Harriet Lane Powell (1885 - 1942)

Born 17 Jul 1885 in Baird, Callahan, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Wife of William Jenner Powell — married 15 Jun 1910 in Church of the Holy Cross, Baird, Texas

Descendants

Died 2 Mar 1942 at age 56 in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bob Powell [send private message]

Biography

Harriet Lane “Hallie” Powell was the first of eight children born to William Cuthbert Powell and Sarah Thomason Lane. She was educated in Baird, Texas, and graduated from St. Mary's College in Dallas, Texas. She initially attended the University of Texas in Austin, where she met William Jenner Powell while checking the list of math test results and finding they were both named Powell. Bishop Garrett, who had founded St. Mary's (on the site of what is now St. Matthew's Cathedral), persuaded Hallie to transfer to St. Mary's, arguing to her parents that she would receive a better education there than at the University of Texas.

After graduating, she taught Math and Spanish at St. Mary's. The newspaper account of her wedding in 1910 stated "One of the most beautiful and impressive weddings ever solemnized in Baird was the marriage of Miss Hallie Lane Powell and William Jenner Powell at the Church of the Holy Cross on Wednesday evening, June 15. Rt. Rev. A. C. Garrett of Dallas, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese, officiated. Miss Powell is of one of the most prominent families in this section of the State."

She is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.

Interesting or Notable Relationships

• Carter Braxton (1736-1797) first cousin four times removed: Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia. Member of the Continental Congress (1776).
• Lt. Col. Leven Powell (1737-1810) second great-grandfather: Fought in the Revolutionary War and was a friend of Gen. George Washington and with him at Valley Forge. Elected to the 6th United States Congress (1799-1801) as a Federalist from Virginia.
• Dr. Laurence Brooke (1758-1803) second cousin three times removed: Surgeon aboard the Bonhomme Richard with John Paul Jones in its famous engagement with HMS Serapis.
• Gov. Robert Brooke (1760-1800) second cousin three times removed: 10th Governor of Virginia (1794-1796).
• Rep. Alfred Harrison Powell (1781-1831) great-granduncle: Elected to the 19th United States Congress (1825-1827) as an Adams party member from Virginia.
• Rep. Cuthbert Powell (1775-1849) great-granduncle: Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia (1808-1809). Elected to the 27th United States Congress (1841-1843) as a Whig from Virginia.
• Sen. Walker Brooke (1813-1869) second cousin twice removed: Elected to the United States Senate (1852-1853) as a Whig from Mississippi.
• Rep. Thomas Walter Harrison (1856-1935) second cousin: Elected to the 64th, 65th, 66th (1916-1921) and 68th, 69th, 70th (1923-1929) United States Congresses as a Democrat from Virginia.
• Rep. Burr Powell Harrison (1904-1973) second cousin once removed: Elected to the 79th thru 87th United States Congresses (1946-1963) as a Democrat from Virginia.
• Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003) third cousin once removed: Academy Award winning actress.

First Ancestors in Her Family Tree to Come to America

• Walter Powell (1622-1695) fifth great-grandfather: Progenitor of her Powell ancestry in America. Came from England to Virginia in 1643. Heritage: Welsh and English.
• Humphrey Booth (1635-1685) fifth great-grandfather: Progenitor of her Booth ancestry in America. Came from England to Virginia about 1653. Planter and merchant in Rappahannock and Essex Counties, Virginia. Served as a Justice in 1656. Heritage: English.
• George Braxton (1677-1748) fourth great-grandfather: Progenitor of her Braxton ancestry in America. Came from England to Virginia about 1690. Member of the House of Burgesses in 1718 and 1727.
• William Brooke (1604-1660) sixth great-grandfather: Progenitor of her Brooke ancestry in America. Came from England to Virginia in 1621. Heritage: English.
• Burr Harrison (1637-1706) fifth great-grandfather: Progenitor of her Harrison ancestry in America. Came from England to Virginia about 1653. Served as a Justice of Stafford County in 1698 and was sent by the House of Burgesses as an emissary to the Piscataway Indians in 1699. Heritage: English.

Sources

• Birth, marriage, and death certificates, photographs, obituary, family records and remembrances. Originals or copies in the possession of Robert L. Powell.
• Ball, Rosalie Noland. The Family Tree of Col. Leven Powell’s Line of the Powells of Virginia. Manchester, Virginia: Privately Published, 1938, p 34.
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47556352/harriet-lane-powell