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| Dr. Cyrus Powers |
CYRUS POWERS
(From "Moravia and its past: and adjoining townships"* by Leslie L. Luther:)
The following article from the MORAVIA CITIZEN of April 1, 1880, is without question by the editor and publisher, Rev. Charles Ray.
Dr. Cyrus Powers, the son of Judge Cyrus Powers, was born in Sempronius July 18, 1814, on a farm a little east of Sayles Corners. We cannot give the exact date of the removal of his parents to the village of Moravia but it must have been before 1826, for in that year Millard Fillmore, afterwards President of the United States, married his father's sister, Miss Abigail Powers. Judge Powers owned and resided on the lot on which the residence of Mr. G. Jewett now stands. (Note: Owned and occupied in 1960 by G. Welton Fickeisen, publisher of the Moravia Republican-Register.) At that time Mr. Jewett's father owned a part of his present lot and the adjoining lot on which now stands the Methodist parsonage. The house at present occupied by Mr. Charles Lackey and recently removed to Smith Street was he residence of Dr. Powers father, the one in which Millard Fillmore and Miss Powers were married. This it is that Dr. Powers' early life is connected with the history of the nation; interwoven with the life and growth of our village. Here he received his education prior to his medical studies. These he pursued in Geneva, N.Y., graduating from its Medical College in February, 1845. He settled in Moravia and in 1846 married Miss Cornelia Carter then residing on the east shore of Cayuga Lake about four miles south of Aurora.
DR. POWERS AS A PHYSICIAN. In this relation he was best known in his own and neighboring towns, in which he had a large practice. The "setting" of the Moravia physician's life is not exclusively of roses. Steep hillsides he must climb; travel roads deep with mud; or contend with wintry storms of drifting, blinding snow and highways made impassible. Dr. Powers never hesitated when called to leave his snug home. Companionship of wife and friends and books were relinquished to give his patients speedily the best resources of his skill. Kind, considerate, prudent, no hap-hazard experimentist, tender as a woman, clear in judgment, prompt in his treatment, he was and is to very many "the beloved physician". Long as they live his name will recall to them memories fragrant with affection.
Speaking of Dr. Powers professionally we must not omit mention of his gratuitous services to the poor; and in the families of the resident clergy. The writer of this once asked for his bill after lengthened medical attendance. The Dr. replied: "I never have charged any of our ministers for my professional services and I don't think I shall begin with you." Nor was gratuitous service all. The Dr. was always the willing almoner of delicacies prepared in his own home by the skilled hands of his sympathizing wife.
AS A TRAVELER. Dr. Powers visited many countries and many parts of our own country. The winter of 1851-2 he spent in Texas. In 1853 he visited California and Oregon, returning by the Panama route. In 1870 he again visited California via the Pacific R.R., and in 1873 made an extended tour abroad visiting prominent countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, including England, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land. These travels added largely to his knowledge of men and things and to his own intellectual culture, broadening his views and giving polish to his conversation. They were the more efficient on account of his previously wide acquaintance with the histories and literatures of these lands.
HIS LIBRARY. He collected during his life one of the largest and most valuable private libraries to be found in central New York. On its shelves are found the works of the standard authors in every department of Science Art, Government and Literature; Histories of almost all lands; poetry; magazines, some popular in their character, others professional and technical; works of fiction by such writers as Dickens, Bulwer, Scott, Thackery, Maryatt, etc. He also had a large collection of choice engravings, autographs of noted men and women; and in numismatics a splendid assemblage of coins, some of great antiquity.
IN THE ARMY. In 1861 Dr. Powers received the appointment of Assistant Surgeon in the 75th Regiment, and in 1862 that of Surgeon of the 160th, its Colonel being Hon. Judge C. C. Dwight. The Dr. saw service with his regiments in the field and did hospital service at Brasher, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and Portland, Me. The traits of character which endeared him to patients and friends at home must have doubly endeared him to "the boys" on the tented field and in hospitals.
AS A WRITER. By an extensive travel and a wide range of reading, he was familiar with the thoughts and works of other men; but his mind was not simply receptive; he could give as well as receive, Dr. Powers was not ambitious. Preferring privacy to publicity he nevertheless was interested in the public good. He was an active trustee of the old academy and a member of our Board of Education when first organized. The Dr, was methodical in his ways, thus effecting a vast economy of time. In library and office everything had its place. With such habits when his last sickness came little was left to complete his plans.
POWERS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Devoted to his library during his life, its preservation and future use had deepening interest to him as years rolled by. In his last illness he made provision for completing the erection of a fire-proof library building. Before his sickness he had purchased a lot and in part prepared materials and adopted plans and elevation. To his nephew, Theodore C. Jewett he intrusted the completion of his cherished purpose. When the books are moved in and the work done the building and library will be transferred to trustees selected by Dr. Powers and incorporated as the "Powers Library Association". Dr. Powers was not blessed with offspring and, if desired to be remembered, how much better to perpetuate his name and memory by this fountain of beneficence than a costly mausoleum.
HIS LAST ILLNESS. From its commencement he believed it would terminate fatally. He died March 21, 1880, in the 66th year of his age.
THE FUNERAL. It was such as befitted his character and social position. A beautiful floral ornament was on the coffin, presented by Dr. Lansing Briggs of Auburn, absent in Cincinnati. The services were conducted by Rev. Charles Ray, a former pastor of the family, assisted by Revs. Sherrill, Hamilton and Beman, resident pastors of the village. The bearers were Judge C. C. Wright and Major L. E. Carpenter of Auburn, comrades in the Army; Drs. Darwin Colvin of Clyde and C. Green of Homer, classmates in his medical course; and his life associates, A. B. Hale and Leander Fitts of Moravia. Other physicians present were Drs. H. Armstrong, Theodore Dimon, C. C. Bates, A. R. Shank, W. O. Luce, Auburn; B. A. Fordyce, Union Springs; Frank Kenyon, Scipio; Elias Lester, Seneca Falls; W. T. Cox, Moravia.
During the exercises from 1 to 3 P.M., the business houses of the village were closed. Commerce and manufacture stood still through the sacred rites, while his body was borne to its last resting place in our beautiful cemetery.
He was gone from associations of earth to meet Him who, unerring, unravels the tangled skein of human motives. Requiescat in pace(sic).
* Luther, Leslie Leon. (1966). Moravia and its past: and adjoining townships. Indianapolis, IN: F. Luther Co. 182-186.
MEMORIAM
"Art is long Time is fleeting,
Our hearts, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave."
Dr. Cyrus Powers, the son of Judge Cyrus Powers, was born in Sempronius July 18, 1814, on a farm a little east of Sayles Corners. We cannot give the exact date of the removal of his parents to the village of Moravia but it must have been before 1826, for in that year Millard Fillmore, afterwards President of the United States, married his father's sister, Miss Abigail Powers. Judge Powers owned and resided on the lot on which the residence of Mr. G. Jewett now stands. (Note: Owned and occupied in 1960 by G. Welton Fickeisen, publisher of the Moravia Republican-Register.) At that time Mr. Jewett's father owned a part of his present lot and the adjoining lot on which now stands the Methodist parsonage. The house at present occupied by Mr. Charles Lackey and recently removed to Smith Street was he residence of Dr. Powers father, the one in which Millard Fillmore and Miss Powers were married. This it is that Dr. Powers' early life is connected with the history of the nation; interwoven with the life and growth of our village. Here he received his education prior to his medical studies. These he pursued in Geneva, N.Y., graduating from its Medical College in February, 1845. He settled in Moravia and in 1846 married Miss Cornelia Carter then residing on the east shore of Cayuga Lake about four miles south of Aurora.
DR. POWERS AS A PHYSICIAN. In this relation he was best known in his own and neighboring towns, in which he had a large practice. The "setting" of the Moravia physician's life is not exclusively of roses. Steep hillsides he must climb; travel roads deep with mud; or contend with wintry storms of drifting, blinding snow and highways made impassible. Dr. Powers never hesitated when called to leave his snug home. Companionship of wife and friends and books were relinquished to give his patients speedily the best resources of his skill. Kind, considerate, prudent, no hap-hazard experimentist, tender as a woman, clear in judgment, prompt in his treatment, he was and is to very many "the beloved physician". Long as they live his name will recall to them memories fragrant with affection.
Speaking of Dr. Powers professionally we must not omit mention of his gratuitous services to the poor; and in the families of the resident clergy. The writer of this once asked for his bill after lengthened medical attendance. The Dr. replied: "I never have charged any of our ministers for my professional services and I don't think I shall begin with you." Nor was gratuitous service all. The Dr. was always the willing almoner of delicacies prepared in his own home by the skilled hands of his sympathizing wife.
AS A TRAVELER. Dr. Powers visited many countries and many parts of our own country. The winter of 1851-2 he spent in Texas. In 1853 he visited California and Oregon, returning by the Panama route. In 1870 he again visited California via the Pacific R.R., and in 1873 made an extended tour abroad visiting prominent countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, including England, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land. These travels added largely to his knowledge of men and things and to his own intellectual culture, broadening his views and giving polish to his conversation. They were the more efficient on account of his previously wide acquaintance with the histories and literatures of these lands.
HIS LIBRARY. He collected during his life one of the largest and most valuable private libraries to be found in central New York. On its shelves are found the works of the standard authors in every department of Science Art, Government and Literature; Histories of almost all lands; poetry; magazines, some popular in their character, others professional and technical; works of fiction by such writers as Dickens, Bulwer, Scott, Thackery, Maryatt, etc. He also had a large collection of choice engravings, autographs of noted men and women; and in numismatics a splendid assemblage of coins, some of great antiquity.
IN THE ARMY. In 1861 Dr. Powers received the appointment of Assistant Surgeon in the 75th Regiment, and in 1862 that of Surgeon of the 160th, its Colonel being Hon. Judge C. C. Dwight. The Dr. saw service with his regiments in the field and did hospital service at Brasher, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and Portland, Me. The traits of character which endeared him to patients and friends at home must have doubly endeared him to "the boys" on the tented field and in hospitals.
AS A WRITER. By an extensive travel and a wide range of reading, he was familiar with the thoughts and works of other men; but his mind was not simply receptive; he could give as well as receive, Dr. Powers was not ambitious. Preferring privacy to publicity he nevertheless was interested in the public good. He was an active trustee of the old academy and a member of our Board of Education when first organized. The Dr, was methodical in his ways, thus effecting a vast economy of time. In library and office everything had its place. With such habits when his last sickness came little was left to complete his plans.
POWERS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Devoted to his library during his life, its preservation and future use had deepening interest to him as years rolled by. In his last illness he made provision for completing the erection of a fire-proof library building. Before his sickness he had purchased a lot and in part prepared materials and adopted plans and elevation. To his nephew, Theodore C. Jewett he intrusted the completion of his cherished purpose. When the books are moved in and the work done the building and library will be transferred to trustees selected by Dr. Powers and incorporated as the "Powers Library Association". Dr. Powers was not blessed with offspring and, if desired to be remembered, how much better to perpetuate his name and memory by this fountain of beneficence than a costly mausoleum.
HIS LAST ILLNESS. From its commencement he believed it would terminate fatally. He died March 21, 1880, in the 66th year of his age.
THE FUNERAL. It was such as befitted his character and social position. A beautiful floral ornament was on the coffin, presented by Dr. Lansing Briggs of Auburn, absent in Cincinnati. The services were conducted by Rev. Charles Ray, a former pastor of the family, assisted by Revs. Sherrill, Hamilton and Beman, resident pastors of the village. The bearers were Judge C. C. Wright and Major L. E. Carpenter of Auburn, comrades in the Army; Drs. Darwin Colvin of Clyde and C. Green of Homer, classmates in his medical course; and his life associates, A. B. Hale and Leander Fitts of Moravia. Other physicians present were Drs. H. Armstrong, Theodore Dimon, C. C. Bates, A. R. Shank, W. O. Luce, Auburn; B. A. Fordyce, Union Springs; Frank Kenyon, Scipio; Elias Lester, Seneca Falls; W. T. Cox, Moravia.
During the exercises from 1 to 3 P.M., the business houses of the village were closed. Commerce and manufacture stood still through the sacred rites, while his body was borne to its last resting place in our beautiful cemetery.
He was gone from associations of earth to meet Him who, unerring, unravels the tangled skein of human motives. Requiescat in pace(sic).
* Luther, Leslie Leon. (1966). Moravia and its past: and adjoining townships. Indianapolis, IN: F. Luther Co. 182-186.
