Son of Richard Montgomery Powers, Sr., and Mary "Polly" Carpenter.
.
Husband of Loriett J. Fish, whom he married on Jan. 4, 1844, in Ira, Rutland, VT, and with whom he had five known children:
George Nichols Powers
Russell Fish Powers
Helen Fish Powers
Charles Fish Powers
Grace Fish Powers
.
4) Note: There is disagreement as to his first name - whether Nichols or the more common Nicholas - and there is evidence for both names. His marriage and death records, and two census records identify him as "Nicholas," as does the published Powers Family history. None of these documents nor the history, however, were seen or approved by him.
.
On the other hand, he signed his will as "Nichols M. Powers."
.
Nichols Powers, was a prominent bridge builder. Much has been written about him, including a paper by VT Sen. Jim Jeffords that describes his accomplishments and can be found at the following link: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.nps.gov/crps/commonground/Winter2004/FirWrd.pdf .

His correspondence and papers, archived in the Vermont Historical Society, give his name and multiple examples of his signature. A synopsis of the holdings are given at the following link:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://vermonthistory.org/documents/findaid/PowersNicholsCorrespondence.pdf
.
Last, his gravestone, presumably approved by his wife or children, identifies him as "Nichols," as does the gravestone he had cut for his son George N. Powers, which identifies him (the father) as "Nichols." Yet here, too, on the transcription of the son's gravestone, made in 1919 by the town clerk, the father's name is written as "Nicholas," when it is clearly "Nichols" on the stone. Some mindsets, it seems to me, are hard to change.
.
In favor of the name "Nichols," is the fact that his maternal grandmother was Lucy Nichols, thus I believe he was given her maiden name and gave that middle name to his son George, just as he gave the middle name "Fish" to his other children, it being the maiden name of their mother and maternal grandfather.
.
We may never resolve the question of his name to everyone's satisfaction, but I'm convinced it was "Nichols" and it is my preference to use the name as it appears on the gravestone and to cite here the discrepancies.
.