A. A. Powell. In the great task of the twentieth century, the complete utilization of the farming resources of the nation and the general raising of the standards of country life, one of the important factors working under the auspices of the general government is the county agricultural agent. The first official of that type to be appointed and act in Washington County is A. A. Powell, who is a graduate in agriculture and stock husbandry from the Colorado Agricultural School at Greeley, and is not only an expert authority in his profession but a man with a great deal of capacity for leadership and in inspiring and encouraging better methods and more efficient system among the people with whom he works.

Mr. Powell was born on a farm in Phelps County near Rolla, Missouri, September 20, 1882, a son of J. F. and Jane A. (Allen) Powell, both of whom are natives of Kentucky, were married there, and came to Missouri about the time of the Civil war. They are now living on a farm near Rolla, Missouri. The seventh in a family of eleven children, A. A. Powell grew up in that picturesque district of the Ozark region in Southern Missouri, lived at home until sixteen years of age, and gained his early education by attending a log school house near his father’s home. He afterwards graduated in pedagogy from the Springfield Normal School, and for fifteen years was a successful teacher in the schools of Missouri and elsewhere. He afterwards attended the State College at Greeley, Colorado, from which he has his degree as Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture. He left Missouri and went to Colorado in 1908, and lived in that state until his removal to Oklahoma in 1912. After coming to Oklahoma Mr. Powell for a time had charge of the science branches in the Ramona High School, and while there conducted a special course in agriculture for two years. He was then appointed by the United States Agricultural Department county agent in Washington County, and now gives all his time to the work. he has been instrumental in persuading about fifty farmers of Washington County to carry on demonstration and experiment in agricultural methods under the direction of the Agricultural Department and his personal supervision. He also has organized about a hundred boys’ corn clubs in the county, and there are many exhibits which indicate the influence of his work in improving agricultural and live stock conditions in this part of the state.

Mr. Powell has 130 acres under lease adjoining the Village of Ramona, and his wife operates that as a farm. In 1908 he married Miss Maude Cave, who is a girl of the Ozark Mountain district of Missouri. They have a son named Arthur and also an adopted daughter named Lenore.