Henry Williamson Pell (c. 1881August 22, 1949) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and banker. He was the captain of the

Princeton Tigers football The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University and competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Championship, Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member ...

teams in 1900 and 1901. He worked for the

United States Trust Company Bank of America Private Bank (formerly U.S. Trust) was founded in 1853 as the United States Trust Company of New York. It operated independently until 2000, when it was acquired by Charles Schwab, and Co. and subsequently sold to, and became a ...

for 37 years and served as its president and chairman.

Early years

Pell was born in

Goshen, New York Goshen is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 13,687 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Biblical Land of Goshen. It contains a village also called Goshen, which is the county seat of Orange County ...

, and grew up in

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 ...

. He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Preparatory School before enrolling at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. Pell played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

team from 1899 to 1901. He played at the tackle position and was selected by the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' as a second-team All-American in 1901. He was also the captain of the Princeton football teams in both 1900 and 1901. Pell was six feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 175 pounds as a football player at Princeton.

Business career

After graduating from Princeton in 1902, he received a degree from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

in 1904. He practiced law in New York from 1904 to 1912. In 1912, Pell joined the United States Trust Company of New York. He remained with the

for 37 years, serving as its president from 1938 to 1947. He continued to serve as the company's chairman of the board until his death in 1949 at age 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pell, Williamson 1880s births 1949 deaths All-American college football players American bankers Princeton Tigers football players New York Law School alumni People from Goshen, New York Players of American football from Brooklyn