On This Day In Alabama History: Birmingham Mayor James Powell Was Born

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

December 7, 1814: One of the true pioneers of Alabama, James Powell, was born Dec. 7, 1814 at Powellton in Brunswick County, Virginia. Powell, a teacher in Virginia, ventured to Alabama on horseback in 1833, stopping first in Montgomery and then Lowndes County, where he worked on the mail route. Powell advanced to driving the mail by stagecoach, operating his own line. He competed with another line managed by Robert Jemison Jr. of Tuscaloosa. After years of competition, the rivals merged into Jemison, Powell, Ficklen & Co. Powell settled in Wetumpka in 1836 and served several terms as Coosa County sheriff. He ran successfully for the Alabama Senate in 1853 and 1855, after which he lived in Montgomery. He married the former Mary Smythe of Virginia in 1858, and had a daughter, Mary, two years later. During the Civil War, Powell remained in the city rather than raising a regiment and supported the Confederacy.

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