AUTHOR: Steve Bailey
(Click photo to enlarge)
Amos Powell was an African American gentleman who apparently was born in Richmond County NC about 1841. He was a slave of Charles Powell. Amos & Charles Powell both served in the Civil War Company D of the 23rd Richmond County NC Regiment. I don’t know when Amos Powell came to live in Anson County but he began receiving a Civil War pension in 1926 or 1927. Amos Powell died in Wadesboro NC on June 4 1932 & was buried in an unmarked grave at Old Westview Cemetery off of Salisbury Street & Henry Street in Wadesboro.
Anson County Commissioners Proceedings – August 1, 1927 – Ordered that Amos Powell be paid four dollars & 38 cents for round trip ticket to the Old Soldiers Reunion at Raleigh NC. I have a photocopy of an old picture of Amos Powell in my local black history collection at the Anson County Historical Society office in Wadesboro. In the picture, Amos Powell is standing beside Preston Ledbetter who was another African American Civil War veteran.
Preston Ledbetter must have also been born in Richmond County NC about 1845 & served in Company A of the 23rd Richmond County Regiment. He was a slave of Frank Billingsley. Preston also began receiving a Civil War pension in either 1926 or 1927. Preston Ledbetter died in Wadesboro on April 27, 1930 & buried in an unmarked grave at the Old Westview Cemetery.