Alfred Sands Pell (March 1, 1786 – April 28, 1831) was an American merchant who died at sea in 1831.

Early life

Pell was born in New York on March 1, 1786. He was the second son of the Quaker lumber and shipping merchant Benjamin Pell (–1828) and Marianna (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Ferris) Pell (1757-1795), who married in 1778. Among his siblings were William Ferris Pell (husband of Mary Shipley); Gilbert Titus Pell (husband of Elizabeth Birkbeck, a daughter of

Morris Birkbeck Morris Birkbeck (January 23, 1764 – June 4, 1825) was an English agricultural innovator, author/publicist, anti-slavery campaigner and early 19th-century pioneer in southern Illinois, in the United States. With George Flower he founded the Engl ...

, and father of

Morris Birkbeck Pell Morris Birkbeck Pell (31 March 1827 – 7 May 1879) was an American-Australian mathematician, professor, lawyer and actuary. He became the inaugural Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the University of Sydney in 1852, and conti ...

), a representative in the

Illinois Legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 18 ...

, later appointed United States envoy to Mexico in the 1850s; and Maria Pell (wife of Jacob T. Walden). His family were among the largest landowners along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. His paternal grandparents were Joshua Pell (son of Thomas Pell, 3rd Lord of Pelham Manor and grandson of

Sir John Pell Sir John Pell IV, 2nd Lord of Pelham Manor (February 3, 1643 – ) was a British-born American landowner who owned Pelham, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County, New York. Early life Pell w ...

, 2nd Lord of

Pelham Manor Pelham Manor is an affluent village located in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 5,752. It is located in the town of Pelham. History The Bolton Priory, Edgewood House, and Pelhamdale are ...

) and Phoebe (née Palmer) Pell (daughter of John Palmer). His maternal grandparents were John Ferris and Marianna (née Hunt) Ferris. His great-great grandfather, Lt Col John Pell (styled “Sir”) married Rachel Pinckney and was the nephew of the 1st Lord,

Thomas Pell Thomas Pell, 1st Lord of Pelham Manor (1608 – September 21, 1669) was an English-born physician who bought the area known as Pelham, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County, New York, and foun ...

. In 1654, Thomas Pell signed a treaty with Chief Wampage and other

Siwanoy The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...

Indian tribal members that granted him 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) of tribal land, including all or part of what is now The Bronx, and land to the west along Long Island Sound in what is now Westchester County, extending west to the Hutchinson River and north to Mamaroneck.

Career

Pell followed in his father's footsteps and became wealthy as a merchant with the family firm of Pells & Co., importers of mahogany and marble, an auction house, and, lastly, financiers. In 1827, Pell purchased a 114 acre estate in Esopus on the

, just north of Esopus Island, from John Johnston Cameron and at the same time a 143 acre tract on the Hudson at the northern end of what is now West Park. Upon his death, his eldest son

Robert Livingston Pell Robert Livingston Pell (May 8, 1818 – February 11, 1880) was an American landowner and descendant of several prominent colonial families of New York. Early life Pell was born at the old Pell mansion in Pelham on May 8, 1818. He was a son of Al ...

inherited these estates.

Personal life

Pell was married to Adelia Duane (1765–1860), a daughter of Mary (née

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

) Duane (the eldest surviving daughter of Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. History Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the colonial Province of New York granted ...

) and

James Duane James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, attorney, jurist, and American Revolutionary War, American Revolutionary leader from New York (state), New York. He serve ...

, a signer of the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

, first post-colonial

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

, and first Judge of the

United States District Court for the District of New York The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

. Adelia's sister, Mary Duane, was the wife of Gen.

William North William North (1755January 3, 1836) was an American soldier and politician. Early life William North was born in Bristol, Maine, Pemaquid, Maine, to John North and Elizabeth Pitson in 1755. John was an Irish immigrant and Elizabeth a native o ...

, and another sister, Sarah Duane, was the wife of geologist and geographer

George William Featherstonhaugh George William Featherstonhaugh ( /ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ '' FEER-stən-haw''; 9 April 1780, in London – 28 September 1866, in Le Havre) was a British-American geologist and geographer. He was one of the proposers of the Albany and Schenectady Ra ...

. Together, Adelia and Alfred were the parents of: *

(1811–1880), who married Maria Louisa Brinckerhoff, a daughter of James Lefferts Brinckerhoff and granddaughter of

Robert Troup Robert Troup (1757 – January 14, 1832) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York. He participated in the Batt ...

, in 1837. * James Duane Pell (1813–1881), who married his cousin, Sophia Gertrude (1815–1885), daughter of William Ferris Pell, in 1838. * John Augustus Pell (1816–1894), who married Susan Marie Field (1827–1893). * George Washington Pell (1820–1896), American Consul to the

Rhenish The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

provinces, who married Mary Bruen (d. 1890). * Richard Montgomery Pell (1822–1882), who married Frances Mary Jones (1839–1930), a daughter of Samuel T. Jones. After his death, she married Louis Thurston Hoyt. Pell died at sea on April 28, 1831, and was buried at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His widow died in 1860.

Legacy

Pell Street in present-day Chinatown, Manhattan, was named for the lane which ran to Joshua Pell’s farm and abattoir.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pell, Alfred Sands 1786 births 1831 deaths People from New York (state) Pell family Duane family People who died at sea