John Holbrook Powers who was known as "Honest John," was a Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 pioneer who ran for governor

Governor of Nebraska

The Governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the State of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current Governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005 upon the resignation of Mike Johanns . He won a full...

 as a populist

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 in 1892. Mr. Powers was born in Madison County, Illinois

Madison County, Illinois

Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Madison County is part of the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 269,282, which is an increase of 4.0% from 258,941 in 2000. The county seat is Edwardsville, home to...

, and served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 in the Civil War before moving to Nebraska. In 1884, Powers joined the Farmers' Alliance

Farmers' Alliance

The Farmers Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement amongst U.S. farmers that flourished in the 1880s. One of the goals of the organization was to end the adverse effects of the crop-lien system on farmers after the American Civil War...

 and rose rapidly in the organization. In 1892, he was nominated as the gubenarorial candidate of the People's Party, the political wing of the Alliance. Of the three candidates, Powers received the most votes, but after a long and bitter fight, James E. Boyd, the Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, was declared elected. In his History of Nebraska, James Olson described Powers as "a modest man who lived in a sod house on his homestead in Hitchcock County."(Page 222).

Robert B. Crosby

Robert B. Crosby

Robert Berkey Crosby was an American Republican politician who served as the 27th Governor of Nebraska from 1953 to 1955.-Biography:...

, the Republican Governor of Nebraska from 1954 to 1955, was John Powers' great grandson.

See related

• "Berkey & Crosby" an unpublished family history prepared by Doug Smith in 1994.
• James C. Olson, History of Nebraska, Second Edition. (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1966).