Fun with history: Edward L. Powell

In the summer months, there tends to be less 'hard' news and sports, which leaves room for columns and features, which I think are a lot more fun. In May, The Times received a head's up from 1964 Prescott High School grad, Phil Stevens, that former Waitsburg general store owner, Edward L. Powell, was the subject of a "Then and Now" feature in the Spokesman Review.

I marked the email to take a look at later. When I finally got around to researching the story last week I was fascinated, not just by Powell, but by connections in his story to both The Times, and me, personally.

The May 22 Spokesman Review "Then and Now" article featured Powell and the Powell-Sanders building located at 124 S. Wall St. in Spokane. Powell operated a general store in Waitsburg for 18 years before moving to Spokane in 1889, where he eventually built the five-story Powell-Sanders building and started a wholesale grocery business.

According to the Spokesman Review article, written by Jesse Tinsley, Powell went on to have a short but colorful political career after leaving Waitsburg. He was elected to the 1891 Washington State Assembly where he served two years. He then returned to Spokane and was elected mayor in 1893, a difficult time in Spokane's history. During his time as mayor he faced bank failures, riots, and political corruption.

Powell is credited with starting a "buy local" movement, which eventually became the Interstate Fair, which continues today. The entire Spokesman Review article can be found at http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/may/22/then-and-now-the-powell-sanders-building/#/0.

But the real fun came when I went looking for a photo of Powell. I first landed on Ancestry.com which listed this fun fact: "In the late 70s and early 80s Mr. Powell established the first baseball team of the Inland Empire and one of the most successful that ever traversed its sand lots. For three years he never lost a game. He was the pitcher, captain and star batter. Up until he was 56 years of age Mr. Powell's right arm retained much of its craft and he frequently pitched on teams with his grownup sons, and holding down infield positions."

Even more interesting were the references to Waitsburg. While here, he became the youngest man in the state to hold the position of Odd Fellows third grand masters, at age 29. And he was elected to represent Waitsburg at the last territorial legislature, which never actually convened because Washington was admitted as a state.

Ancestry.com also states that Powell "built the first brick store in central Waitsburg in '81 and was here during the Nez Perce war, when, armed with Winchesters, he guarded his home and family and business. He established about this time the Waitsburg Times, one of the first newspapers of this country. Many Spokane traders were customers of his flouring mill."

I was fascinated by the reference to Powell's connection to The Times, since the oldest pages we have hang on our office wall and list C.W. Wheeler as the paper's publisher. There are, however, large ads by Mr. Powell on both pages. In researching further I found more references connecting Powell with The Times, but nothing that specifies his role.

At one point, I was excited to discover that Powell had even owned the home I currently live in, though I'm not sure that's actually the case. It turns out Powell married Dora (Isadora) E. Bruce, daughter of Perry and Caroline Bruce, in 1874. Each of the Bruce children received one-fourth of the estate after Caroline Bruce died. Lots 3 and 4 in Block I of Bruce's Addition, along with other properties, went to Dora and Edward Powell and were eventually sold to Mary E. Abbey for $1.

I knew my home, located two houses behind the Bruce House, was Lot 3 of Bruce's Addition and was owned by the Abbeys. However, when I double-checked I learned that my home is located at Lot 3 Block "B" of Bruce's Second Addition. Probably not the same property, but still fun.

I'm not sure what the moral of this story is, but it is certainly fun to delve into the history and early personalities of our fine city and learn a bit about them and the connections they still have to our lives today. Maybe the next time you drive by Powell Street, you'll give a nod to this colorful personality.