U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Powell, Charles (1865-1933) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Bench and Bar of West Virginia Author: Geo Wesley Atkinson, LL.B., LL. D. Virginia Law Book Company; Charleston, W.Va.; 1919 Page 391, Hon. Charles Powell The subject of this brief sketch is one of the best known and really able lawyers of the northern portion of West Virginia. He was born March 12, 1865, in Marion County, West Virginia, and is the son of John W. and Lucy A. Powell. His early education was obtained from the common schools of his native locality, and was completed by a systematic reading of the best books at his command, covering all subjects which were necessary to store his mind with information useful and important in his future career. In early life he determined upon the law as a profession, and his reading and study were in that direction. He attended no college, but he possessed an aspiration for knowledge which no circumstance could suppress and an ambition which would not down. In this manner he procured an education that was of great practical value to him in later years, and enabled him to attain a high rank in the legal profession. He read law with great avidity and earnestness, and, being endowed by nature with an intellect singularly adapted to the discernment of truth, however veiled in the speciousness of reason, or enveloped in the delusion of circumstance. He early learned that application, promptness and fidelity were the qualities which insure professional success, and with these he brought to the Bar an earnest ambition and a zealous purpose which prompted him to the noblest exertion in every sphere in which his professional services have been employed. Mr. Powell began his career as a lawyer in 1887 as a member of the Marion County Bar, and has since successfully practiced in that and the surrounding counties. He began early, and never allowed politics or anything else to distract his thoughts and purposes from the study and practice of the law. The only office he ever sought or held was Prosecuting Attorney of Marion County, which he ably filled from 1893 to 1897, and again from 1901 to 1905. Being a strong, firm lawyer, he was that sort of a prosecutor of all violators of the law. His practice is general, and extends to all the courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. He has specialized in corporation practice, and particularly in coal, oil and natural gas cases, which are numerous in the courts of West Virginia. He is married, but has no children, and his residence is at Fairmont, the seat of justice of his native county. In politics he has always been a Democrat. His career shows conclusively what grit and energy will accomplish in a young man's professional life. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Information: --------------------------------------------------------------------- from Death Certificate: Date-of-Birth: Mar 12, 1865 in Boothsville WVa Date-of-Death: July 1, 1933 in Fairmont, Marion County Husband-of: Annie Compton Age-at-death: 68y-3m-19d Occupation: Retired Lawyer Son-of: John W. and Lucy Ann Powell Place-of-Burial: Homewood Cemetery ---------------------------------------------------------------------