Wetherill, Samuel, 1736-1816

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Samuel Wetherill, a Philadelphia manufacturer of cloth, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, was a birthright Quaker. During the American Revolution, he actively supported the military effort and was disowned from Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1779. In 1781, he was a founder of an independent meeting known as the Society of Free Quakers. He corresponded with a New England group of similarly disowned Quakers, associates of Timothy Davis (1730-1798), a respected minister who published a pamphlet in 1776 concerning the payment of taxes to the new government. Davis was disowned in 1778, but was reinstated in 1795.

From the description of Correspondence, 1780-1816. (Swarthmore College). WorldCat record id: 70208670

Samuel Wetherill was a pioneer manufacturer of textiles and chemicals.

Wetherill was born in Burlington, N.J., on April 12, 1736, and came to Philadelphia as a carpenter's apprentice at the age of fifteen. He worked at the carpenter's trade until 1775, when he joined with other Philadelphia merchants, artisans and civic leaders in founding the United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manufactures. In the same year he established a weaving factory which supplied cloth to the colonial army until it was closed by the British occupation of Philadelphia. Wetherill was forced by necessity to produce his own dyestuffs and was thus drawn into chemical manufacture.

Wetherill was expelled from the Society of Friends in 1777 after swearing allegiance to the colonial cause and supporting the army. He founded the movement known as Free or Fighting Quakers and preached and wrote on a number of religious issues facing the Society of Friends.

Wetherill established a firm for the manufacture of chemicals in 1785 and produced the first white lead to be made in America in 1790. In 1787 he joined in organizing the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts, a direct descendant of the United Company of 1775. Because of his prior manufacturing experience, Wetherill managed the operations of the Society's Manufacturing Committee, including its experimental cotton factory of 1788-1790. After the Society was dissolved in 1803-04 Wetherill established a permanent factory for the manufacture of white lead which was continued by his descendants. He died in Philadelphia on September 24, 1816.

From the description of Miscellaneous papers, 1775-1803. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122333752

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Bloomfield, Isabella Macomb. Families of Philadelphia papers, 1700-1942 [manuscript] Haverford College Library
referencedIn Samuel Wetherill and Sons. Ledger, 1777-1788. Winterthur Library
referencedIn Marian S. Carson collection of manuscripts, 1656-1995 Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Wetherill, Jones, and Roberts families. Papers, 1683-1904, 1700-1830. Winterthur Library
creatorOf Wetherill, Samuel, 1736-1816. Miscellaneous papers, 1775-1803. Hagley Museum & Library
referencedIn Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia. Certificate of recommendation : Philadelphia, Pa., to the Society of Friends at Dartmouth in Massachusetts Bay and other friends in that vicinity, 1787 Aug. 5. Bryn Mawr College, Mariam Coffin Canaday Library
creatorOf Murray, James W. Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1814. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Religious Society of Free Quakers records, 1781-1975, 1781-1975 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Wetherill, Samuel, 1736-1816. Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1775-1803, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Leiper, Thomas, 1745-1825. Invitation : Philadelphia, 1819 May 12. Rosenbach Museum & Library
referencedIn Society of Free Quakers. Records, 1781-1975. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts. Manufacturing fund ledger, 1788-1801. Hagley Museum & Library
creatorOf Wetherill, Samuel, 1736-1816. Correspondence, 1780-1816. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
referencedIn Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784. Letter, 1779 August 4, Phila[delphi]a, to "Beloved Friend" / Anth[on]y Benezet. Haverford College Library
referencedIn Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784. Letter, 1779 September 11, about, [Philadelphia?] to "Dear Friend" / Anthony Benezet. Haverford College Library
creatorOf Vanuxem, James. Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1813-1815. University of Pennsylvania Library
creatorOf Wetherill, Samuel, 1736-1816. Wetherill Papers, 1773-1899. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Barnard, Hannah, 1754?-1825. person
associatedWith Beatty, William. person
associatedWith Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784. person
associatedWith Carson, Marian S., person
associatedWith Carson, Marian S., person
associatedWith Carson, Marian S., collector. person
associatedWith Coxe, Tench, 1755-1824. person
associatedWith Davis, Nicholas, b. 1732. person
associatedWith Davis, Timothy. person
associatedWith Eves, Joseph Bennett. person
associatedWith Hallowell, Israel. person
associatedWith Harvey, Jacob. person
associatedWith Heysham, Robert. person
associatedWith Leiper, Thomas, 1745-1825. person
associatedWith Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia. corporateBody
associatedWith Murray, James W. person
associatedWith Nicholson, John, 1757-1800. person
associatedWith Pennsylvania Society for Promoting Manufactures & the Useful Arts. Board of Managers. corporateBody
associatedWith Pennsylvania Society for Promoting Manufactures & the Useful Arts. Committee for Manufactures. corporateBody
associatedWith Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts. corporateBody
associatedWith Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts. Manufacturing Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of American Manufactures. corporateBody
associatedWith Pollard, William. person
associatedWith Samuel Wetherill and Sons. corporateBody
associatedWith Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. person
associatedWith Sellers, Nathan, 1751-1830. person
associatedWith Society of Artists and Manufacturers of Philadelphia. corporateBody
associatedWith Society of Free Quakers. corporateBody
associatedWith Stiles, Joseph. person
associatedWith United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manufactures. corporateBody
associatedWith Vanuxem, James. person
associatedWith Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, person
associatedWith Wetherill, Jones, and Roberts families. family
associatedWith Wood, Thomas. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York
United States
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Massachusetts
United States
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Subject
Child labor
Church controversies
Cotton manufacture
Cotton textile industry
Society of Friends
Society of Friends
Industries
Industries
Manufacturing processes
Partnership
Putting-out system
Quakers
Quakers
Stock companies
Stock companies
Textile industry
Textile industry
Textile industry
Women textile workers
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1736

Death 1816

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