Madora Powell

Notes:

Madora Powell (1926-2011)

Madora P. Fillman, 84, of York, died Aug. 20, 2011 after a courageous three-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis and diabetes. She was born Nov. 16, 1926 at Blanch, N.C., to Robert G. and Mary (Gatewood) Powell. Madora was educated in the County Schools of Caswell County, N.C., and then graduated from Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C., and Averett University in Danville, Va. Madora was employed in Danville, Va., and the Department of Public Utilities in Raleigh, N.C. She then moved to New York City and was employed by Chase Manhattan Bank. She excelled in the use of shorthand and was proficient all her life. It was in New York City when she met Gordon B. Fillman on Nov. 13, 1953 - the day he graduated from Navy OCS on his 24th birthday. They were married in Long Beach, Calif., on April 24, 1954 where he served in the U.S. Navy. After he returned from Japan, they moved to North Chicago, Ill., where he was assigned to Great Lakes ADCOM Legal. She enjoyed many happy reunions over the years with her Navy friends.

Madora and Gordon had five children: Rhonda, Gary, Mary Elizabeth, Susan and Steven. She has lived in York since January 1958. She has been a member of First United Methodist Church of York for over 50 years and enjoyed Deborah Circle. She was first a member of Blanch Baptist Church and later became a member of Riverside Church in New York City. Madora enjoyed travel and accompanied Gordon to three Rotary International Conventions in Denver, Mexico City and Birmingham, England. She was also a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. She and Gordon visited 48 of the United States, Sweden, Norway and Germany, as well as, visiting all six Eastern European countries, including Yugoslavia, before the breakup occurred. A favorite country was Romania. Separate trips included all of Turkey and later Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.

Madora is survived by her husband, Gordon B. Fillman of York; her daughter, Rhonda (Brad) Barrows of Denton; son, Gary (Gina) Fillman of Omaha; daughter, Susan (David) Wood of Lincoln; and son, Steven (Karen) Fillman of York; brother, William K. (Margie) Powell of Danville, Va.; and sister, Elizabeth Ann (David) Sparks of Ringgold, Va.; sisters-in-law, Myrtle Powell of Charlotte, N.C. and Gwen Dahlquist of Minneapolis, Minn.; grandchildren, Jennifer Guido, Stephanie (Aaron) Bauer, Hannah Fillman, Elizabeth Fillman and David Fillman; great-grandchildren, Taylor Guido and Noah and Mason Bauer; step-grandchildren, Liz (David) Chalenburg with sons Aiden and Holden, and Ryan (Anne) Barrows and daughter Martha; and several nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her brother, Robert G. Powell Jr.; and brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Warren and Joan Fillman; and an infant daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who died in 1959. Madora was a very loving person and enjoyed her family and friends very much. She had hundreds of books and magazines and delighted in reading to her children when they were young and her grandchildren. She was also an excellent cook and we always enjoyed her fried chicken and all types of desserts that she made, including zucchini bread. One of her favorite activities was sitting on the front porch having coffee with her friends. If it was raining late at night, she enjoyed very much being out on the porch and watching it rain. She was a dear person and we will miss her very much.

Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011, at the First United Methodist Church in York. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery, York. Suggested memorials to First United Methodist Church of York Foundation or American Diabetes Association. Visitation was held at Metz Mortuary on Monday from 5-9 p.m. and on Tuesday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. with family greeting friends from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening. Condolences may be left for the family at www.metzmortuary.com. Services conducted by Metz Mortuary of York.

York News-Times (York, Nebraska). Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 1:12 AM CDT.

Madora married . [Group Sheet]

1. Mary Elizabeth Fillman died in 1959.

Notes:

World War I veteran whose biographical sketch was published in Caswell County in the World War, 1917-1918: Service Records of Caswell County Men, George A. Anderson, Compiler (1921).

Robert married Mary Elizabeth Gatewood on 27 Nov 1925. Mary was born on 06 Apr 1899; died on 28 Sep 1977; was buried in Powell Family Cemetery (Blanch, Caswell County, North Carolina). [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Rufus Edwin Powell (1856-1924)



(for larger image, click on photograph, then click "Actions/View all Sizes")
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This photograph is believed to be of siblings Bettie Margaret Powell (1851-1938) and Rufus Edwin Powell (1856-1924). They were children of Henry Alexander Powell (1824-1866) and Martha Ann Walters (born 1825).
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The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 6 December 1924 (Page 5)

Rufus E. Powell Dies at His Home at Blanch, N.C.

Announcement is made of the death at his home at 5:50 p.m. yesterday of Rufus E. Powell, an influential citizen and farmer of Blanch, Caswell county, N. C., aged 68 years. He had resided near Blanch all his life, was a deacon in the Baptist church
and a man of the highest standing in his community.

Funeral services will be held at the home at 2 p.m. Sunday (tomorrow) and interment will be made in the family cemetery.

Deceased has a brother Arthur H. Powell of Sutherlin, Va. and two sisters Mrs. Betty P. Moore, of Bunn, N. C. and Mrs. D. G. Watkins of Blanch, N. C. He is survived by eight children: Mrs. W. L. Griggs, North Wilkesboro, N. C.; H. A. Powell, N. C.; R. E. Powell, Marshville, N. C.; Miss Mary E. Powell, Raleigh, N. C.; Dr. Walter B. Powell, Memphis, Tenn.; Dr. Rosa P. Taylor, Charlottesville, Va.; Robert G. Powell, Blanch, N. C. and Mrs. B. V. Chamblee, Hamlet, N. C.
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The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 10 December 1924 (Page 11)

Card of Thanks

We, the children of Mr. R. E. Powell, Blanche, N. C. wish to express to friends and relatives our deepest appreciation of the many kindnesses shown us during the sickness, death and burial of our beloved father.

Rufus married Madora Ella Stanfield on 25 Mar 1879 in Leasburg, Caswell County, North Carolina. Madora was born on 28 Jul 1859 in Leasburg, Caswell County, North Carolina; died on 10 Jan 1915; was buried in Powell Family Cemetery (Blanche, Caswell County, North Carolina). [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Henry Alexander Powell (1824-1866)









(click on photograph for larger image)
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Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 387-388 (Article #496 "Alexander "Sandy" Banks Moore and Blanche Lydia Moore" by Lois Moore Gardner).
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The owners of the homes in which Thomas Day's architectural woodwork is found constituted some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the Dan River region: physician John Tab Garland, M.D., at one time the richest man in Caswell County (1850s and 1860s); banker and civic leader Thomas Donoho Johnston; machine shop, foundry, and sawmill owner Caleb Richmond; state senator James Kerr; merchant and tobacco factory owner John Wilson; planters William Long (also the owner of a sawmill and gristmill), Sidney Lea, George Williamson, Haywood Williams, Thomas Mumford McGehee, and William H. Holderness.

Family relationships among the planters enhanced the demand for Thomas-Day-made architectural trimwork. Thomas Donoho Johnston built Clarendon Hall in 1842 and tapped Day to embellish the interior; when his sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and William Long, built the Long House in 1856, they, too, turned to Day. Day provided the architectural woodwork for the house of Captain Carter Powell around 1848 and that of his son Henry Alexander Powell less than a decade later. Thomas L. Lea and his siblings Sidney S. Lea and Rebecca Lea (Mrs. George Williamson), his niece Elizabeth Lea (Mrs. Calvin Graves), and his daughter Ann Lea (Mrs. William Griffin Graves) provided Day the opportunity to do the woodwork on a law office and four of their five houses between 1840 and 1850.

The woodwork suggests the Carter Powell house was built around 1848 rather than the more often cited 1850. Day's machine-cut newels with tendrils date Henry Powell's house to 1853-1855. Day's work for Elizabeth Lea and Calvin Graves was not on their house, as it was built several years earlier, but on Calvin's law office, for which Day supplied the mantel. For a discussion of this family, see Whitlow, "Thomas L. Lea," in Heritage of Caswell County, 354.

Source: Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man of Color, Patricia Phillips Marshall and Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll (2010) at 134-135 and 246 (footnote 10).
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One researcher has this person as Henry Thomas Powell. See: Allen Powell Dew and Neva Ann Daniel Ancestors
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Henry married Martha Ann Walters on 29 Oct 1846 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Martha was born on 24 Sep 1825 in Caswell County, North Carolina; died on 26 May 1892 in Sutherlin, Virginia; was buried in Powell Family Cemetery (Blanch, Caswell County, North Carolina). [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Martha Ann Walters (1825-1892)





(for larger image, click on photograph, then click "Actions/View all Sizes")
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Second Photograph: Based upon the writing on the front of this photograph the person is Mrs. Martha Powell Moore or Mrs. Martha Moore Powell. The person probably is Martha Ann Walters (1825-1892) who married Henry Alexander Powell and then Armistead Alexander Moore.
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See: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 387-388 (Article #496 "Alexander "Sandy" Banks Moore and Blanche Lydia Moore" by Lois Moore Gardner); The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 140-141 (Article #101 "Louise Powell Butler" by Louise Powell Butler). A death date of 26 May 1862 ascribed to her by some researchers must be incorrect as she married her second husband 22 December 1870. Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 438-439 (Article #573 "The Carter Powell Family" by Mrs Helen Powell Neal).
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1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Martha A. Moore
Home in 1880: Birch Creek, Halifax, Virginia
Age: 55
Estimated birth year: abt 1825
Birthplace: North Carolina
Relation to head-of-household: Wife
Spouse's name: Armistead A. Moore
Father's birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's birthplace: North Carolina
Occupation: Keeps House
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Household Members: Name Age
Armistead A. Moore 35
Martha A. Moore 55
Arther A. Powell 17
Lydia Powell 14
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Notes:

Virginia Marriages, 1740-1850
Groom Name: Henry A. Powell
Bride Name: Martha Ann Walters
Marriage Date: 19 Oct 1846
County: Pittsylvania
State: Virginia