babe Calvin, began to earn her own living.  At
that time, Ontario County was almost a wilderness, and the Powers
family were among its pioneers.  The boys grew to manhood in that
county, and began life with nothing but their own brave hearts and
willing hands to depend on to win the battle.  Their mother was again
married, September 29, 1811, to George Jenks, a native of Massachu-
setts, by whom she had three children, Laura, Joann and George.  Her
husband died November 30, 1820, and about 1847 she moved with her
son George Jenks to Steuben County, Ind., where she died December
1, 1857, in her eighty-second year.  The subject of this sketch was the
eldest in the family, and was born in Oneida County, N. Y., January
2, 1800, and, as has already been stated, he "went out" to live, after
the death of his father, but his master dying before Stephen was grown,
he was thrown on his own resources, and by his individual, unaided
efforts, he acquired a first-class English education.  In his boyhood he
went to learn the blacksmith trade, but, his mind running in another
channel, he quit that business and learned surveying and navigation.
He was married in Allegany County, N. Y., January 3, 1825, to Mary
Ann Campbell, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Meyers) Campbell,
natives of Herkimer County, N. Y., of Irish, Scotch, English and
German origin.  Mrs. Powers was born in Herkimer County, N. Y.,
July 16, 1808.  Her father died one month before her birth, and her
mother was married to Eber Newton, moved to Ontario County, N. Y.,
and afterward to Allegany County, where both died, and where Mrs.
Powers spent her youth.  By her marriage, she had the following
children-Clark, born October 18, 1825; Andrew, September 22, 1827
(died in the army at Vicksburg, June 14, 1863); Newton, February 24,
1830, (died May 7, 1837); Hannah E. March 11, 1833 (died August
3, 1839); Dolly Jane, April 2, 1835; Volney, March 17, 1838 (was a
soldier in the late war); Ellen, January 8, 1841; Oliver, February 12,
1843 (died in the army at Bowling Green, January 14, 1863), and Lydia
Bruce, August 2, 1845.  After his marriage, Stephen Powers settled
in Allegany County, N. Y., where he lived twelve years, when he
started for Indiana with an ox team, arriving in York Township, Steu-
ben County, July 8, 1837.  His brothers Clark and Calvin had come
out in 1836, and entered land, and early in 1837, Clark came and built
a cabin for the reception of his brothers and their families, and in that
cabin, Stephen and family lived with the others for about two months,
when he moved to a cabin in Section 26, Scott Township, two miles
west of the Powers Schoolhouse, and there settled in the woods, with
Indians as their principal neighbors, with whom they lived harmo-
niously.  It is quite unnecessary to speak of the many privations and
hardships which fell to their lot.  Suffice it to say, that they came pre-
pared to meet, and resolved to overcome, all such obstacles, and they were
not made of that stuff which falters.  When the war broke out, Stephen
A. Powers was in his sixty-second year, and his hair was white with
age, but his heart was strong and patriotic.  He colored his hair black,
so as to pass muster when he presented himself as a volunteer for exam-
ination.  When the examining surgeon asked him how old he was, he
replied, "I am old enough to help put down the rebellion."  Noble
words, that will live while time lasts.  He served eleven months, when
he was discharged for disabilities which finally culminated in his
death.  After returning from the army, he settled in Williams County,
Ohio, and in 1871 went to Antrim County, Mich., and took a soldier's
claim.  His foresight was wonderful, as he got his land forty acres
wide, and one mile long, through which a railroad was then surveyed,
and afterward built, which increased the value of his land considerably.
Here he died October 5, 1872, and his widow remained on the farm,
and did what not may women would have been capable of doing, in
clearing it up and carrying out the necessary regulations to retain the
land.  For all this she deserves just credit, and her energy and force of
character is extraordinary.  Her husband was buried in Michigan five
years, when she had his body brought to this county and buried in the
"Powers Cemetery", and, marking his last resting-place, she has
put a fine monument, showing that, though dead, he is not forgotten.
Stephen A. Powers was, in many ways, a remarkable man.  He followed
teaching and surveying as his principal occupation; was County Sur-
veyor for many years, County Commissioner from 1839-40, and was
well known all over the county.  He was a close student, had a wonder-
ful memory, was a lover of knowledge, and endowed with clear, logical
reasoning faculties.  He was a devoted Mason most of his life, and a
member of the I. O. O. F.  He was a kind father and husband, courteous
and polite toward his fellow-man, and believed that true religion consisted
in faithfully following the "Golden Rule."