He stayed in New London and in 1771, he built a store, a new house and married 
Elizabeth Smith. (When Colonial Williamsburg was being constructed the inside of Mr. 
Greenhow's store was copied from a 1772 drawing by John Hook of his store in New 
London).
John was happy in New London, making money, but wasn't happy with the Revolutionary 
War. He wasn't making as much money and had trouble collecting money. The army 
commissary impressed some of his steers and refused to pay for them. When the war was 
over he hired Patrick Henry to defend him in court, and he won the case.
He started developing a plantation south of Staunton River at Hales Ford. He had a house 
and store constructed, (now known as the Powell-Moorman house). The store was on the 
east side of the road and was later moved behind the house, The house was completed in 
1784. John Hook died in 1808 and is believed to be buried near the house.
At the time of the Civil War, the house was owned by Llewellyn H. Powell. During the 
war, Union General David Hunter, sent his scouts hunting for provisions. They arrived at 
the Powell farm but did not find the food.
Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first black elected to Congress from the east, descends 
from a grandfather who is buried in the slave graveyard on the property.
Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. worked in the mines in West Virgiana, later attending Yale 
Divinity School in Connecticut. He was pastor of Abyssinian Baptest Church in Harlem, 
New York, from 1908 to 1937, when son, Adam, Jr., took over.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was educated at Colgate University, Columbia University and 
Shaw University in Raleigh„ NC. He built the Harlem church into the largest black 
congregation in the world. He was elected to Congress from New York City and served 
in the House of Representatives from 1945 to 1967, when he was excluded in a special 
election. He was re-elected in 1968, and served until 1971, having been an unsuccessful 
candidate for renomination in 1970. He resided on Bimini Island in the Bahamas. He died 
in Miami, Florida in 1972.
MITCHELL/AYERS/STUMP
The Eugene Stump farm most know as the Tom Ayers place is located off Route 654 on a 
branch of the Staunton River. The branch is still there but the lake borders the property 
now. The house was built before 1756.
Mitchell descendants remember the stories of the early Mitchells in the old house and 
when the first roads were laid out in Bedford County. The surveyors boarded at the 
Mitchells. In checking records this was found to be true and the Mitchells helped with the 
surveying.
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