When Samuel R. Thompson resigned in 1871, the position of Principal was offered to John Ball Powell of Ashland, Kentucky. He had a faculty of three teachers, one of whom was James E. Morrow. His time at the school was short lived; he resigned in 1872.
John B. Powell was born about 1835 and he entered the Centre College at Danville, Kentucky, from Greenup, Kentucky, graduating with the class of 1859. He apparently settled in Ashland, Kentucky, shortly after he graduated, because on December 23, 1859, he married Anna E. Meek in Boyd County. They had a daughter, Anna Meek Powell, who was born in 1864. The 1865 Boyd County Text List indicated that he had an income of $230. This may reflect his salary as the Principal of the Powell Academy, which he probably founded. The Academy occupied two second-story rooms of the building on the present site of the Presbyterian Church in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. The Boyd County, Kentucky, 1870 federal census listed him as thirty-five-year-old teacher, living in a boarding house, which suggest that his wife Anna, may have passed away some time after 1864. In any case, he married Mary B. Geiger on June 26, 1871, about the time he accepted the position as the Principal of Marshall College. Unfortunately, after he left Marshall College nothing is known of his subsequent life, only that he was probably the John B. Powell who died in 1902 at Miami, Florida, six years prior to the death of his wife, Mary, in 1908.
Principals
- Isaac N. Peck, 1837-1839
- Jacob H. Patton, 1839- 1840
- Alfred E. Thom, 1840-1843
- Josiah B. Poage, 1843-1850
- Henry Clark and Joseph Foster, 1850
- William B. McFarland, 1850-1853
- Staunton V. Field, 1853-1854
- William R. Boyers, 1854-1858
- Benjamin H. Thackston, 1858-1861
- Rev. J. M. Brown, 1861
- Daniel W. Thrush, 1861
- Salina C. Hite Mason, 1863-1867
Presidents
- Stewart Harold Smith, 1961-1968
- Roland Hill Nelson, Jr., 1968-1970
- Donald Newton Dedmon, 1970-1971
- John Grove Barker, 1971-1974
- Robert Bruce Hayes, 1974-1983
- Sam Edward Clagg, 1984
- Dale Frederick Nitzschke, 1984-1990
- Alan Brant Gould, 1990-1991
- James Wade Gilley, 1991-1999
- Audy Michael Perry, 1999-2000
- Daniel Duane Angel, 2000-2005
- Michael Joseph Ferrell, 2005
- Stephen James Kopp, 2005 – 2014
- Gary G. White, 2014 – Jan 2016
- Jerome A “Jerry” Gilbert, 2016 – present
Bibliography With Source Notes
Created by Lisle Brown, former Curator Special Collections