"An Illustrated history of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties : with a brief outline of the early history of the state of Oregon." Chicago?: Western Historical Pub. Co., 1902. Page 310. Baker County. WILLIAM B. POWERS It is with pleasure that we are enable to accord representation in this portion of our volume to the esteemed pioneer and thrifty, industrious agriculturist whose name appears as the caption of this article. He was one of the earliest settlers in the community in which he lives and in Baker county, and during the nearly three decades of his residence here his life has been in all respects so ordered as to win him the fullest confidence and most unfeigned and hearty good will of those with whom he has been thrown in contact. He is possessed of a broad-minded public spirit, and has ever shown himself a potent factor in the promotion of the general well-being and the development of the country. Mr. Powers is a native of the vicinity of Flemingburg, Fleming county, Kentucky, born March 4, 1825. When he was still quite young, he was taken by his parents, Edward H. and Mary Powers, to Pike county, Missouri, whence he accompanied them a few years later to Lincoln county, and thence to Warsaw, Benton county, where for a number of years the father had charge of a ferry. Our subject farmed there until 1850, then set out across the plains to California, making the trip with oxen. He mined at Bear river, Auburn, Georgetown and other places for a biennium, then returned to Missouri via the isthmus of Panama, the oceans and New York. He resumed his farming in Benton county, but after having seen the west he could be contented there no longer, and in 1864 he again set out across the plains, his objective point this time being Baker county. He settled six miles west of the present North Powder, taking a homestead. He has purchased and disposed of much land since, but at present is possessed of two hundred and twenty acres, a part of which is the original home place. His realty is all fine farming land, and it has been improved by judicious cultivation and by the erection of fences and find buildings, until it is one of the best farms in that section of the county. Mr. Powers has a fine orchard but gives his attention mainly to stock-raising and general farming, achieving in his efforts in this direction a very enviable success. Our subject was married in Boone county, Missouri, in December, 1849, to Miss Adeline Barclay, who died in 1869, leaving seven children, namely: William, a miner in Idaho; Mary, wife of James Hutchinson, a resident of Union; John H., living at Salem; Ellenora, deceased; Ada, wife of R. L. Turner, living at Bourne, Oregon; Ellen, wife of S. C. Mann, a prominent farmer of the county; Laura, now Mrs. J. L. Dodson, living on the home place. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in September 2005 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.