The John Powell homestead, King’s Hill Road.
By Alan B. Crawford
This week, let’s drift over towards the west end of our Town and look at a house on Kings Hill Road. This area, and this road in particular, hosts a number of older homes where some of our original families settled and began taming the wilderness, making it easier for future generations. This one is the Jonah Powell homestead.
John Powell was born in Westchester in 1775, from what has been discovered in the records. He migrated here though living a time in Dutchess County before settling in the Town of Newburgh around 1808. By the time he put his roots down here, it appears he already had five children, with two more daughters yet to come.
John lived to the ripe old age of 83, passing away in 1859. The largest part of the homestead was then owned by his son Jonah Powell (b. 1807; d.1904). Jonah married Martha Hartshorn (b. 1808; d. 1882) in 1843. Their union was blessed with three daughters and one son. John’s other sons had adjacent farms, and the family prospered.
And Jonah lived to be 94 and was still active till his passing! At 93, he was still able to jump on a horse drawn wagon and go visit his daughter according to newspaper reports! While there hasn’t been much documented about the ancestors of John Powell, Martha Hartshorn’s have been.
Looking over their family trees, you’ll seen many other surnames which are familiar in our Town. The Powell family planted their roots over 200 years ago, owning a large area on, and around Kings Hill Road. Imagine what it must have been like to be the first in a forested land, clearing an area to build a home, and then clearing enough of the forest to begin a farm.
It wasn’t like it is today! They didn’t have large Caterpillar excavators and dozers! They didn’t have chain saws! They used axes and saws to cut down the trees. The stumps were piled with brush and wood and burned down or removed with a team of horses. Stones were loaded onto sleds and used to build the fences. I doubt if many today would opt to head out to an undeveloped area faced with these conditions. Might just make for a good reality show, of which there are with similar themes. Of course we all believe reality shows are real. I do! It’s true because I saw it on television!
This homestead of Jonah was subsequently owned by various families, including the grandparents of a close friend. I vividly remember as a teenager, being enthralled with the 1924 Dodge and 1926 Reo which were stored under an overhang by the barn. We’d often stop on our bikes and chat with the “old timer” and admire his cars, hoping to someday have one of our own, never dreaming someday we would be the old timers!