Powers, George W.

Born: 1814-01-17 Saratoga County, New York

Died: 1849-09-16 Decatur, Illinois

Flourished: Decatur, Illinois

George W. Powers was a farmer, county treasurer, and Illinois state senator. Originally from Charleston, New York, George and his family emigrated from their native New York to Mobile, Alabama. In the summer of 1839, George and his brother Samuel emigrated to Decatur, purchasing land east of Decatur they transformed into a working farm. George soon returned to Alabama, where he married Almira A. Giles in April 1840. The couple would have three daughters. George moved his new wife, mother, and sister to Decatur. He earned admission to the Illinois bar in 1843, being among the first attorneys to practice in Decatur and Macon County. In 1844, Powers won election to the Illinois Senate, representing McLean County in that body from December 1844 to March 1847. From 1846 to 1848, he served as Macon County treasurer.

John W. Smith, History of Macon County, Illinois, from its Organization to 1876 (Springfield: Rokker's, 1876), 45, 49, 55, 267; History of Macon County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1880), 57, 58, 61; James A. Rose, comp., Blue Book of the State of Illinois 1909 (Danville, IL: Illinois Printing, 1909), 263, 264; Gravestone, Greenwood Cemetery, Decatur, IL.