John Hare Powel (April 22, 1786 – June 14, 1856) was an American

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

, politician, art collector and philanthropist from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life and education

He was born John Powel Hare in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the youngest of the six children of Robert and Margaret Willing Hare. As a youth, he was adopted by his mother's widowed and childless sister,

Elizabeth Willing Powel Elizabeth Willing Powel (February 21, 1743 – January 17, 1830) was an American socialite and a prominent member of the Philadelphia upper class of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The daughter, later sister and then wife of mayors of ...

. He legally changed his name when he attained his majority, and inherited the immense fortune of his late uncle,

Samuel Powel Samuel Powel (October 28, 1738 – September 29, 1793) was a colonial and post-revolutionary mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since Philadelphia's mayoral office had been abolished early in the revolutionary period, Powel was the last colonial ...

. He was educated at

The Academy and College of Philadelphia The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as a ...

and after college joined a counting house. As part of his job in mercantile affairs, he traveled to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and returned at age 22 with twenty-two thousand dollars as his share of the profit.

Career

He served as Secretary of the American Legation in London from 1809 to 1811 under

William Pinkney William Pinkney (March 17, 1764February 25, 1822) was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventh U.S. Attorney General by President James Madison. Biography William Pinkney was born in 1764 in Annapolis in the Province ...

who was minister of England. He returned to the United States in 1811, joined the

Pennsylvania militia The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 per ...

and served as Brigade-Major under

Thomas Cadwalader Thomas Cadwalader (1707–1779) was an American physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, he was Inspector-General of the Pennsylvania militia, and held the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army, while serving as Inspector-General, from 26 December 1814 to 15 June 1815. After the war he devoted himself to agriculture, and did much to improve the breeding of cattle and sheep in the United States. He founded the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society in 1823, and published ''Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society'' (1824) and ''Hints for American Farmers'' (1827). He served as one of the Charter Trustees for

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

from 1826 to 1835. He served as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 1st district from 1827 to 1830. The Powels built a massive Greek-Revival mansion and estate in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

, overlooking the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

. The mansion was named "Powelton" and was designed by the architect William Strickland. In 1851, Powel sold Powelton to the

Pennsylvania Railroad Company The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. The railroad kept 30 acres along the river and sold the rest for development of residential housing. The mansion was demolished in 1885, and the estate developed as the neighborhood Powelton Village. Powel died in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

and is interred at the

Christ Church Burial Ground Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Personal life

He married Julia de Veaux of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in 1817. She was the daughter of

Andrew Deveaux Andrew Deveaux (30 April 1758 – 11 July 1812) was an American Loyalist from South Carolina who is most famous for his recapture of the Bahamas in 1783. Early life He was born to plantation owners Andrew Deveaux Senior and Catherine Barnwell on ...

. Together they had nine children with seven who survived to adulthood. John Hare Powel Jr. (1837–1890) served as lieutenant colonel of the 9th Rhode Island Infantry during the Civil War, colonel of the

Artillery Company of Newport The Newport Artillery Company of Newport, Rhode Island was chartered in 1741 by the Rhode Island General Assembly during the reign of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest military unit in the United States operating under its origina ...

from 1865 to 1877 and mayor of

from 1886 to 1888. One of his daughters, Julia De Veaux Powel, married

William Parker Foulke William Parker Foulke (1816–1865) discovered the first full dinosaur skeleton in North America (''Hadrosaurus foulkii'', which means "Foulke's big lizard") in Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1858. Born in Philadelphia, and a descendant of Welsh ...

Legacy

*Powell Hall at Lafayette College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is named in his honor * Powelton Village, the neighborhood in Philadelphia built on the former Powelton estate is named in honor of the Powels

Notes

References

*This article incorporates text from the ''International Cyclopedia'' of 1890, a publication now in the public domain. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powel, John Hare 1786 births 1856 deaths 19th-century American politicians American agriculturalists Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia Lafayette College trustees Pennsylvania state senators People from Pennsylvania in the War of 1812 Politicians from Philadelphia