Lewis Powell's Family

[BettyO]

Quote:Bringing back the subject of Powell's dental hygiene, didn't he have a a piece of his front tooth missing. I can remember reading somewhere (maybe Betty's book,or an article in the Surratt Courier) that a witness at the conspiracy trial testified that Powell was missing teeth or had a gap between his front teeth.

Unfortunately, we don't know much about Powell's upper front teeth. They were missing from his skull when found, and they certainly don't show up in his photos. The only reference to Powell's teeth during his lifetime was from Seaton Munroe who stated, when it was claimed that Powell was actually Fitzhugh Lee, that "Lee's eyes were blue and his hair dark, like this one, but his teeth were good. This one (Powell) has blue eyes and dark hair, but his teeth are very bad." And this is all we know of Powell's dental hygiene except for the fact that he carried a toothbrush and used it (according to Atzerodt) perhaps a bit too late. The chewing tobacco which he loved was not kind to his teeth and gums, causing Pyorrhea Gingivitis.