Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-12
,.rrI1y OF THE UNIVERSITY.


p.ovrssoR POWELL WAS born May 10
100. near Piketon, Kentucky. Three
,s Io., sf,er his birth his parents return
81 Cass County, Missouri, then the
.,,sne Western frontier. and remain
- that section until le47, undergo
;no ali the rigors and inconveniences of
Gfs in remote section of the country.
The ten wears spent on this frontier
!a,r, nv the subject of the sketch, wno
los indebted for his one pair of shoes
,aar. made of leather tanned by his
s.;her. by that fathers own hands, and
Gov his limited wardrobe 70 the hands Of
h;s mother, working on cloth of her own
ca,diup and 81 inning, taught the young
srortie,sman those lessons of thrift,
aoonomy, self help and self reliance
~h;ob have stood him in such good
800 in his later years. Up t. his 18th
.ssy and for that mater for several
sssrs later, the subject of this sketch
yossessed only the most meager oppor-
tnnities for obtaining even the rudI-
,nsnts of a common scnoOl education.
In I8t7 his father, Hos. David Powell,
s.,raeted by the rising fame of Oregon,
started overland with his family for the
nsv land of promise. and after the usual
-y;yatiops and vicissitndes, and they
rsrs neither few nor light, the family
cached the Willamette Valley. and set
tIsd about seven miles east Of Portland,
where his father still survives. highly
esteemed member of the community.
wear after the arrival of the family In
Oregon the mother OF Professor Powell
died. but left with him the legacy of
nure and noble example, and those
teachings of sobriety, industry, love of
learning, and ambition for a useful and
honorable career, which have borne
such good fruit.
Az the age of l5 young Powell went to
California, and at the end of a year re-
tanned With the sum of $1,000, his earn
inps for that period. The authors of
@Tbe Representative Men of Oregon"
TINS sketched his subsequent career:
AT the age of seventeen there WAS a
new awakening within him. He found
himself totally unable to write, and able
TO read only very poorly in the third
reader. In his association with men in
the mines of California, many OF whom
were highly educated and intelligent, he
learned that education would be to him
worth more than gold. He accordingly
entered the Portland Academy, where,
under the direction of O. 5. Kingsley,
one Of the most competent instructors
A also one of the most useful men of
early Portland history, he prepared for
college. During the indian war of 1855
and 1856 he served five months as pri
vate in Company G, First Regiment Or
sQon Mounted Volunteers; three months
ss FIRST Lisutenant IF Capt. w. 3. Buok-
lsy's Company Of Mnltnomah county
Rangers, and short time as Captain of
q company Of volunteers, raised in the
city of Portland to relieve the Cascades
at the time Of the great massacre there
In 1856. Here he was associated with
Lieut.. Phil. Sheridan, afterward and
now the famous general. Young Powell
entered the Wesleyan University. Della
ware, Ohio, from which institution he
graduated with honor in 1861. Return
ing to Oregon in the fall of that year,
on the 22d day of December he was mar
red TO Miss Martha Ransom of Yambill
county, and went imme6 lately to the
Willamette University as teacher in
the Academic Department. The next
year be was elected to the chair of math-
ematjcs In the University. and held that
position with honor to himself and great
benefit to the institution for fourteen
years. For one year he was principal of
the Tualatin Academy Mt Forest Grove.
and for two years was President Of the
Albany Collegiate Institute. While serv
Ing In this capacity he was nominated
by the Republican State Convention in
e. ars, Of In
struction for the State, and at the cleo
ti0n In June Of that year was chosen to
that highly honorable position. He
served the cause of education in this
Office four years, giving the benefit of
his large practical experience and wide
observation 10 IL without stint. During
his term, and under his labors. the cause
Of popular education in Oregon received
an impetus and was placed on a basis it
had never before attained. At the close
Of his term III this office he was caIled
70 the Presidency Of the University OF
Washington Territory, one of the most
honorable and useful educational posi-
tons on the coast, which position he
now occupies. Mr.. Powell is man Of
medium hight, but OF large, compact
and powerful frame; immense vital pow
ers supply unlimited energy To his mind.
and enable him 10 do most manly work
III most manly way. At middle life,
mucn ~ he has been able to do In the
past, more aud grander is before him.
celf made, hs Ia yet well made, and
wearing without estentation the honor
si WORK well done, he Is sure to reach
tne honor OF better work more nobly
zone In the future. He has long been
member and minister of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
PROFESSOR OgisoN PERCY LEE was
oorn near indianapolis, Indiana, July
~ ic6O. His early life was spent in
oissfing the forests or following the
piow. AT the age of sixteen he entered
tne nigh school at Jamestown, Indiana,
ana by diligent application completed
.ue course OF study in one year. In
the Tall Of 1877 he began the teachers
oourse In the Ladoga Normal school,
and graduated from that course in July.
loo' In 1879 he graduated in the busi-
ness course OF the Central Normal Col
~ ana Business Institute, Danville,
rnuisha. lie was then called TO the
Hs rsnsas Normal College, Fort Scott,
a.' asusas' AZ professor OF penmanship,
s.lasing and rhetoric. Here he con-
s.aa s.nueo Two years, both as teacher and
ssauent graduating in the scientific and
s'sssiesl courses. ln August, 1881, he
s tlscted superintendent of the grad
~ scneols, Eugene City, Oregon, where
-a.0a ~ ..smalned one year, at the close OF
sans su'en ne resigned that position and
- sSp,ed an appointment to the Chair
:. nslies Lettres in the Territorial Uni
~ h's.y OF Washington. Ia July. 1888.
~. p,ocured leave of absence from
sss.s University, and. going East. en-
srS sa n ,oe National School of Elocution
h. s o,s'ary, Philadelphia. Pa, where