San Francisco County
Biographies
POWELL A. McDONELL
Powell
A. McDonell, a pioneer of 1849 and a veteran of the
Mexican war, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, January
18, 1826,
and reared and educated in Greene county, that
State. His parents were William and
Nancy (McFerras) McDonell,
natives of South Carolina and of Scotch
extraction. The ancestors on both sides
were among the old and influential settlers of that State. The father died in 1836, and the mother a few
months later. Powell A. was the second
of several children in the family, two of whom are still living.
He
came to California in September, 1849, by
way of New Orleans, Matamoras and Chichuahua, Mexico, making the entire trip
overland, on one occasion camping on the old camp-ground of General Taylor the
night before the Battle of Buena Vista.
On
his arrival in California he at once went to the
Mariposa mines and engaged in mining until 1853, when he located on Bay Farm Island, and has since resided
there. His property consists of twenty-one
acres, devoted to raising vegetables, asparagus being the principal
production. He has a profitable
business. Ships all
his product to San Francisco.
Mr.
McDonell was a member of the First Regiment of
Alabama Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1846, for the Mexican war, and
participating in the engagement at Vera Cruz.
He was discharged at New Orleans in 1847. For many years he has been associated with
the Veterans of the Mexican War—a society.
Politically he is allied with the Democratic party,
although not active in the political machinery.
He is well known and highly respected as a worthy citizen.
He
was married on Bay Farm Island, April
17, 1862,
to Miss Hattie Hamlin, a native of Illinois, who came to California in 1861.
Transcribed by Donna L. Becker
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
pages 118-119, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2005 Donna L.
Becker.
California Biography Project
San Francisco
County
California
Statewide
Golden Nugget
Library