Conflictiong Histories on William Powell, Somersetshire family engaged in the cooperage business in suburb of Southwark and was the, was Not the Grandfather of Samuel Mayor of Pennsylvania durring the revolution
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Samuel Powell, (Vol. vii, p. 495).—A. S. M. dates that he knows nothing of Samuel Powell's parentage nor whence he came. From some investigations made by me 1 find that 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 father was William Powell (
died in 1735, will recorded at Philadelphia). This William had gone up to London before the year 1681. and was then engaged in the cooperage businesss in the suburb of Southwark. 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, 'Powells 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, the above-mentioned Samuel, 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, in 1756, 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 (.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. He was a merchant of Philadelphia, and the grantor of Friends' Meeting, Pine Street. His son was Samuel Powel. of Fowelton, Speaker of the Assembly, and the patriot Mayor of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary times. Mr. Powel was a man of wealth, culture and influence. He abjured Quakerism, married, but died childless, the last male of his line. His death occurred in 1793.
Regarding the Emlen connection, the following statement is correct. Joshua Emlen, fourth son of George Kmlen, who came from Shepton Mallet,
Somersetshire, in the time of Penn, married, first, Mary, daughter of
Hoi ton and widow of Hudson, by whom he had no surviving issue,
and, secondly, Deborah, daughter of (the first) Samuel Powell. By this marriage he had Samuel Powell Emlen, afterwards called simply Samuel Emlen, the well-known Quaker preacher. He married twice. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of William Mood, he had a son, namely, Samuel Emlen, of West Hill and of Burlington, N. J. This Mr. Emlen was the founder of the Emlen Institute now established at Warminster, Bucks County. Pa. He married in 1795 Susanna Dillwyn (not 'Delroy'), daughter of William Dillwyn. He died childless. Returning to his father, Samuel Emlen. he. after the death of his first wife (Elizabeth Mood), married Sarah, daughter of Asher Mott. by whom he had Deborah, who died unmarried, and Elizabeth. The latter married Sept. 18,1800, Philip Syng Physick, M.D. Dr. Physick left four children, as staled by A. S. M., one of whom, Susan Dillwyn, wife of Commodore Conner. U. S. N.. was my mother. I mention this because knowledge of it may help to confirm this statement.
P. S. P. Conner.
April 11, 1884. 126 S. Eighteenth St., Phila."
Samuel Powell, Of Philadelphia, Not The Son Of William Powell From Southwark, England.—Until lately, Samuel Powell, the noted carpenter and builder of provincial Philadelphia, was considered to be either the son of the William Powell above mentioned, or else a man the name of whose father was forgotten in the lapse of the last two hundred years. Of the two theories, I followed the former in my answer to " A. S. M." in the Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. VIII. p. 120, 1884, because it then seemed the most probable. Since then, however, through investigations made by Mr. Charles Pen rose Keith for the Real Estate Title Insurance and Trust Company, it is shown that there is really no proof of the said William being the father of the said Samuel,1 while from researches made for me among the Quaker records of Somersetshire it appears that, considering said Samuel's age (about 83) at his death, in 1756, he may have been the son of either Gregory Powell or Samuel Powell, both of whom were neighbors in North Curry Hundred, said shire, and had sons named Samuel, between whom it is yet impossible to decide which came to Philadelphia, although the probabilities are in favor of the son of Samuel.
Since the full particulars of the matter would make this communication too long for insertion in this magazine, I have lodged them in manuscript at the Historical Society, where they can be consulted by those interested (vide Miscellaneous MSS., Vol. II.).
P. S. P. CONNER.
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