THE GEORGE WASHINGTON POWERS FAMILY

Compiled by William Eris Read

The Powers family originally came from Ireland. The first Powers of record in this country was George Washington Powers, born in the early 1830's. His father was also born in the United States, but his given name is unknown. Perhaps it, too, was George Washington.

George Washington Powers married Sarah Ann Street and lived in Tallapoosa County, southwest of Birmingham. The 1880 census reveals that George Washington Powers, the eldest son, was born lin GA in 1853. The other children were: George Washington (Wash) Powers; Hattie Ann Powers who married Harry Scott; Tolliver (Toll) Hancock Powers; Sarah Powers; Frances (Fannie); and William (Bill) Powers. The last two were twins. Five lived beyond eighty years.

George Washington Powers, six of his brothers and his father served in the Confederate Army. George Washington became ill from measles and polluted drinking water, went home, died and was buried in Alabama. It is believed that all fought in the battle of Stones River. Family history indicates that at least four, perhaps all six, of the brothers never returned from the war. There are no known records as to what happened to them.

The Powers family came to Middle Tennessee after the Civil War. Sarah Powers and her seven children came to Tennessee with several other families in a wagon train. Most of the men were either dead or missing and the land was devastated. The family settled in Williamson County near Arno. The family probably became homesick as later they returned to Morganville, Ala. However, John Williams Powers later returned to Eagleville and worked for the Owen Tobacco Factory.

John William Powers (8 June 1853-30 March 1934)married 25 Dec 1878, Catherine (Kitty) Luvenia Taylor (7 Nov 1859-20 May 1922) daughter of Nathaniel Rufus and Margaret Ann Brown Taylor and lived in the Versailles area on half of the inheritance from her father. The 220 acres were located on the Mt Pleasant Road near the Baptist Church, where they built a new house.

John William and Kitty Powers had seven children:

1 William Vincent Powers (20 March 1880-25 Feb 1953), first married Jimmie Manier (14 July 1894-2 Dec 1918), daughter of David Lemuel and Mary Frances Puckett Manier. Vincent next married Parrie Read Nance, widow of Frank Nance, and the daughter of James T and Lulia Lamb Read. They had two children:

a Cathryn Powers married Y Burns Clark and their children are: Y Burns Clark Jr; James Donald Clark; Terry Clark; and Russell Clark.
b William (Billy)Read Powers married Margie Harrison and they have two children: William R Powers Jr, and Kaye Powers. (For Parrie's first marriage, see the Frank Nance family.) Vincent and his brother (Wash) owned the Lamb Bottoms, one time owned by Kelly Lamb, his wife's grandfather.

2 Mary Frances (Fanny) Powers(23 July 1882-5 Dec 1974) married James Bell Taylor (18 Jan 1883-12 Sept 1940), son of Franklin Lafayette and Virginia Tennessee Jordan Taylor. They had one son that died at birth. James Bell Taylor had one daughter, Ruth, by his first wife, Gertrude Elmore. Ruth Taylor married Leslie Sharber. Fanny was 92 at death. (See the Sharber family.) 3 Nathaniel Washington (Wash) Powers (23 Feb 1885-5 Dec 1959), first married Lela Bell Brannon (10 Aug 1886-22 March 1925), daughter of John and Mattie Whitehead Brannon (see Brannon family). She bore him eight children:

a Gerald F Powers married Dorothy Elmore and they have eight children: Gerald Powers, Eron Powers, Dorothy Ann Powers, Granville Powers, Otho Powers, Ray Powers, Lela May Powers (twin to Ray), died at birth, and Sue Powers.
b Eron Powers (21 Nov 1903-3 Feb 1913)
c Thelma Powers married Alton Wood and has two daughters: Jean Wood and Ann Wood.
d Pauline Powers married Grady Ward and has one son, Robert (Bobby) Ward
e Lucille Powers married June Hayes and has two sons: Jimmy Hayes and Gayle Hayes
f Lela Mai Powers married Otho F Nance and has three children: Elizabeth (Betty) Nance, James Franklin (Buddy) Nance, and Edwin Nance. (See Frank Nance family.)
g Nathaniel Washington (Wash) Powers Jr married Ruby Lee Gillespie and has one daughter, Donna Powers.
h An infant -- mother and child died at childbirth.

For many years Nathaniel Washington Powers operated a threshing machine pulled by a large steam engine owned by Alex Ralston. Wash was founder of the One Gallus Fox Hunters Association (1934); Sheriff of Rutherford County (1922); Superintendent of Roads and Workhouse (1932-1933); and Police Chief of Murfreesboro until his death in 1957. The second wife of Wash Powers was Pearl Adcock. (See Adcock family.)

4 Robert (Bob) Powers (15 March 1888-10 March 1969) married Lytle Kelton. Their two sons: John Robert Powers and Curtis Tolliver Powers, now own the family farm. Lytle later married Puckett Cothran.

5 Annie may Powers (1 Oct 1890-10 June 1974) married 22 Dec 1912 Thomas H Read (17 Sept 1889-14 July 1969) son of James T and Julia Lamb Read. (See the Read family.)

6 John Ivey Powers (31 March 1894-13 Oct 1962) married Lela Pearl McClaran, daughter Jim McClaran and had five children: Wanda Powers, Edwin Ivey Powers, Jean Powers, Frances, and Ronnie Powers. John Ivey Powers daringly escaped from a German POW camp in WWI and was gassed moving back to the allied lines. He was a V.A. Hospital employee.

7 Arthur Rufus Powers married Mary Vaughn and had one son, Vaughn Powers who has three children. Dorothy and Cleo Hinson were Mary's daughters by her first marriage. Arthur was a grocer, farmer, contractor and deputy sheriff, and is now the only surviving family member of his generation at age 85.