David J. Powers was born in
Athens, Vermont, in 1814. He had a common school education and apprenticed as a machinist before emigrating west to the
Wisconsin Territory in 1838. He first arrived at the village of
Milwaukee, and there met Willard B. Johnson, who convinced him to settle in the area that would later become
Whitewater, Wisconsin. He served only one term in the Assembly, and afterward moved to
Madison, Wisconsin, where he operated a general store. He also took over publication of the
Wisconsin Farmer, a monthly magazine for agricultural interests, During that time he was also active in the State Agricultural Society and the management of the
Wisconsin State Fair. He moved to
Chicago,
Illinois, in 1868 and founded the Union Wire Mattress company there. He continued running the company until his retirement at age 91, in 1903. David J. Powers died at his home on
Lincoln Avenue in
Chicago on February 11, 1909. His death resulted from injuries he sustained when he fell down a set of stairs at his home three weeks earlier. ==Personal life and family==