Handbook N-P - Fulton County Public Library

Po
zest for the sport of horse racing. At one time he had 27 horses in various stages of training. He
built a practice track and a 10- stall horse barn at his farm southeast of Rochester, located just west
of the railroad crossing on the Miami-Fulton County line road. When not racing, O.M. worked his
horses every day that was fit and, recalled son Ferman, on days others would not consider fit.
But never on Sunday. That was a day of rest both for O.M. and for his horses, which
would be petted and fed apples by a steady stream of visitors attracted to the Powell stables.
O.M.'s horses set world records over a period of 25 years, beginning on the half-mile
track at Rochester's City Park fairgrounds that for many years was a popular site for harness
racing. There, in September of 1915, he drove the yearling colt William Patch to a 2:33 1/4'mile,
breaking the existing mark by almost three seconds. He won. $100 and refused an offer of $1,500
for the colt immediately afterward.
The second came in October of 1924 also at the City Park track.
Powell, again in the sulky, drove a yearling filly, Lady Patch, to a 2:18 1/4 mile that
broke an eight-year-old record by three seconds. Lady Patch went on to win 14 firsts and seven
seconds in two seasons of Grand Circuit racing, establishing two more world's records in the
process, one for two-year-olds and another for consecutive heats.
Powell sold Lady Patch in 1926 for $3,600, but two years before had received $8,000 for
another of his horses, The Farmer, which was a record price at the time.
In 1939 another Powell yearling filly, Royal Lady, paced the Indianapolis mile track in
2:14 3/4 to break a 28-year-old record.
And then came Ferman Hanover, named for his son, a three-year-old that was bred and
trained by Powell but sold as a colt. In 1950 he broke the two-minute barrier with a 1:59.2 time
trial and went on to compile lifetime earnings of $161,800.
Many of Powell's successful horses were sired by Indiana Dan Patch that was bought for
stud in 1909. He was the son of the famous pacer Dan Patch that in 1905 established the 1:55 1/4
mile record that stood for 33 years. For Powell, Indiana Dan Patch produced a formidable line of
winners until his death six years later.
O.M. competed in the sport before the big purses arrived and often claimed that he just
about broke even after taking out travel expenses and feed. Powell's horses were known for their
speed and their exploits were reported in glowing terms by the newspapers and magazines
covering the sport.
Powell's horses were regularly presented at the major sales and brought good prices. The
most prestigious of these and the largest horse auction in the world at the time was held at
Harrisburg, Pa. Every year Powell presented two or three truckloads for sale. After O.M.'s death
in 1952, son Ferman also took some of his father's horses there. While he was holding one in the
sale ring the auctioneer halted proceedings to speak a 10-minute eulogy of O.M., during which he
remarked that “more of Powell’s horses sold here went on to be race horses than did any other
man's.”
Everyone in that hard-bitten crowd of horsemen had removed hats in respect during the
eulogy and when it ended, Ferman took off his own hat and hung it on a post. The crowd cheered
“so you had thought it was President Roosevelt," said the son.
A more fitting tribute to this unusual Fulton County dirt farmer is hard to imagine.
[The News-Sentinel, Tuesday, July 13, 1999]
POWELL, RONALD [Rochester, Indiana]
BUYS GROCERY
Ronald Powell, of this city today purchased and assumed active management of the
Harold Reece grocery store, located on West Third street, this city. The business was formerly
known as the Brower grocery. Reece has not announced his plans for the future.
[The News-Sentinel, Wednesday, February 6, 1935]
POWELL, SAM [Rochester, Indiana]