The Powell Family of Abergavenny, Wales

Staring my research in 1973, I was fortunate to be able to talk to older family members.  Some mysteries might never have been solved without the help of the senior Powell’s.  I might never have known the circumstances around Great Grandfather John Lewis Powell’s death.  His son Leck had the Powell family bible, which was shared with me.  Great Grandmother Sarah had made a notation in the bible regarding the death of her husband, John.  Without this note I would not have found his death in Washington State.  John’s obituary from the Vancouver papers makes no mention of the circumstances surrounding his death or where he died.

Mom’s cousin Madeline Brault had letters from John that were sent to Sarah (before they married), when he returned to Wales to visit his family.  Again, from these letters I was able to establish who his siblings and mother were.  Powell being such a common name in Wales it would have been nigh impossible to find John’s family without these letters.

Powell is a traditional Welsh surname thought to be a patronymic form of the Welsh first name Howel. The Old Celtic term "ap" means "son of", hence ap Howel was eventually spelled as Powell. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_(surname))