Ridgely Ceylon Powers (December 24, 1836 - November 11, 1912) was a Union officer and Mississippi politican. He was born in Mecca, Ohio on Christmas Eve. Later in life, he graduated from the University of Michigan and completed post-graduated work at Union College located in Schenectady, New York, in 1862. At the outbreak of the War Between the States he enlisted into the U.S. Army as a private and ended his service as a colonel upon the end of the conflict. In 1865, the Ohioan settled in Noxubee County, Mississippi as a cotton planter, later becoming sheriff. During Reconstruction, Powers was elected lieutenant governor and began his term in 1870. Governor Adelbert Ames resigned the following year to accept a U.S. Senate seat, thereby making Powers the acting governor; he finished the unexpired term ending in 1874.
Powers died in Los Angeles, California in 1912.
