Gabriel Powell of Bladen County
Hi this is Allen Omega once again. I am a direct descendant of
Gabriel (Gabe) Powell. My maternal grandmother was Sophie
Jane Powell-Thomas and Gabriel was her father. Besides my grandmother
who was his youngest, Gabriel fathered many children in the Colly
township of Bladen County. This is only a beginning! A journey
from 2004 back to 1840 and beyond.
Gabriel who was born sometime around 1840 was a farmer and blacksmith
by trade. I have heard from the elders that he was a slave and that
his last slave owner was Isaac Powell of the Cypress
Creek township in Bladen County. His age is surely in accordance
with one of the three slaves that Isaac Powell owned in 1860.
Gabes First Marriage -
There are many questions to be answered about Gabriels mysterious
past. Who was his first wife Julia? What happened to Julia and three
of her children between 1870 and 1872? Who were his parents or brothers
and sisters? And what was his relationship to Phyllis Herring who
was my paternal great grandfather's (Ned Edmund Autry) grandmother?
These are some of the questions about Gabe that has really consumed
most of my past time lately. I have lately found out what the relationship
between and Gabe and Phyllis Herring was but it will not be updated
to this site. It will be included in another project that I am currently
working on.
I first found Gabriel in 1870 living in the Colly township of Bladen
County with Phyllis Herring being one of his closest neighbors.
He was found with his first wife whose name was Julia and five children.
1 Gabriel Powell 1840 - 1925
*1st Wife of Gabriel Powell:
.. +Julia
..... 2 George Powell 1860 -
..... 2 Dick Powell 1863 -
..... 2 Dallas Powell 1865 -
..... 2 Sarah Powell 1867 -
......... +Toney Troy Johnson
............. 3 William Johnson 1888 -
............. 3 Mattie Johnson 1892 -
............. 3 Mary C Johnson 1894 -
............. 3 Lillie Johnson 1898 -
..... 2 Adeline Powell 1870 -
......... +Dawson Glover
............. 3 Anna Julia Glover
................. +Anderson Jones
Julia was born in 1842. Something happened to Julia and her sons George,
Dick and Dallas sometime between 1870 and 1872. They are not to be
found in any information anywhere from 1872 on. It seems to me that
if Gabe and Julia had parted Julia would have at least took her two
daughters especially the one that was close to two years old when
Gabe married again. What a mystery!
Gabes Second Marriage -
I found Gabriel again in 1880 strangely married to Sophia Herring-Hayes.
Gabe and Sophia's marriage records show that they were married in
1872. During this time I could not find any sign of Julia, George,
Dick or Dallas. I could not even find Sarah who should have been listed
somewhere because shortly after 1880 she would get married to Toney
Troy Johnson. Troy Johnson was my paternal great grandmother's (Mary
Carlton Johnson-Autry) brother. Either Julia and her sons met an early
death or they moved on because Gabe and Sophia were living in the
same home that Julia and Gabe lived in in 1870.
Even my aunt Virginia was shocked when I told her that Sophia Herring
Hayes-Powell was Gabes second wife. She knows more about this family
as a group than anyone presently living.
Sophia Herring-Hayes-Powell was born in 1850 in an area of Sampson
County that was and still is called Longview and Clear Run. Although
Sophia was born a slave and her mother Esther Herring-Hayes was a
slave, her father was a descendant of the freedman Isaac
Hays. Isaac was a mulatto that was born sometime around 1730 and
and was taxed in Bladen County in the 1770's. How he obtained his
freedom is unknown but as a result, all of his descendants (Sophia's
Hayes relatives) were born free
African Americans and can be found in information many years prior
to the end of slavery. There were many Hayes families found living
in Bladen, Sampson, New Hanover (town of Wilmington) and Cumberland
counties in 1850 and 1860. For some reason ( probably black
codes or actions from racist ancestors of the architects of the
Wilmington
White Declaration of Independence) there was a mass migration
of the Hayes families of New Hanover County to all surrounding counties
sometime between 1850-1870. I found most of these families in 1870
and 1880 living in Ivanhoe and Newton Cross roads (Franklin township),
Garland, Long View, Clear Run and Delway (Lisbon township) in Sampson
County and the townships of Colly, Lake Creek, French's Creek, Carvers
Creek, Whites Creek and Beaverdam of Bladen County. These people were
closely related to Sophia (aunts, uncles and cousins etc.). Sophia
had many sisters and brothers living in Bladen and Sampson County.
Ned Edmund Autry fathered a child for one of her sisters (Tempie).
The child was named Joe Hayes. As I stated above Sophia and Gabe's
marriage certificate shows that they were married in 1872. Together
they had many children that were born right here in the Colly township
of Bladen County not far from where my aunt Ada's present day home
is located.
Gabe and Sophia lived there for the remainder of their natural lives.
Gabe, Sophia, a host of their children and other descendants are buried
in the Colly cemetery located on 701 between Edward Autry and his
daughter Elizabeth Autry-Brown's home.
1 Gabriel Powell 1840 - 1925
*2nd Wife of Gabriel Powell:
.. +Sophia Herring Hayes 1858 - 1921
..... 2 Sophie Jane Powell 1900 - 1980
......... +Willie R. Douglas Thomas 1892 - 1976
............. 3 Catherine Marlene Thomas
................. +Cleophus Autry
............. 3 Jelene Thomas
................. +JC Melvin
............. 3 Virginia Thomas
................. +Odell Autry
............. 3 Johnny Elbert Thomas
............. 3 Willie Mae Thomas
................. +Leroy Autry
..... 2 George Powell 1875 -
..... 2 Idella Powell 1876 -
......... +William Richardson 1882 -
............. 3 Robert Richardson 1911 -
............. 3 Annie M. Richardson 1913 -
............. 3 Mary Richardson 1914 -
............. 3 William Dennis Richardson 1919 -
................. +Mattie
..... 2 Mitchell Powell 1880 -
..... 2 Ann Powell 1884 -
......... +Franklin McDuffie
............. 3 Wash D. McDuffie 1916 -
............. 3 Daniel McDuffie 1919 -
............. 3 Jessie McDuffie 1922 -
............. 3 Elsie McDuffie
................. +Alex Caviness
..... 2 Isiah Powell 1882 - 1910
..... 2 Rachel Powell 1885 -
..... 2 Sandy Powell 1886 -
......... +Prisillia 1894 -
............. 3 Daisy Powell 1913 -
............. 3 Sudie Powell 1915 -
............. 3 Ubert James Powell 1919 -
............. 3 Dewitt Powell 1922 -
............. 3 Dancy Powell
............. 3 Elizabeth Powell
..... 2 Jefferson Powell 1892 -
..... 2 Gabriel Jr. Powell 1896 -
..... 2 June S. Powell 1899 -
Click here for
information from 1870 Bladen County that shows Gabe's and his neighbors
Phyllis Herring and Edith Herring-Johnson's families of 1870.
I continued to find Gabriel and Sophia Still living in the Colly
township of Bladen County from 1900-1920. They were still living
in the same home that they had resided in back in 1880. Ned Edmund
Autry was one of their closest neighbors from 1900-1920.
Click here to view
Gabe's family from 1870-1920. To have such a large family of children
it is truly a shame that less than half of them and their descendants
can be accounted for today.
If there is anyone that can give me insight on any member of this
Powell family that originated in the Colly township of northern
Bladen County, please do so. Contact will be made best via guestbook
because of junk mail. Your help will be gladly appreciated. Thanks
in advance and Peace!
Gabriel who was born sometime around 1840 was a farmer and blacksmith
by trade. I have heard from the elders that he was a slave and that
his last slave owner was Isaac Powell of the Cypress Creek township
in Bladen County. His age is surely in accordance with one of the
three slaves that Isaac Powell owned in 1860.
I am now seeing that two slaves, male and female could have different
slave owners in different areas and still cohabitant (a state of
marriage for slaves) and have a family with children. I have been
seeing a lot of this lately in my slave research and from what I
can gather, the offspring's of these unions were claimed by the
female's slave owner. Here is some individual information that I
came across on Sarah Louise Agustus, Tempie
Herndon Durham and Betty
Cofer exslaves that were from the Fayetteville, Durham and an
unknown area of NC whose parents or mates were also owned by different
slave owners. I wonder! Why was I never taught this in all those
years of school?
Click here to view the details about Gabe's
children.
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