The Courier
Volume 31, No. 2 (2007)



THE DIARY OF EDGAR HARVEY POWERS




Edgar Harvey Powers (1843-1894)
Photo courtesy of Bethel Masonic Lodge # 97 AF & AM


Editor’s Note: This transcription has been made from a small diary that was discovered by Barbara Hastings Honkala in 1988 while she was organizing the Hastings family papers at the John Hastings Homestead at 18 Broad Street, Bethel.  It covers much of the year 1864 (some pages are missing, and the diary stops in late November) and must have come into the Hastings Homestead through some connection to Eugenia (Roberts) Hastings (born in Hanover, Maine, in 1846).  She is mentioned repeatedly in the diary, and grew up in Hanover with diarist Edgar Harvey Powers, who was born 4 April 1843, the youngest child of Jonathan, Jr., and Hannah (Andrews) Powers.  He married on 12 February 1867, Jennie Desire Stearns, who was born on 19 October 1843, the daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Chapman) Stearns of Bethel.  They had two sons before her death on 20 September 1882.  Edgar Powers married second, on 11 December 1883, Carrie Carr, who was born 28 February 1864.  A farmer, Powers acquired and worked on the farm of his father, Jonathan Powers, Jr.  Active in town politics, he served as Third Selectman in 1885, Second Selectman in 1886, and as Town Clerk in 1866-68 and 1881-1886.  A member of and Master of the Bethel Masonic Lodge (1870), he was buried in the Hanover Cemetery following his death on 27 September 1894 at the age of fifty-one.  Powers’ farm was situated on present U.S. Route 2, about one and three/quarters miles west of Hanover Village.  The farmland has been subdivided and the barn removed, but the house is still standing and owned by Elizabeth Houde.  Powers’ siblings included Augustine, born 10 April 1834, who married Matilda M., and resided in Newry; Galen H., born 20 August 1835, and died 20 October 1838; Charles H., born 6 October 1837, who married Sarabette Moore and resided in Newry; and Theresa C., born 1 July 1840, who married Edwin C. Lane and resided in Newry.

Others mentioned in the diary:
The "Deacon" mentioned in the text is unidentified, but may be Reuben Foster.  (All the others mentioned above have been eliminated as possibilities.)  The only other family living between the village and the home of Edgar Powers at this time was that of William Barker.  He was commonly referred to as “Captain.”  Much gratitude is extended to Warren Stearns of Hanover, Maine, for transcribing the diary and for his numerous useful annotations.  S. R. H.




House and barn of Edgar Harvey Powers, Hanover, Maine, ca. 1900
Courtesy of Warren Stearns


January 1864
[to be continued]




The Courier
Volume 31, No. 3 (2007)

THE DIARY OF EDGAR HARVEY POWERS
[continued]




Section of Hanover, Maine (from Caldwell & Halfpenny, Atlas of Oxford Co., Maine, 1880)
"E. H. Powers" appears in the left-center of the map, on present-day Route 2.


Editor’s Note: Additional information on Edgar Harvey Powers has come to light since the last issue.  At the time of his death in 1894, Powers was a member of Bear River Grange in Newry.  He also served as a District Deputy Grand Master of No.16 Masonic District of Maine.  He moved to Blazing Star Masonic Lodge at Rumford Center in 1876.  His two sons were named Linwood (b. 26 August 1867) and Harvey E. (b. 13 March 1880).  He died intestate according to the probate record at the Oxford County Courthouse in South Paris.  His estate totaled $1721.34 (Real Estate $1000; Goods and Chattels $582.90; Rights and Credits $138.44).

January 1864 (continued)

February 1864
[to be continued]




The Courier
Volume 31, No. 4 (2007)

THE DIARY OF EDGAR HARVEY POWERS
[continued]




Gravestones of Edgar H. and Jennie D. (Stearns) Powers in the Hanover, Maine, cemetery


February 1864 (continued)

[to be continued]


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