Alvah Leigh Powell
Alvah Leigh Powell (April 10, 1863 – October 7, 1924) was an American inventor and creator of the Powell Lever Motor. Life Alvah Leigh Powell was born to Madison S. Powell and Sarah Ann Cummings in Vicksburg, MS. He first married Ada B. Cook in 1882 in Lake Village, AR and they had six children: Ernest Allen (1883-1939), Virginia (1889-1954), Evans Alvah (1891-1954), Sarah Anne (1895-1956), Lillian Ada (1898-1963), and Helen J. (1900-1988). Powell and his family moved frequently across the mid-Southern US, with all the children except two being born in different locations in different states. Some sources indicate that Powell was a minister during these years, accounting for the frequent moves, however they are secondary sources and no primary source has been cited. Powell divorced Ada in 1903 and remarried to Bertha M. Flowers in 1905. There were no children from the second marriage. Alvah Leigh Powell died in Cleveland, OH in 1924. Career as an inventor Powell’s early career included a number of unrelated occupations including being president of a paper box and printing company, an insurance agent, and a jewelry salesman. The exact point of his transition to inventor and the nature of his education or