Joseph Withers Power

Joseph Withers Power was born on March 2, 1867, in Jackson, Mississippi.[1][2][3] He was the son of Irish emigrant John Logan Power, who became the Mississippi Secretary of State from 1893 to 1901, and his wife, Elizabeth (Wilkinson) Power.[1][4] J. W. Power attended public schools in Jackson.[1] Then, he attended Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee.[1][2] After leaving school, he assisted his father in the publishing business and became a bookkeeper.[2]

When Joseph's father, John Logan Power, was the Secretary of State of Mississippi, he was an assistant in the office of the Secretary of State of Mississippi.[2] After his father's death on September 23, 1901, Mississippi governor A. H. Longino appointed him Secretary of State of Mississippi.[2] He was re-elected in 1903, 1907, and 1911.[1][2][3] In 1923, he defeated Walker Wood in the primary election for the Democratic nomination to the office.[5]

Power was a Democrat, member of the Episcopal Church, Freemason, Odd Fellow, and a Knight of Pythias.[2] In 1896, Power married Eva Truly (1868 or 1869 - 1947); her brother Jeff became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.[2][7] The Powers had three children: Dorothy, Mary, and Josephine Jeffrey "Jo Jeff".[2]