Wesley J. Powers (1845-1902), born in Orono, Durham County,
Canada, was the son of James Powers (1818-1903) and Lucinda
Manly Powers (1829-1882) and therefore the grandson of
Nathaniel Hart Powers and Rebecca LaRue. (To push this a
little further, the cousin of Helen Thornton).
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James Powers (1818-1903) married Lucinda Manly Powers
(1829-1882)
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Wesley J. Powers (1845-1902) married Jennie Marsden
(1849-1906)
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Mabelle Powers (1869-1922) married Dewitt Thatcher
(1862-1918)
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Dewitt Wesley Thatcher (1892-1953) married Ethel
X (1888-). [I don't believe they had
children.]
Wesley moved to Illinois (in 1849) and at the age of
approximately 17 ran away from home (to Wisconsin) to enlist
in the army to participate in the Civil War. For his service
he was one of a very few Canadians to receive the Medal of
Honor, receiving it in the mail on his 50th birthday. His
citation reads: “Corporal, Company F, 147th Illinois
Infantry. Place and date: At Oostanaula, Ga., 3 April 1865.
Entered service at: Virgil, Ill. Birth: Canada. Date of issue:
24 October 1895. Citation: Voluntarily swam the river under
heavy fire and secured a ferryboat, by means of which the
command crossed.” The photo below may have been taken
on the day he received the medal. For a photo of Wesley and
his wife see the post for “James Powers”.
Wesley and his father continued to live in Illinois, James
being a farmer and Wesley a moulder and during his last years
was in the ice business. Wesley married Jenny Marsden
(1849-1906) in 1867 and they had at least one daughter,
Mabelle Powers (1869-1922), who married Dewitt Thatcher
(1862-1918) in 1889, son of Edmund W. Thatcher, and had a son
named Dewitt Wesley Thatcher (1892-1953) as well as a baby
that died at birth in 1889. Note: Jenny’s and
Wesley’s name appear on the grave stone for his father,
although one cannot read Wesley’s name.
James Powers. See also the post titled Funeral of Wesley J. Powers.
On reverse in handwriting: To cousin Helen (Thornton) from
Wesley.
The plaque below, which sits beside the grave stone of Wesley
and another for his father and mother, was probably placed
sometime after 1976. The symbol is the same as the medal
Wesley is wearing in above photo.
Stone below is unreadable but is part of the POWERS plot in
North Cemetery, St. Charles. The two stones are near one
another along with a third naming Wesley, his wife and his
parents. See the post for James Powers.
I also include here a grave stone for Dewitt Wesley Thatcher,
Wesley’s grandson.
Dewitt Thatcher grave stone from Camp Butler National
Cemetery.
