Powell was born on February 16, 1815, in New York City, New York, on Water Street,[1] the son of Jonah Powell and Abigail Stillwell.
[2] When Powell was 13, family reverses led him to begin working, initially with a New York store.
In 1828, he moved to Brooklyn[1] and began working for Sylvanus B. Stillwell, the city's leading clothier.
He was a director of the Central Bank, the Citizens Gas Light Co., and the Nassau and Lafayette Insurance Companies.
He was then elected County Treasurer, and his term for the office began in 1878, but his declining health meant he did little in that position.