Generation
(Newspaper article)
"H.S. Powell
Auto Muffler
Inventor, Dies.
Herbert S. Powell, 72, inventor of the Powell Muffler, 17 Faxton, died Nov. 14, 1954, at his home after a brief illness. Mr. Powell was born Nov. 21, 1882 on College Hill, Clinton, a son of the Rev. Edward Payson Powell and Lucy Maltby Powell.
Mr. Powell came to Utica at the age of 22 and began the manufacture of a muffler designed to shut off the sound of explosions in the opera- tion of automobiles. This he had patented. He then organized the Powell Muffler and Timer Company to place the muffler. His first place of business was in Mechanics Hall on Hotel Street. From there it was moved to the Whiffen Building on Blecker Street and later into its own build- ing on Catherine Street. In March, 1928, after this business expanded, it was moved to the Richelieu Mill, Broad Street.
In the early 1920's, Mr. Powell led a campaign to urge the city not to sell the site of the old Erie Canal, as had been proposed. He strong- ly advocated using it for an east-west thoroughfare for the city, which resulted in the construction of what is now Oriskany Street.
Successful in his drive, Mr. Powell then built the first building on Oriskany Street.
Mr. Powell was a director of the National Association of Motor Equipment Manufacturer's Association; the Better Business Bureau of Utica and the Chamber of Commerce. Since 1925, he had been a director of the Oneida National Bank and Trust Co., also a member of the City Club of Utica and Lodge 1352 BPOE, of West Palm Beach, Florida.
For several years he had been a trustee and treasurer of the Park Baptist Church. When the Park Church and the Tabernacle Baptist Church united, Mr. Powell affiliated with the latter. On September 17, 1913, he married Frances M. Hatfield in New Hartford.
In 1950, Mr. Powell sold his business to a group of Chicago indus- trialists. He retired shortly after the sale.
Surviving, besides his wife, are two foster sons, Emil A. Hill, assistant vice-president of Oneida National Bank and Trust Co., and William Hill, vice-president of Richelieu Warehouse, Inc.; a sister, Miss Gladys Powell, Clinton; a brother, Phillips B. Powell, Deasnboro; also two nephews, Gilbert Powell, LaMesa, Calif., and E. Schuyler Powell, Deerfield, Ill. .........Burial in Forest Hill Cemetery. Rev.M. Deforest
Lowen officiation."
VIII.2777. Gladys Maltby Powell, b. Wed. Nov. 10, 1886, Clinton, N.Y. (Lucy 7, Norman 6, John 5, Wm.4, Jos.3, Dan.2, Wm.1). She was a member of M.A. for long years, and a real "cousin" through letters. At a home on College Hill, Clinton, New York, she raised the most beautiful flowers for the market. A snap-shot of her, taken in 1944, shows her standing beside gladiolus, considerably over head high, and a view of a walk, boarded on both sides with Easter lilies, which are equally tall. The gladiolus is from one of her seedlings. She never married. Christmas, 1953, was the first year no word came from her.
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