Member of Tennessee House, 21st General Assembly, 1835-37; representing Hawkins and Sullivan counties; party affiliation not shown. Born in Hawkins County on September 6, 1807; son of Judge Samuel and Mary Caldwell (Rutledge) Powel. Educated for the law; lived at Rogersville, Hawkins County. Circuit court clerk, 1840-52; clerk and master of chancery court, 1855-58. Married in Hawkins County on August 11, 1836, to Eliza Ruth Fain, daughter of Nicholas and Sarah (Gammon) Fain; children–Richard Franklin, Nicholas Fain, Edmund Dillahunty, Mary Rutledge, Ernest, Robert, Thomas, George, Sadie, and Stanley Powel. Died at his home in Poor Valley, Hawkins County, on August 30, 1873; buried in Rogersville. Son of Samuel Powel, Supreme Court judge and member of Congress; grandson of General George Rutledge, member of Constitutional Convention of 1796 and member Tennessee General Assembly; brother of Samuel Powel, sometime member Tennessee General Assembly.

Sources: Ray, Tennessee Cousins, 91; Goodspeed, History of Hawkins County, Hawkins County Marriage Records, 1789-1865; p. 117; Rogersville Review, January 3, 1935; December 16, 19l4; Report of Cases in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Vol. 176, p. 869; Morristown Gazette, September 3, 1873.

From Biographical Directory: Tennessee General Assembly, 1796-1967, Issue 3