Saturday Morning, February 28, 2026
A Journal. Thoughts. Emotions. Transcending.
I can think of nothing but poor Abe Hill. He has just been murdered out West by those horrible Indians - thirteen arrows and five bullets in him and scalped...Isn't it horrible to think of. He had been married only a year after being engaged nine years. Wilbur was telling me the other evening about a woman's scalp he had seen the day before. Oh it makes the cold chills run over me...Eloise B. Powell, Omaha, June 1, 1864.
Bronze medallion honoring Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
performing a six month engagement in London, 1892.
The fascination with America's West even included the English.
It was here John James Audubon found favor with a publisher
willing to reproduce his aviary paintings.
No American printer would accept his offer.
Spaghetti Westerns
Nineteenth century American West, as dangerous as it was appealing. The lure. Land. Independence. Riches. A magnet so strong, thousands were attracted. Increasing population guaranteed expanding statehood. Despite the frontier years born of unbridled behavior, the west matured, growing into communities supporting values and principles. And yet, those wild days would remain intact. Legends in books and movies. Hollywood made a fortune on the Western genre in the 1950's and 1960's. How the West was Won. High Noon. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Magnificent Seven. Spaghetti Westerns. So named as many were filmed in Italy, some in Spain.
Buffalo Bill's traveling show lasted until 1908, an amazing feat. The appeal of frontier America was reinforced by showcase performers including Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, and the appearance of Sitting Bull.
Good Will Hunting
I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Sophia, my servant girl, Juno, until she arrives at the age of twenty-five years - and I order and direct that my said daughter Sarah Sophia, shall pay to our said servant, Juno, at the expiration of her servitude, the sum of fifty dollars, provided she shall have served faithfully and honestly all of the said term....S. Elizabeth Powell, Geneva, New York, fifth day of February, 1822.
Another family trail within the same ephemera leads us back to Norwalk, Ohio. The Lambkin family. Although this cabinet card is not signed on reverse, from accompanying documents we ascertain this is Frank Lambkin, proud owner of this Penny Farthing.
Snapshot freezing time with a Reo sedan. Here sits driver Frank Lamkin beside Elizabeth Derbyshire. In the backseat sits Fannie Smith Lamkin and her daughter Mary Fuette Lamkin, ca. 1908-10
Family Trees
Meet the Powell family. From a family of five siblings, we pick up the bread crumb trail of Charles. His mother's will includes a codicil dated 1824 indicating the death of Sarah Sophia. Revised bequests distribute family silver among the four brothers with no trace of their sister. Juno's future remains consistent but now under the control of the executors. We know little about Juno, except her status as an indentured servant, a common legal arrangement.
Journal of Eloise B. Powell, Omaha, Nebraska, 1864.
A better remembered example is a twelve-year old boy. His nine-year indenture agreement in Boston was shortened when he ran away. His owner was his brother James. Under his cruel and harsh treatment, the boy escaped, landing in Philadelphia. You know him well. Benjamin Franklin.
Go West, Young Man
Entry in Eloise's journal detailing the murder of a settler by the Indians.
Saturday, we experience three generations of a family representing the boldness of a young America. After mother Elizabeth Powell departs this earth, son Charles, married to Catherine Bacon, departs for the west, arriving in DeSota, Nebraska, 1858. Though he established a mill and prospered, time and tide had different plans. Within several years, DeSota failed, collapsed. The 1859 Gold Rush in Colorado depleted the town population to the point of extinction. It was then Charles and Catherine moved south twenty miles to Omaha. A Charles and Caroline Ingalls story.
Call of the Wild
Their daughter, Miss Eloise Powell, has left us a trail in her journal describing the daily life in a western town. It is filled with the energy and honest of a young woman, especially detailing the handsome officers. Among her tapestry's warp and weft, there are many soldiers included. The reason? The influence of the American Civil War.
Civil War documents of Charles Powell, Private in Co. B, 2nd Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry: Account of Pay and Clothing; Discharge paper listing Charles as 41 years of age, six feet tall, blue eyes, light hair, occupation printer, 1863.
Sounds like central casting.
Her father Charles volunteered to serve the Union by joining Nebraska's 2nd Volunteer Cavalry. The 1st Cavalry found action in Gettysburg. The call for formation of the 2nd was to defend Nebraska against Confederate saboteurs and Indians. Charles spent his time as a steward in a hospital. Though the trail falls fallow after this period, we note the bridge between generations discovered in namesakes. If you remember, several weeks ago, we sold artwork painted by Eloise Waggoner. Her first name reappears two generations past Eloise Powell Nicols, author of the journal.
Many of us are consumed with the desire to inherit a family watch, the homestead, or money. How family distribution can become testy. But true inheritance is ethereal. It cannot be held, traded, or bartered. Each one of us carries a trace of our ancestors' souls, packaged neatly into our helix. Better to understand our past to best understand our present. A lesson most important, often overlooked. Except here, in Buckingham.
The true 14k yellow gold tennis bracelet.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]