Descendants of Richard Wevill

The Ancestors and Relatives of William Addams Reitwiesner Part LXVIII The Descendants of Richard Wevill

Descendants of Richard Wevill

1.	RICHARD WEVILL, b. ... [Cornwall], d. ... [will dated Philadelphia, Pa., 10 Aug. 1803, probated 13 Sept. 1803], son of ... Wevill and of ... , m. (1) ... ... , b. ... , d. ... , dau. of ... and of ... . m. (2) ... ANN ... , b. ... [ca. 1777], d. Philadelphia, Pa., 14 Aug. 1836, ae. 59, of "inflammation of the liver", dau. of ... and of ... .
	Issue by first wife (surname Wevill) includes:
			a.	Olivia, b. ... [ca. 1781], d. Philadelphia, Pa., 19 Jan. 1851, ae. 70, of "old age".
	Issue by second wife (surname Wevill) includes:
		2	b.	George, b. ... , Pa., 1801, d. ... 30 Nov. 1859.
			c.	William, b. ... , d. ... 30 June 1847.
Generation II
2.	George Wevill, b. ... , Pa., 1801, d. ... 30 Nov. 1859, son of Richard Wevill [number 1] and of Ann ... , m. ... 12 March 1823, Harriet Cozens, b. Georgetown, D. C., 27 Aug. 1804, d. Rahway, N. J., 19 Dec. 1874, dau. of William R ... Cozens and of Charlotte Nicola.
	For issue, see Part XXIX.

EXTRACTS from the U.S. FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS

The spellings of the names are as found in the census schedules.


1800 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Middle Ward, page 231

Rich Wevill
   1  Free White Males 16 - 25
   1  Free White Males 26 - 44
   1  Free White Females 10 - 15
   4  Free White Females 16 - 25

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1810 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, page 524

Widow Wevill
   2  Free White Males under 10
   3  Free White Males 16 - 25
   1  Free White Males 26 - 44
   1  Free White Females under 10
   2  Free White Females 16 - 25
   2  Free White Females 26 - 44

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1830 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Locust Ward, p. 95

George Wevill
   2  Free White Males under 5
   1  Free White Males 20 - 30
   1  Free White Males 30 - 40
   1  Free White Females under 5
   1  Free White Females 5 - 10
   1  Free White Females 10 - 15
   1  Free White Females 15 - 20
   1  Free White Females 20 - 30
   1  Free White Females 40 - 50

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1840 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Locust Ward, p. 58

George Wevill
   1  Free White Males under 5
   1  Free White Males 5 - 10
   1  Free White Males 10 - 15
   1  Free White Males 30 - 40
   1  Free White Females 10 - 15
   2  Free White Females 15 - 20
   1  Free White Females 20 - 30
   1  Free White Females 30 - 40
   1  Free White Females 40 - 50

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1850 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Cedar Ward, page 162, line 17

George Wevill   48 M     Upholsterer     ---   Penna
Harriet    "    46 F                           Washington
Olivia     "    26 F                           Penna
Charlotte  "    24 F                             "
Richd H    "    22 M     Druggist                "
Chas       "    13 M                             "

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1860 New Jersey, Union Co., Rahway, Page 64, line 15

Henry Stevens     35      M    Artist    ---  400     New Jersey
Lewis     "       25      M       "                   Penn
Susan     "       30      F                             "
Wiliam P  "        5      M                             "
Harriet Weavell   56      F                           Washington DC
Edeth Stevens      3      F                           Penn
Geo F     "          5/12 M                           New Jersey
    (2 servants and 1 unrelated merchant)

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1870 New Jersey, Union Co., Rahway, page 53, line 14

Stevens Henry L     45 M W    Artist         Pennsylvania
        Charlotte   42 F W                   Penn
        Wm P        16 M W                   Penn
        Edith H     13 F W                   Pennsylvania
        Frank       10 M W                   N Jersey
        Henry L      7 M W                   N Jersey
Weaval Harriet      60 F W    At Home        Washington DC
     (3 other inhabitants all born in Ireland)

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NOTES

1 -- The book Upholstery in America & Europe from the Seventeenth Century to World War I [1987] contains (pp. 114-119) a chapter by Patricia Chapin O'Donnell titled "Richard Wevill, Upholsterer".

Richard Wevill appears to have been in the upholstery trade in London as late as 1796 -- an 1803 investigation by the Collectors Office in Philadelphia into the (allegedly) shady dealings of one Samuel Salter included testimony from Richard Wevill and transcripts from Wevill's "original book of entries". The statement from the Collectors Office which was published in several newspapers on 6 May 1803, including the Daily Advertiser and the Gazette of the United States, includes extracts of shipments ordered between 25 April 1796 and 8 November 1796 from Wevill in London to Salter in Philadelphia, and were sworn to by Wevill, by then in Philadelphia, on 25 April 1803.

It's not known when Richard Wevill arrived in Philadelphia, but it was before 22 May 1798, which is the date he filed a naturalization intention in the District Court in Philadelphia. His signature from the naturalization intention can be seen here.

A Philadelphia apothecary named Mr. Ching published the following item in the Aurora General Advertiser, a Philadelphia newspaper, between 11 Dec. 1798 and 5 March 1799:

    PAINS IN THE STOMACH
    To Mr. Ching, Apothecary
   SIR,--I think it my duty to inform you your
Lozenges have had very happy effects in my fa-
mily, particularly on a maid servant, who, for a
long time, had complained of excruciating pains
in her stomach, which she supposed was occasion-
ede by worms, and had taken various worm me-
dicines to no effect ; but on making trial of your
Lozenges, she voided a great number of worms,
some of them, she thinks would have measured
tnree quarters of a yard in length, and is thereby
perfectly recovered.        I am, Sir,
                           Your humble servant,
                      R I C H A R D   W E V I L L
     Mr. Wevill now lives in South Fifth Street.

Mr. Ching published the same item in the Mercantile Adviser, a New York newspaper, between 10 March 1801 and 16 March 1801.

Each of the following items presumably refers to this Richard Wevill:

1799 -- A Richard Wevill was paid for furniture by the War Department. See here.
1801 -- A Richard Wevill was elected in 1801 to "The Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage". See here and here (very poor OCR copies).
1803 -- A number of supplies (such as bags and tents) purchased for the Lewis and Clark expedition from a Philadelphia upholsterer named Richard Wevill, ordered 15 June 1803, paid 18 June 1803, and received by the US Arsenal 20 July 1803. See Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ed. by Donald Dean Jackson, vol. 1, pp. 90-91. See also here and here and here.

Richard Wevill's public-spirited activities included the "Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia", which elected him to their board on 2 April 1802 (see Gazette of the United States, 13 April 1802), and the "Philadelphia Benevolent Society" of which Wevill was Secretary by 27 July 1802 (see the Gazette of the United States of that date) through at least 2 April 1803 (see the Philadelphia Repository of that date)

An obituary article for Richard Wevill appeared in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser of 17 Sept. 1803 saying that he died "On Monday last" [i.e., 12 Sept.].

  DIED, - On Monday last, RICHARD WE-
VILL, cabinet maker and upholsterer, and 
Treasurer of the Benevolent & Franklinean
Society.
  In the death of this amiable man, Society
has lost one of its brightest ornaments, his
wife the tenderest of husbands, and his asso-
ciates the most endearing of friends.
  Words can convey but a faint idea of his
worth. Diligence, joined with an affectionate
solicitude, for family concern - zeal for re-
ligion, and benevolence for the distressed
where his invariable characteristics. Since
the first establishment of the BENEVO-
LENT SOCIETY, he has been one of its
firmest supporters and one of its most active
members ; not only did he distribute on ac-
count of the Society when duty called upon
him to act, but when the means were in-
competent to the exigency his private purse
was never spared. The writer of this arti-
cle had the honor of being admitted to his
friendship ; he knew his worth, and sensibly
feels his loss.  To the Poor, what shall be
said ! you have lost him who never turned
aside from your distresses, but whose heart
melted at your complaints, and whose hands
bestowed what benevolence dictated.  But
thou, his amiable Relict, has still greater
cause for sorrow : thou has lost, indeed
thou hast lost the best of husbands, and thy
children the tenderest of parents!  But He,
whose will it was to take, shall still be a hus-
band to thee, and a father to thy little ones.
                                  O.

Richard Wevill's death was mentioned in the Boston Gazette of 22 Sept. 1803, on p. 2.

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Will Book I, page 133, dated 10 Aug. 1803, proved 13 Sept. 1803

Richard Wevill, Decedent

Estate to Thomas Brown, Grocer, and Timothy Banger, both of Philadelphia,
in trust for:

wife Ann Wevill
daughter Olivia Wevill
two sons George and William Wevill

Wit: Sarah Banger, John Ackland

Most of O'Donnell's chapter in Upholstery in America (above) is taken up with the inventory of Wevill's estate, which "describe an upholstery business in its prime".

After Richard Wevill's death, the upholstery firm continued under his widow, Ann, and then later as "Wevill and Nicholas", in partnership with Lewis Nicholas, formerly one of Richard Wevill's apprentices. Even later, in 1823, Ann and Richard's son George married Lewis's niece, Harriet Cozens.

For the proposed origin and ancestry of Richard Wevill, see here.

1 a -- From their ages at death, as given in the Philadelphia City Death Certificates 1803-1915 database, Olivia could not have been a child of Ann, and was presumably Richard's child by a previous wife.

1 c -- A William Wevill, age 34, upholsterer, born in Philadelphia, grey eyes, brown hair, light complexion, 5'5", enlisted in the U.S. Army on 10 May 1839 for a five year term. He was assigned to the 5th Infantry Regiment, company K, and spent at least some of his tour as a private at Fort Mackinac, Michigan. He was discharged 10 May 1844 at the end of his enlistment.

William Addams Reitwiesner

wargs@wargs.com