Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904,
pp 625-630 [Henderson]

     LAZARUS W. POWELL, of Henderson, jurist, United States senator
and governor of Kentucky, was born in Henderson county, October 6,
1812, and died in the city of Henderson, July 3, 1867.  He was the
contemporary of Henry Clay, Robert Wickliffe and others who have
made the bar of the state famous, and on the roll of Kentucky's
eminent lawyers his name is also deeply engraved.  His father was
Captain Lazarus Powell, who located on a large tract of land in
Henderson county in 1800.  His mother, Mrs. Ann Powell, was a
daughter of Captain James McMahon, of Henderson county, a soldier of
the war of 1812, who served with Kentucky's volunteers.
     Lazarus W. Powell early exhibited those traits of character
which in his later life caused him to be so loved and honored
wherever he was known.  He availed himself assiduously of the meager
privileges for education afforded in the early days, attending the
primary school taught by McEwell Wilson in the village of Henderson,
alter becoming a pupil of George Gayle, a gentleman of rare talent
and ability as a teacher.  Mr. Powell acquired a fair academic
education and determined upon the practice of law as a life work. 
To this end he sought to enter upon legal studies at the age of
eighteen, but was dissuaded from so doing and advised to first
secure the advantages of a college education.  With the assistance
of Hon. Philip Thompson, of Owensboro, a distinguished  lawyer of
that day, and of Hon. John Rowan, of Bardstown, he visited St.
Joseph's College in September, 1830, and arranged for the completion
of his literary education in that institution.  Stimulated by the
desire of speedily entering on his chosen profession, he finished
the course in three years, 1830-3, and was graduated with honor.  He
then entered the office of Hon. John Rowan to study law, and brought
to his pursuit the same eagerness, application and industry which
had distinguished his work in college.  He was fortunate in having
for his preceptor one of the master minds of the day, for Judge
Rowan was not only a well-read lawyer, but a profound scholar of
rare intellect.  His diction was always elegant and his speech
without seeming effort.  At Bardstown, Mr. Powell was in the courts
where such men as Hon. Ben Hardin, Hon. Charles A. Wickliffe and
Benjamin Chapeze were in active practice, and there he learned to
contrast their powers, note their great strength and subject their
arguments to the test of his own reason and thus to distinguish
between logic and sophistry.  He learned, too, under the inspiration
of their impassioned eloquence, how to touch the hearts of the
people, how to win their confidence and respect.
     The deep interest manifested by his preceptor and those with
whom he associated in the political issues of the day naturally
awakened Mr. Powell's interest in the same questions and eventually
led him to take part in the business of legislation.  He remained
with Judge Rowan until the winter of 1834-5, when he entered the law
department of Transylvania University, where he received instruction
from Hon. George Robertson and Hon. Daniel Mayes, the former
regarded as the most profound legal theorist of the state and his
reputation being as wide as the country.  At Lexington Mr. Powell
diligently prosecuted his studies and familiarized himself with the
practical part of his profession by attendance upon the proceedings
of the courts of that city, where he became acquainted with the
methods of such eminent jurists as Henry Clay, Robert Wickliffe,
Judge Thomas W. Hickey, A. K. Wooley, Charlton Hunt, James Cowan and M.
C. Johnson, active practitioners at the bar.  In 1835 he returned
to Henderson county and began the practice of the law, entering upon
a successful career.  A few months later he became associated with
Archibald Dixon, later United States senator, which relationship was
continued until 1839.  Mr. Powell's high reputation as a lawyer was
built upon his careful analysis of causes.  He invariably prepared
his cases with thoroughness and entered the court room ready to meet
every possible objection that might be raised by the opposing
counsel, whether it concerned the law bearing on the case or
previous Judaical decisions.  His address, either to the court or
jury, was always forcible and often eloquent.
     His political career was alike able and honorable.  In July,
1836, on the earnest solicitation of his friends, he became the
nominee of the Democratic party for state representative, and
although Henderson county was considered a stronghold of the Whig
party, he made a thorough canvass and was elected, much to the
surprise of his opponent.  He gave careful attention to his
legislative duties and labored earnestly for the best interests of
the state.  In 1838 he was renominated, but failed of election.  In
1844 he was nominated "district elector" and canvassed his own and
adjoining districts in support of James K. Polk for president of the
United States.  This canvass brought him prominently before the
people of western Kentucky, and laid the foundation of that personal
popularity which enabled him later to serve his party by the
Democracy for governor, his opponent being the distinguished J. J.
Crittenden, then United States senator from Kentucky.  The
Democratic political creed was made known and defined: the
constitution, the great charter of the people's liberties, was the
text upon which he and his associates in the canvass based their
right to a hearing and their appeal to the reason of those whom they
addressed.  The canvass was a substantial triumph, though it ended
in the defeat of the constitutional party.
     In 1851 Mr. Powell was again made the standard-bearer of the
Democracy, and his opponent for gubernatorial honors was Hon.
Archibald Dixon, a resident of Henderson, and a life-long friend of
Mr. Powell,--at one time, indeed, his law partner.  They made a
joint canvass of the state, traveled together, stopping at the same
hotels and eating at the same table and speaking from the same
platform.  They exhibited toward each other a cordiality of demeanor
and friendly spirit rarely witnessed between political antagonists. 
Mr. Powell was elected by a small majority, while Hon. Robert H.
Wickliffe, the candidate for lieutenant-governor on the same ticket,
was defeated by the Hon. John P. Thompson by several thousand votes. 
He was inaugurated governor of Kentucky, September 5, 1851, and
although the legislature was largely composed of Whigs he so
conducted the affairs of his great office--his course being
characterized by the most sincere fidelity to the interests of the
commonwealth--that the most exacting of his political opponents
acknowledged that his entire policy was conceived and carried out
with reference to the vast responsibilities that rested upon him as
the chief executive of the state.
     In 1858 he was appointed by the president of the United States,
James Buchanan, one of two commissioners to proceed to Utah and
arrange for a peaceful submission of the people of that territory to
governmental authority, which work was successfully accomplished. 
In 1850 he was elected to the United States senate for the full term
of six years, and served throughout the period of the war, closing
his official career in 1865.  He entered the senate at a time of
great political excitement.  In both houses congress was largely
ruled by fanaticism or passion; the seeds of suspicion and hatred
were sown broadcast over the whole land, and few men could calmly
view the situation or discuss with fairness the questions of the
time.  Mr. Powell was peculiarly situated.  He was a strict
interpreter of the constitution, a strong supporter of the Union, but was
opposed to coercion.  His was a unique position throughout
his term in the United States senate.  Believing strongly in the
supremacy of the national government, he was at the same time able
to judge of affairs at the south with greater fairness and exactness
han northern statesmen, who knew little of the situation in the
disputed territory save from exaggerated reports which swept over
the land.  In July, 1861, Mr. Powell delivered a very strong address
against the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and in January,
1862, spoke on the"resolutions of inquiry" in regard to the arrest
and detention of certain citizens of Delaware, denouncing such
arrests as a subversion of all constitutional rights.  In February,
1862, he was called upon to defend himself on the floor of the
senate against a resolution charging him with disloyalty, which was
prepared by his colleague in the senate, Garrett Davis, but
presented by the senator from Minnesota.  In a speech, the most
elaborate, logical and eloquent of his life, he conclusively
established the loyalty of his public acts, the consistency and
constitutionality of his opposition to the war, and overwhelmed his
enemies with defeat.  This address gained him a national reputation
and endeared him to the friends of liberty all over the land.  On
the 5th of January, 1863, Senator Powell introduced into the senate
a resolution in reference to General Grant's manifesto issued on the
17th of December, 1862, by which Jews as a class were expelled from
the department of the Tennessee and made an appeal for
constitutional liberty and human privileges, and in the same speech
arraigned the government for its interference, through the military
forces, with the free exercise of the right of franchise in
Kentucky.  In 1864 he opposed the constitutional amendment looking
to the freeing of slaves.  He withdrew from the contest for re-election
to the senate in a letter to the public that breathed a
spirit of true patriotism.  His political integrity was without
blemish and his public career one of singular unity and consistency.
     On the 8th of November, 1837, Mr. Powell married Miss Harriett
Ann Jennings, daughter of Captain Charles Jennings.  Her death
occurred July 30, 1846, and her husband afterward devoted himself to
his children with untiring care and attention.  Three sons survived
him at his death--James Henry, Charles Jennings and Richard.
     Lazarus W. Powell was a most genial gentleman, always true to
his principles and his friends, ever ready to forgive those who had
done hm injury, such was his magnanimous spirit.  He was very
sympathetic in the presence of human misery and bereavement and to
the poor he was a liberal benefactor.  He was of fine personal
appearance, above medium height, was well proportioned, with a
broad, noble forehead that gave evidence of the exalted ideas which
guided him in all his actions.  Although he never allied himself
with any church he was a believer in the Bible and familiar with the
contents of the sacred volume.  His life was pure, true and upright
in all things, and when death came he departed from the scene of his
earthly activity as one who
                        "Wraps the drapery of his couch
               About him and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

Powell Clay Wickliffe Memahon Wilson Gayle Thompson Rowan Hardin Chapeze
Robertson Mayes Hickey Wooley Hunt Cowan Johnson Dixon Polk Crittenden
Buchanan Davis Jennings
=
DE

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