JOHN WALKER POWELL:

Powell, a Methodist clergyman, was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota on March 22, 1872, the son of John Walker and Rhoda Gray Powell. His father was also a Mthodist minister. Powell attended Hamline University, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1893, and then from the Boston University school of theology. He served Methodist Episcopal and Congregational churches in Minneapolis and Duluth, but was known better for his educational work. In 1912 he returned to the University of Minnesota to direct the program of religious education. During World War I he directed an educational program for American soldiers in France. After the war he established the extension center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and, later on, continued to lecture at the University of Minnesota on the "Bible as Literature." He retired from teaching in 1940, and died in Minneapolis on August 5, 1953.

Biographical information was taken from the editor's preface to "A Summer in the Big Woods: Boyhood Reminiscences," Minnesota History, 35:77-86 (June 1956).

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The reminiscence gives information on farm and garden produce; bee culture; fishing in the Blue Earth River; Fourth of July and other celebrations; a Methodist camp meeting; and other incidents in the life of a ten-year-old boy.

It opens with a description of the trip (April 1882) that Powell took with his mother and older brother from their home in Tracy, Minnesota to the Powell family farm at Spring Island, near Mankato. He goes on to describe the farm house and the work involved in opening it for the summer, and planting flowers and vegetable gardens. Powell recalls books and magazines that he read that summer (pages 21-22), making play bows and arrows (pages 25-26), the Blue Earth River on which the farm was situated (pages 31-32), and his fishing experiences there (pages 40-50).

He gives an interesting account of a Methodist camp meeting at nearby Minneopa Falls and reminisces about frontier ministers (pages 56-61). He describes a Fourth of July celebration (pages 64-67), bee culture and harvesting honey (pages 67-70), and the autumn work of harvesting, canning, and otherwise preserving fruits and vegetables.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. John Walker Powell Reminiscences. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 7903

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn Johnson, September 1998

Catalog ID number: 09-00322266

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A much shorter, edited version of the narrative, published under the title "A Summer in the Big Woods: Boyhood Reminiscences," appears in Minnesota History, 35:77-85 (June 1956).

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Farms -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Bee culture -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Birds -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Boys -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Camp meetings -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Children of clergy -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Country life -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Family -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Fishing -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Food crops -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Fourth of July celebrations -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Methodists -- Minnesota -- Blue Earth County.

Food -- Preservation.

Organizations:

Methodist Episcopal Church (U.S.).

Places:

Blue Earth County (Minn.)

Blue Earth River (Minn.)

Document Types:

Reminiscences

Occupations:

Clergy

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