The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          Powel Family                                       

Title:               Business Papers

Dates:             1724-1778, bulk 1730-1739

Call No.:         Col. 232          

Acc. No.:         54x83, 69x106

Quantity:        2 boxes

Location:        4 C 2

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

The Powels were Quaker merchants and shippers.  Samuel Powel (d. 1756) was the first member of the family to settle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  His son, Samuel (d. 1759) continued in the mercantile business.  They were both involved in trade with Europe and the West Indies and had significant dealings with the Plumsted family and other prominent Quaker families.  Both men amassed great fortunes, including over ninety houses; Powel’s portion was passed along to the third Samuel Powel in 1759.  That was also the year in which this Samuel graduated from the College of Philadelphia and left for a tour of Europe.  He returned to Philadelphia in 1766 to manage his estate and his properties.  In 1769, he married Elizabeth Willing, daughter of Charles and Anne Shippen Willing.  Powel became the last colonial mayor of Philadelphia in 1775.  He remained active in political and civic affairs until his death in 1793.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The collection includes bills, receipts, accounts, and shipping orders related to the ship Tryall (owned by Samuel Powel, Jr. and Clement Plumsted); letters that pertain to business matters; an invoice book that belonged to Samuel Powel recording goods bought in London (1724-1725), which also records commissions from Philadelphia residents for purchases to be made in London (including an order from Joseph Richardson for engraving pattern books); a daybook kept from 1735 to 1739; and a few legal documents for the exchange of property, etc.  Also included is a receipt book kept by Samuel Powel, III, from 1775 to 1777.           

 

 

ORGANIZATION

           

The papers are arranged in accession number order.  Box 1 contains bills, bonds, deeds, shipping orders, and letters.  Box 2 contains the daybook of Samuel Powel, Jr.

 

Appended to the finding aid is a list of names found in the invoice book (54x83.19).  Also filed with the finding aid is a student’s prospectus about the materials found in the collection.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Daybook was transferred from the Winterthur Museum.  The origin of the other materials is unknown.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

Additional papers of Samuel Powel are held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  Many of them also concern the ship Tryall.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

           

            People:

                        Powel, Samuel, 1673-1756.

                        Powel, Samuel, 1704-1759.

                        Powel, Samuel, 1738-1793.

                        Bicknell, Samuel.

                        Plumsted, William.

                        Plumsted, Clement.

                       

Topics:

            Tryall (Ship).

            Shipping - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

            Ships - Cargo.

            Shipping - Accounting.

            Ships - Equipment and supplies.

            Dwellings - Maintenance and repair.

            Textile fabrics - Prices.

            Dry-goods.

            Commercial products.

            Shoes.

            Clothing and dress.

            Household supplies.

            Business records - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

            Figureheads of ships.

            Philadelphia (Pa.) - Commerce.

            Daybooks.

            Account books.

            Receipts.

            Bills (financial).

            Ships' papers.

            Merchants.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 4 C 2

 

Note: Accession numbers 54x83.1-.32 have been microfilmed; see reel number 98.

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:

 

54.83.1                        Receipted bill. John Townsend to Captain Bicknell (misspelled as Bignal on the bill) and Mr. Clement Plumsted (misspelled as Plumbsted on the bill) for gun carriages, wedges, a rammer, pattern for bullets, six vane boards, and other items, for the ship Tryall, July 1730.  [see also .17]

 

54.83.2                        Letter.  William Plumsted, Barbados, Sept. 8, 1730, to Samuel Bicknell, giving Bicknell his sailing orders for a shipment from Barbados.  Bicknell signed, acknowledging receipt of order.  [see also .25, which predates this letter]

 

54.83.3                        Bill.  Samuel Boude to Samuel Bicknell, captain of the Tryall, July 23, 1730, for rigging, etc.

 

54.83.4                        Bill.  Robert Toms to Samuel Bicknell for drink, for Bicknell, Clement Plumsted, and Samuel Powel, including drink at a boat launching, May-July 1730.

 

54.83.5                        Bill.  Evan Harris to ship Tryall, for provisions and meals at Bristol, n.d.

 

54.83.6                        Bill.  George McCall to ship Tryall, July 17, 1730, for rope.

 

54.83.7                        Bill.  William Blair & Co. to Samuel Powel, for textiles, Dec. 1738.

 

54.83.8                        Account.  Ship Tryall, Samuel Bricknell, master, to Clement Plumsted, Philadelphia, 1730.  Mentions nails, spikes, tallow, cordage, blankets, lanterns, , etc.

 

54.83.9                        Bill.  John Masson to Clement Plumsted, for sails and rigging for Ship Tryall, in care of Samuel Bicknell, Commander, Philadelphia, 1730.

 

54.83.10          Bill.  Anthony Wilkinson to Capt. Bicknell [misspelled as Bignell] for carving a figurehead of a lion (6 ft. long) on the Tryall; also trailboard, brackets, supporters, badges, etc., July 1730.

 

54.83.11          Bill.  Edward Bradley to Ship Tryall, Samuel Bicknell [misspelled as Bignall], Commander, 1730, for sheet lead, funnels, window sashes and window panes, binnacle lights, mending two compasses.

 

54.83.12          Bill.  Allen & Turner to Mr. Clement Plumsted for the Ship Tryall, April-July 1730.  For nails, lines, tar brushes, cord, spikes, tallow, brimstone, pork.

 

 

Folder 2:

 

54.83.13          Deed.  Clement Plumsted, merchant, and James Logan of Stenton (executor for Jonathan Dickinson, deceased merchant) conveying lots on Society Hill to Samuel Powel, merchant, and William Allen, merchant, Philadelphia, recorded 1753.  (The original indenture was dated 1742.)

 

 

Folder 3:

 

54.83.14          Abstracts from patents and deeds addressed to Samuel Powel, Jr., merchant, Philadelphia.  Endorsed London, Jan. 18, 1731, Tho. Hyaindre(?) & Oswald.

                        Possibly for Powelton estate on the west side of the Schuylkill River.

 

54.83.15          Bill.  Edward Carter to Mr. Plumsted, for masts, yards, booms, oars, etc., Philadelphia, Aug. 4, 1730.

 

54.83.16          Bill.  Charles West to Clement Plumsted, for building a ship, Aug. 14, 1730.

 

54.83.17          Bill.  From John Townsend, for gun carriages, etc., July 30, 1730.  [see also .1]

 

54.83.18          Bill.  Peter Lecolie [also spelled Lecoly] to Samuel Bicknell for painting Tryall, Philadelphia, July 1730.

 

 

Folder 4:

 

54.83.19          Invoice book of Samuel Powel for goods bought in London from 1724 to 1725. 35 pp.

                        Items mentioned include a variety of types of fabrics, needles, thread, shoes, knives, pistols, and a seal for William Plumsted.  Descriptions of the objects are fairly detailed, for example, "Tortoise shell penknives." 

                        Also receipts of money and commissions from Philadelphia customers for specific goods (John Cadwalader ordered horsewhips for his daughters; Ann Kearsly ordered a watch chain; Joseph Richardson ordered engraving sample books, etc.)

                        There is an index of names in the back of the volume.  As well, a typed index of names is appended to this finding aid.

 

 

Folder 5:

 

54.83.20          Bill.  Thomas Bourne to Ship Tryall for supplies (tar, brushes, cordage, hatch rings, etc.), May-July 1730.

 

54.83.21          Bond.  John Edwards and Ephraim Leach of Horsham, and William Morris of Bucks County, to Samuel Powel, Jr., merchant of Philadelphia, Feb. 10, 1731.  Also record of payments.  On a form printed by Andrew Bradford.

 

54.83.22          Account.  Sundry disbursements for the Ship Tryall by Samuel Bicknell, May-July 1730.  Includes hauling the anchor, two men for pumping, charges from a sailmaker, etc.

 

54.83.23          Bill.  James Par to Ship Tryall, Aug. 25, 1730, for sheathing paper.

 

54.83.24          Bill.  Henry Badroke [or Badcoke] to Capt. Bicknell [misspelled as Bignell] for beer, etc., some of which was used at a launching, Philadelphia, 4th-5th months, 1730.

 

54.83.25          Shipping orders.  Clement Plumsted and Samuel Powel, Jr., owners of Tryall, Philadelphia, July 23, 1730, to Samuel Bicknell, with his acknowledgement of receipt.  Order Bicknell to sail to Barbados and consult with William Plumsted as to whether to unload there or elsewhere.  [see also .2, which is William Plumsted’s subsequent orders]

 

54.83.26          Bill.  Peter Wishart to Clement Plumsted on behalf of Bicknell [misspelled as Bignal], Commander of Tryall, for soap and candles, July 1730.

 

54.83.27          Bill.  Thomas Lindley to Clement Plumsted for ship's hardware (bolts, rings, thimbles, hooks, etc.), 1729-1730.

 

54.83.28          Bill.  Bartholomew Cordry, blockmaker, to Capt. Bicknell [misspelled as Bignal], July 23, 1730.  For blocks and other items, of various sizes.

 

54.83.29          Letter.  From William Grieves, Caps, to Clement Plumsted in Philadelphia, June 25, 1736.  Gives report of sailing conditions on the voyage.

 

54.83.30          Receipt.  William Attwood to Capt. Samuel Bicknell, payment for services aboard the Tryall, Philadelphia, July 22, 1730.

 

 

Folder 6:

 

54.83.31          Receipt book of Samuel Powel, III, Philadelphia, 1776 to 1778. 

                        Records amounts paid for labor, particularly days of work "over Schuylkill," mowing, putting up a fence, plastering, wood, work in the garden, shoes, whiskey, a watch, a lamp, and taxes.  Name index in the volume.

                        [a large chunk of each page is missing; item has been laminated]

 

 

Folder 7:

 

54.83.32          Letter.  Thomas Plumsted, London, Feb. 12 and march 14, 1736, to Clement and William Plumsted and Samuel Powel, Jr., owners of the ship Tryall, in Philadelphia. About getting the ship loaded with cargo.

 

 

 

Box 2:

 

69x106                        Daybook.  Samuel Powel, Jr., Philadelphia, 1735 to 1739.

                        Records daily financial transactions for both business and domestic matters.  A full range of products and activities are documented, including fabric, thread, lamps, bushels of wheat, paper, gloves, tea, thimbles, spices, knives, supplies for the ship Tryall, painting and glazing houses, surveying land, days of labor, etc.  Several of entries mention transactions made by Clement Plumsted.  Also noted are interest and other amounts owed or paid on accounts.  Many of the firms listed were based in London.

                        [trex 2048]

Index to names found in invoice book of Samuel Powel (acc. 54.83.19) (the numbers are page numbers)

 

Allen, Wm.  26, 27, 34

Armstead, Wm. 10

 

Badkok [Badcoke?], Mary 27

Barclay, David 1, 4, 20

Barklay, Pricilla 25

Barnes, Wm.  15

Bland, John 27

Blunston, Michael 24

Bond, Thos. 34

Brook, Clemt. 34

 

Cadwalader, John 24

Caney, Thomas 21

Carter, Wm.  25

Champion, Rd. 14

Chancey, Richd.  2, 6, 7, 16

Chetwynd 29

Clare, Saml. 25

Claypoole, Geo.  29, 34

Coats, Bewlah [Beulah] 26

Coleman, Wm. 27

Cordry, Bartho. 26

Corkey(?), Thos. 34

Crop [or Cross], Ann 26

Crop [or Cross], Joseph 27

Cruckshank, Robt.  34

 

Disney, Charles 25

Dulany, Danl. 29

 

Falconer, Jno. 29

Foster, Thos. 10

 

Grimbale, Jno. 12

Grimes, Eliz. 25

 

Hamilton, Andr. 15, 20

Hanbury, Jno. 29, 34

Harris, James 34

Haselhurst, Mary 24

Hedges, Thos. 13

Hood, Ben. 34

Hyde & Co. 34

Hyde, John, & Co. 29

Hynson, Chas.   34

 

John., Kensey 29

 

Kearsly, Ann 24

 

Langhore, J. 30

 

Morris, Petr. 15

 

Neat, Anthony 14

Newman, Margt. 24

 

Parker, Jos. 30

Pike, Edith 12

Plumsted 30

Plumsted, Clemt. 34

Plumsted, Thos. 8, 16, 23

Plumstead, W. 23, 30

Powel, Samuel 32

 

Read, Joseph 24

Richardson, Joseph  26

Richardson, Letitia 25

Righton, Rich 32

Robinson, Rd. 25

Rolfe, Wm.. 11, 30, 31

 

Salkeld, John 30

Sandeford, Ralph 24

Scarth, Jona. 34

Simon, Edward 11

Smith, Phil. 34

Snowden, Richd. 34

Sterrop, Tho. 10

Stephenson, Saml. 34

Sutton, Mary 25

 

Taylor, Jno. 2, 6, 7

Tomlinson., Ebenezar 27

Tomlinson, Wm. 10

Tongue, Henry 12

Turner, Jos. 26, 34

 

Wade, Nicholas 9

Watson, Joseph 24

Welles, Dabe 19

Wharton, Mary 28

Willan, Robt. 3

Willcox, (Aunt) 25

Wills, Petr. 29

Witchell, Nicks. 16

Woodward, Abra. 34

Wyan, Jacob 7