By Lee Trawick Riverbend News
In 1859, a mild, meek looking religious family moved to a small village named Bellville, in Hamilton County. The family's name was Powell: among the children in the family was a 15-year-old boy named Louis Powell. Powell was born in Randolph County, Ala. He was known to be very nurturing to animals, even the sick and elderly, but Powell was also quickly known for the storm brewing just under the surface, as he had a quick, explosive temper, ready to be set off at the slightest of moments. The Powell family stayed in Hamilton County for only a year before the father, George, relocated and settled the family down a half a mile outside of Live Oak Station in Live Oak.
Powell did not stay in Live Oak for very long before traveling back to Hamilton County, where he lied about his age, saying he was 19, so he could join the Second Florida Infantry out of Jacksonville, Fla. Powell would be battle tested first in the Peninsula Campaign, where he developed a reputation as a hardened-battle effective soldier, even being praised by his superior officers for how ruthless he could be on a battlefield. After one year of service, Powell received a two month furlough and returned home. However, Powell did not stay home. Before he re-enlisted in May of 1862, Powell found himself overcoming an illness just in time to rejoin his unit for the Battle of Fredericksburg. His unit was then assigned to the Third Corp., Army of Northern Virginia. There, Powell would fight in the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was shot in the wrist on July 2 and captured and sent to a Prisoner of War (POW) camp at Pennsylvania College. Powell would later be shipped down to Maryland as a POW to work as a nurse at the West Buildings Hospital. However, Powell would not be there but for a few days before Margaret Branson helped him escape. From there, she would take him to Maryland to her mother's boarding house, which was a well known safe-house for Confederate sympathizers. Branson would later play a pivotal role in Powell's life.
Powell would leave there and eventually joined Mosby's Rangers, where he earned the nickname, "Louis the Terrible," due to his reputation for brutality in battle. While with Mosby's Rangers, Powell would be involved in numerous raids until his final raid, known as the Rout of Blazers Command. It would be there that something changed in Powell. In early 1865, Powell deserted to Alexandria and eventually to Baltimore, Md. While in Baltimore, Powell reunited with Branson. From there, he would be introduced to David Preston Parr, who worked with the Confederate agents and spies.
John Surratt and Louis J. Weichmann would also arrive in Baltimore the same day as Powell. Surratt and Weichmann were already in the works with John Wilkes Booth, while Powell was just getting his feet on the ground. Booth had already eyed Powell and made it a point to meet him face to face, where a deep mutual respect grew for one another. While Booth had an elaborate plan to kidnap President Lincoln already in place, Powell had made such an impression upon Booth that Powell was eventually given the second most important role in the plot, which morphed from kidnapping to the assassination of President Lincoln. Powell was given the assignment of killing Secretary of State William H. Seward. Booth gave Powell the alias "Reverend Louis Payne" and made arrangements for him to stay at the Herdon Boarding House under that alias whenever he traveled to Washington, D.C.
While going back and forth, the plot was almost foiled by Powell, himself, when his temper got the best of him and he was arrested on March 12,1865, for battery on a black maid at the Branson home. She pressed charges and claimed he was a Confederate spy; Powell would later engage his spy craft and adopt a new identity as a ploy to throw off the jury, claiming his name was Louis Payne and he was only 18 years old. He claimed to know very little about the war efforts and even less about the English language. Powell was found not guilty, for lack of evidence, but was ordered to be released to board a train bound for Northern Pennsylvania, where he was to remain for the duration of the war. The day before releasing Powell, Surratt sent word to Parr to have him shipped to Washington, D.C., immediately.
Powell would arrive at the Surratt house under the alias of Reverend Louis Payne. There, it would be determined what everyone's role would be for the plan of kidnapping, although the plan was never completely agreed upon, as some saw the plot as a suicide mission. Booth's plans changed on April 14, when Booth decided it was time to kill President Lincoln after his speech on April 11, 1865, where he declared his agenda for accepting the rebellious states back into the Union, as well as his plan to give African Americans the right to vote.
On April 15, 1865, at the moment Booth was entering the Ford Theatre, Powell was knocking on the door to Secretary of State Seward's home. Dressed in a long coat and hat and carrying a bottle, Powell tried to imitate a doctor, knowing Seward had recently been in an horrific accident that left him bedridden, saying his regular physician had asked him to stop by and give the Secretary a certain medicine. Suspicious of his motives, William Bell, the maitre d', met Powell with resistance, as Bell firmly remembered the Secretary's regular doctor had left instructions that the Secretary wasn't to be bothered. Upon busting past Bell, Powell was then met at the top of the stairs inside the home by Frederick Seward, Secretary Seward's son. Powell and Frederick would argue for a brief moment before Powell would "pistol whip" Frederick after Powell's gun had misfired. Then Powell would bust through Secretary Seward's bedroom door, where again Powell met resistance from the Secretary's Army Nurse, George Robinson, as well as his daughter, Fanny Seward. Powell quickly slashed Robinson in the arm, causing him to fall, then pushed Fanny out of the way before jumping on the bed where Secretary Seward was laying. While the Secretary tried to fend off Powell, Powell began stabbing him in the chest, face and neck. From his previous injuries, the Secretary had a metal neck brace that deflected most of Powells blows. However, Powell was able to cut the Secretary's cheek that caused a lot of bleeding. Powell ran out of the house, thinking he had killed the Secretary.
Powell then hid out for three days before returning to the Surratt house. Unaware military investigators were searching through Mary Surratt's home, Powell was met at the doorway by authorities, where he pleaded he was a simple laborer, dressed in dirty ripped clothes. Powell claimed he was there at that time to ask what time he could start the following morning, but Powell looked suspicious to investigators because his hands were well kept and his boots were too nice for a simple laborer. When Mary was asked if she knew him, she claimed she had never seen him before. Powell was arrested on April 18, 1865, at 3 a.m. after Bell, the Secretary's maitre d', identified Powell as the man who busted past him in an attempt to kill the Secretary. Powell was held aboard the Navy Ship USS Saugus along with others involved in the conspiracy. After horrible conditions aboard USS Saugus, Powell was believed to have been driven mad due to his confinement.
After a lengthy trial, Powell was found guilty and sentenced to death. On July 7, 1865, at approximately 1:15 p.m., Louis Powell was hung to death with a white bag over his head.
Louis Powell's controversial life was not over after his death, as his body and burial would prove to be just as controversial before his remains finally settled in Geneva Cemetery in Seminole County, Fla.