12 November 2012

Mrs. Pliny (Brittania Gordon) Power



The first we will name is Brittania Gordon Power [daughter of John and Sarah (Rathbone) Gordon], who was born in Berkshire Co., Mass., about the beginning of the present century.  Her mother was a first cousin of Commodore Perry, and it was understood in the family that her father was a second cousin of Lord Byron.  When she was a child her father moved with his family to Tioga Co., Pa. where she received a good education and grew up a handsome and attractive young lady. When 18 she was married to Dr. Pliny Power, then in good practice, but who, in 1836, concluded to try his fortune in Michigan, and he and Mrs. Power came and settled in Oxford, Oakland Co.  They had often reason to fear for their lives from the many semi-hostile Indians in the neighborhood.  The Doctor soon acquired a large practice, and Mrs. Power practiced the liberal hospitalities of their new home in Michigan.  She spent the winter of 1844 with the Doctor in Detroit, he being a member of the Legislature, and she added her share to the social amenities of the city.  In the spring of 1844 the Doctor moved to Lapeer and soon after to Utica, Mich., where he purchased a farm and settled down in a large practice.  Their home, under the management of Mrs. Power, was a favorite resort for their numerous friends and acquaintances.  The adventure of Mrs. Power and forty other ladies of Utica, in tearing down a ___alley and salon as a public nuisance is well remembered by the 'old inhabitants.'  In 1848 Dr. and Mrs. Power moved to Detroit, where they resided till their deaths.  Mrs. Power was for many years a consistent and exemplary member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Detroit.  She has been described as discreet, prudent, cheerful, interesting, dignified and intelligent, and in retaining, even in her advanced years, the graces and many of the attractions of her early days.  She died October 15, 1881.

Pliny Power was born in Vermont in 1798 and died in Detroit in 1861.

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