Leven Powell

Biography

Born into colonial Virginia in 1737, Leven Powell answered the call of his neighbors during the Revolution, raising militia, leading troops, and keeping lines of communication open between the frontier and the capital so that the cause of independence could be sustained.

After the war he returned to his farm while continuing to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates and, for a time, in the U.S. Congress, where he championed better roads and fair treatment of veterans; his grave in Old Presbyterian Graveyard is a quiet reminder of a life of civic duty.