The Mystery of R.Della Powers

Born in about 1867, in Colesville NY, except for one brightly spotlit chapter, much of Della's life is shrouded in mystery. It is not even certain if her parents - young divorcee Sarah Reed and possible Sing Sing inmate William A Morgan - were married. Even Dell's name is in question; she has been variously called "R.Della", "Della Rose", "Dell" -even "Ardella" on one census entry. (As she mentioned in a later letter back to Colesville searching for her roots, even she didn't know what the "R" was for).

Sarah's death in 1868 left infant Dell without a mother. Dell and William moved to Rochester NY in 1870. There, he quickly married Emma Redding and found employment as a saloon keeper. He was apparently his own best customer. On August 2 1877, William was found unconscious on the street in an alcoholic stupor. He died the next day and young Dell's last connection to her roots was severed.

Emma kept a roof over their heads and kept young Dell fed and clothed by running a boarding house.

By 1883, young Dell - by all accounts now a striking young lady, with dark, almost Spanish features - found work in Huyler's candy shop. To someone of her humble origins, the fabulous Powers Building where the candy shop was, must have seemed like something from a dream. D.W. Powers, owner and builder of the building that still bears his name, was one of the most wealthy, powerful and influential men of Rochester.


One day, D.W's son William happened to stop in the candy shop. There, he found something far sweeter on the other side of the counter than the wares in the glass cases. As often happens, romance, with no regard for class or status, blossomed. I can imagine handsome young William developing a sudden sweet tooth and becoming a frequent buyer of candy he probably didn't even want, lingering long in the selection process.

Talk of marriage began to fill the air.

The ever status conscious Powers family was mortified, with Will's mother vowing that her son would never marry "that candy store girl". Mrs.Powers tried to scuttle the marriage by offering to send Dell to Europe for two years to be educated, no doubt hoping Will would forget her in the interim. Plucky Dell agreed to the educational trip - after the wedding. (The offer subsequently vanished).

Denied the fairy-tale wedding she undoubtedly envisioned, Della and William were married in Emma's living room. No society columns trumpeted the event; it rated barely a paragraph in the July 17, 1883 Rochester Union and Advertiser.

The couple moved into the charming Victorian home that D.W. had had constructed for his son around the corner from his mansion, no doubt envisioning his own little dynastic empire on East Ave.


The tension in the air between Dell and her new in-laws was no doubt almost visible.

Employment for Dell was found in D.W.'s monument to himself, where she worked as a clerk in his pretentious art gallery on the top floor of the Powers Building. On paper I suppose it seemed like she'd literally risen to the top -from the ground floor candy shop where she'd started- but her employment there was no doubt not a happy interval.

A son, Daniel, was born in 1886.

Rather than accept their daughter-in-law, D.W. and Mrs. Powers set about using their wealth and influence to undermine the union. D.W. sent Will off to Europe. At the mercy of his father, who was holding the purse strings and being somewhat of a slacker, Will dutifully obeyed his father. While in England, Will must have taken his father's advice and forgot Dell - he was sued for breach of promise by an Irish barmaid he'd asked to marry him. He apparently also forgot he was already married. He made several trips to New York City and "hunting in the North Woods"He was rumoured to have been involved with Rose Phelps, a Rochester minister's daughter. At one point, Dell went after him, to NYC, even going so far as to disguise herself to try and catch him with her.

D.W. sent Will off to Dakota - which in those days was apparently the Las Vegas of divorce. Will stayed the 90 days required for residency and the divorce was granted. It took 12 years, but Mr. And Mrs. Powers finally got their wish.

Having stripped Dell of her marriage to William, D.W. now set about trying to rid himself of her any way he could, with offers of cash settlement, offers to pay for her accomodations, take Dan in and educate him. Dell, either through stubborness or her firm belief that she was entitled to more, held out. He had her literally thrown out into the street. After D.W's lackey Sherriff Davy forcibly removed them from their home, Dell, Emma and Dan spent the night of October 26 1892 on the curb with the few belongings they were allowed to take.

Not one to roll over to even someone as wealthy and powerful as D.W. Powers, Dell sought recourse through the courts. Suit followed countersuit, charge followed countercharge and the papers of Rochester relished in the scandal.

Emma Morgan, the only mother Dell had ever really known died May 4 1895 leaving Dell alone to raise Dan and take on the Powers machine. In her desperation, Dell turned to what little she knew of her roots. She wrote to her grandparents in Colesville NY, who unbeknownst to her, had died several years earlier. Her uncle Eli, being the postmaster there, opened the letter. In the letter, she's desperately searching for someone to help her take on the Powers machine.

The last known echo of Dell is found in a letter from her in NYC in 1896 to her cousin in Colesville. Dan was apparently with her family there, safely hidden from the Powers clan. Dell speaks of being ill with malaria and possibly taking a trip to England and then Buenos Aires.

Then she vanishes.

In 1910, Dan shows up, living with his father in Syracuse NY.

What became of Dell? Did she remarry? Did she find happiness? Die destitute and alone, robbed of what was rightfully hers? The answer to these questions is shrouded in the mists of the past, growing ever fainter with each turn of the calendar, yet I must know.

The players in this little drama are all gone now, gone to a place where one is judged by what's in one's heart, not what's in their bankbook. I'm sure old D.W. was found wanting.

Thou art gone, Dell, but not forgotten.

(Disclaimer: Dell was my second cousin, twice removed)