Oliver was born on September 4, 1838 in Union Co., Indiana. He was the son of Edmond Powell, born in North Carolina, and Lucinda Eagle, born in Ohio. Oliver was the oldest child in the family and had four siblings; he had two brothers and two sisters. By 1860, the whole family was living in Hanover Township, Shelby Co., Indiana. The Post Office for them was in Morristown. Oliver was helping his father with the farming and he had one sister and five brothers living in the same household. The other sister had gotten married.
Oliver mustered into the 3rd Indiana Light Artillery on August 24, 1861 as a private and listed his place of residence as Indianapolis. He was with the section of the battery that was attached to Major Foster’s command and was in the fight at Lone Jack. Oliver received a severe wound in the chest, which was thought to be mortal. Harrison B. Talbert, another member of the 3rd Indiana, who was not serving with Major Foster’s command, but arrived the day after the battle with Brigadier General Fitz Henry Warren’s forces and another section of the battery, wrote a letter to his parents dated August 22, 1862. In that letter he wrote that he understood Pvt. Oliver Powell was mortally wounded. While he was badly wounded, it was not a mortal wound. The wound was significant enough to cause Oliver’s discharge from the battery on November 7, 1862. He went home to Indiana and filed for a Veteran’s Pension on July 7, 1863; he received Certificate no. 23848.
On September 3, 1863, Oliver married Sarah J. Mooney in Rush Co., Indiana. She had been born in Ohio in July 1842. Their first daughter, Lillie Dale, was born on June 3, 1864. A couple of years later, their second daughter, Minerva Jane, was added to the family. About 1868, a third daughter, Emma, arrived in the household. By 1870, the whole family is living in Hanover Township, Shelby County, Oliver was farming and his Personal Estate was valued at $600. The census shows that Oliver could read but not write.
Another daughter, Annie, arrived sometime after June of 1870. In 1872, Oliver’s father died. In 1876, their fifth daughter, Mary, was born into the Powell family. Then in 1879, they had a son, Edmund. According to the 1880 Census, Oliver was a blacksmith and he, Sarah, five daughters and one son were all living in one house in Shelby Co., Indiana. In August of that same year, Oliver’s mother died. In 1890, two of the daughters, Emma and Mary died.
By 1900, Oliver, Sarah, and Edmund had moved one county east of where they had been living; they were now in Rush Co., Indiana. Oliver was back to being a farmer, he could read and write, and he owned his own farm free and clear.
On April 13, 1904, Oliver died in Carthage, Rush Co., Indiana. The Death Certificate gave the immediate cause of death as carcinoma, but the doctor also sited a gun shot wound to the chest of over forty years duration! Oliver is buried in the Little Blue River Friends Cemetery, in Manilla, Indiana and he has a government stone showing “3 Ind. L.A.” On May 2, 1904, Sarah filed for a Widow’s Pension. She lived with her son for several years and died in 1913. I did not locate her grave site.