PROVIDENCE PIONEER CHURCH, THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY ”UNCLE JOAB” POWELL, AS IT APPEARED IN 1954. THIS CHURCH BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED SOME TIME AFTER POWELL’S DEATH; IT DATES FROM 1898. Photo provided/Ben Maxwell, Salem Public Library
Back in 1859, when the pioneer lawmakers of the very first Oregon State Legislature extended an invitation to Missionary Baptist circuit preacher ”Uncle Joab” Powell, the most famous man of the cloth in the state, to come to Salem and…
