Powel, Elizabeth Willing, 1743-1830

Elizabeth Willing Powel, considered one of the well-connected social figures of Colonial and Early Republic Philadelphia, played a vital role in American history as a close friend of both George and Martha Washington.

Powel was born on February 10, 1742/3 to Charles and Ann Shippen Willing, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.1 She was the sixth of eleven children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Powel hosted prominent families and figures such as the Washingtons, John and Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Chastellux, the Marquis de Lafayette, and others.

In August of 1769, Elizabeth married Samuel Powel, the son of another wealthy Philadelphia family, who had just returned from a seven-year tour of Europe. The Marquis de Chastellux described the Powels as “…difficult to separate from each other, who lived together not as man and wife… but as two friends, happily matched in point of understanding, taste, and information.”2 Through this, among some other pieces of correspondence, an image of a successful marriage emerges. Though they lost four children over the course of their marriage, their relationship remained steadfast, until Samuel’s death in 1793. Samuel and Elizabeth moved into a home on South Third Street, which still stands today.3 Elizabeth sold the house after Samuel’s death to her nephew-in-law, William Bingham, in 1798, before moving to a home near Independence Hall, where she resided until her death in 1830.