Samuel Powel

Samuel Powel (1738 – September 29, 1793) was a colonial and post-colonial mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Samuel Powel(III) was the grandson of Samuel Powell(I) and Abigail Wilcox.[The Pennsylvania magazine of history and biography, Volume 8, Issues 1-4, Replies. Samuel Powell (I), (Vol. vii, p. 495). —A. S. M. some investigations say he came of a Somersetshire family, many of the name, and apparently his kinsmen, being resident in the parish of North Curry and its neighborhood. Samuel Powell's aunt. Ann Powell, of North Curry, married John Parsons, of Middlezoy, at Greinton, 6 mo. 23, 1685. The places named are in Somerset (Vide Book A, p. 4, Records, Mo. Meeting of Friends, Arch Street, Philadelphia)] Samuel’s (I) father was William Powell; This William had gone up to London before the year 1681. and was then engaged in the cooperage businesss in the suburb of Southward. He was evidently a man of means, and probably left England chiefly on account of the persecution which it appears befell his family (Vide Besse's Sufferings of Friends, "Powell’s of Somerset"). lie was an original purchaser of land under Penn to the extent of twelve hundred acres and over (Vide Patents, 1081 et seq., Philadelphia). His son, Samuel (I), besides inheriting paternal estate, was one of the heirs of his aunt Ann Parsons (will recorded. Philadelphia, Book C, p. 331). He was a great builder—the well-known “rich carpenter" of his day. At his death, he left a large landed estate, and the reputation of having been one of the greatest contributors to the growth of Philadelphia, and to its material and moral improvement (Pa. Gazette, July 1, 1756). His wife was Abigail, daughter of Barnabas Wilcox. By her he had a son, Samuel Powel (II) (.tic, one " 1," either for distinction from others of the name or a reversion to the spelling of former generations; vide Besse). This Samuel married Mary, daughter of Anthony Morris. 9 mo. 9, 1732. There son and the subject of This article Samuel Powel (III)

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1759 from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania). He served as mayor from 1775–1776 and 1789–1790, the office having lain vacant in the interim. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1790 to 1793.

Powel was an early member of the American Philosophical Society and a trustee of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania).

Personal life

On August 7, 1769, he married Elizabeth Willing, was the daughter of Philadelphia mayor Charles Willing and Ann Shippen, and a sister of Philadelphia mayor and Continental Congressman Thomas Willing, the business partner of Robert Morris.

Powel died in the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 on September 29, 1793, in Philadelphia, where he is interred at Christ Church Burial Ground.

Powel House

Powel House.

Samuel Powel's house, at 244 South 3rd Street, is a house museum run by the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. A Georgian city house built by Charles Stedman in 1765, Powel expanded and embellished it around 1770, with carved woodwork and ornate plaster ceilings.

George and Martha Washington were friends of the Powels, and lived next door from November 1781 to March 1782, following the Battle of Yorktown. At the close of Washington's presidency, Mrs. Powel bought some of the furniture from the President's House in Philadelphia. The house museum owns a set of china that was a gift from Martha Washington.

The rear parlor was removed from the house in 1921, and is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The ballroom was removed from the house in 1925, and is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Both rooms have been replicated at the house museum.

External links

• Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania
• Samuel Powel biography and links at ushistory.org
• Powel House official website
• Powel House ballroom at Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Samuel Powel at Find a Grave
• The Powel Family Papers, 1681-1938 (and here), including correspondence, financial records and other materials belonging to Samuel Powel, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.