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Members

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John Henmarsh was a master builder and one of the earliest members of The Carpenters' Company, although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to establish a date for his election. He is recorded as having been admitted to freedom of the city…

Portues, James
James was a master buider who came to Philadelphia in the service of William Wade, yeoman of the parish of Hankton, Sussex, who died on board onWelcomebound for Pennsylvania in 1682. Under the terms of Wade's will, Porteus (the name is variously…

Powell, Samuel
Samuel Powell came to Philadelphia as a child in 1685 and was probably apprenticed to his uncle John Parsons, carpenter from Somersetshire. Powell's marriage in 1700/1 to the prosperous orphan Abigail Wilcox was witnessed by William Penn, Edward…

Usher, Jacob
Born: c. 1679, Died: 1738 The trail of early master builder Jacob Usher is faint at best. He is traditionally listed by The Carpenters' Company as one of its earliest members, although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date…

Woolley, Jr., Edmund
The master builder Edmund Woolley is chiefly remembered as the master builder-architect of the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall). Named for his father, Woolley was probably born in England and is known to have been in Philadelphia by 1705.…

Harrison, Joseph
The master builder Joseph Harrison was the son of John I and Mary Harrison and the brother of John II and Daniel Harrison. According to Pastor Eric Bjork, Joseph and John II helped their father complete Holy Trinity Church, Wilmington, DE in 1698,…

Nicholas, John
The master builder John Nicholas was the son of Samuel (d. 1709) and Margaret (Moore) Nicholas (d. 1743) of Philadelphia. He was one of the earliest members and a possible founder of The Carpenters' Company, although no Company records prior to the…

Harrison, John
The master builder John Harrison II was the son of John I and Mary Harrison and the brother of Joseph and Daniel Harrison. According to Paster Eric Bjork, John II and Joseph helped their father complete Holy Trinity Church, Wilmington, DE in 1698,…

Benjamin Clark was a master house carpenter claimed as an early member of The Carpenters' Company in 1786, although no Company records survive prior to the l760s. In 1724 he married Mary Hoston from the Haddonfield, West Jersey, Monthly Meeting, by…

Zane, Sr., Isaac
The leading Quaker master builder Isaac Zane was born in New Jersey, the son of Nathaniel and Grace (Rakestraw) Zane. In his early teens he had departed the family farm at the mouth of Newton Creek opposite what is now South Philadelphia to become an…

William Clark, son of master house carpenter Benjamin Clark, was also a member of the Carpenters' Company. In 1746 he married Beulah Coates at St. Michael's Lutheran Church.Biography from Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, a project of…

Master builder Edward Warner may have been apprenticed as a house carpenter to James Porteus whose heir he was in 1736/37. Warner was admitted as a freeman of Philadelphia by the Common Council in 1717, and by the 1720s he was selling by lottery a…

Tomlinson, Ebenezer
Ebenezer Tomlinson, son of Joseph Tomlinson (d. 1719), Gloucester Township, New Jersey, was a master house carpenter and an early member of The Carpenters' Company. He was in Philadelphia by 1728 when, together with Richard Armitt, he witnessed the…

Rhoads, Samuel
The Quaker Samuel Rhoads was one of the most influential master builders of the colonial period. Born in Philadelphia County, the son of John and Hannah (Willcox) Rhoads, he first appeared as a speculative builder flourishing in the 1730s and 1740s.…

Reese Loyd was a master builder and among the earliest Carpenters' Company members listed by The Company in 1786, although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm that date. He also was an early (1731) subscriber of the Library…

Joseph Rakestraw was a master builder listed as an early member of The Carpenters' Company in 1786, but no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm that claim. He married Elizabeth Fox, the sister of Joseph Fox and granddaughter of…

Tobias Griscom was a master builder and an early member of The Carpenters' Company, although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to provide an exact date. In 1736 he became a shareholder of the Library Company and transferred the share to…

Master builder and merchant John Mifflin was the son of John Mifflin of Kent County (DE) who married Hannah Taylor in 1747. Elected to The Carpenters' Company well before the date of earliest surviving records, Mifflin was totally inactive in Company…

William Coleman was a master builder listed as an early member of The Carpenters' Company in 1786, but no Company records prior to the l760s survive to confirm the dates of his membership. Typical of early building trade craftsmen, Coleman married…

Master builder John Price was elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the earliest surviving records. He may be the same John Price granted letters of administration for the estate of Reese Price of Bristol Township, Philadelphia County, yeoman…

Joseph Hitchcock was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the earliest surviving records. Biography from Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, a project of theAthenaeum of Philadelphia.Written by Roger W. Moss.

Jacob Lewis was a master builder who came to Philadelphia from Chester County in 1741 and by 1763 (the date of earliest extant records) was a member of The Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia. The traces of his growing prominence in the building…

Fox, Joseph
Joseph Fox was a master builder and one of the most prominent leaders among the craftsmen of Philadelphia on the eve of the Revolution. The son of Justinian and Elizabeth (Yard) Fox, Joseph Fox was apprenticed toJames Portuesand became one of his…

Thornhill, Joseph
Joseph Thornhill was the son of John and Elizabeth Thornhill, elder brother of master builder John Thornhill and uncle of master builder Joseph Thornhill, Jr.. As early as 1756 he was a resident of Philadelphia's Mulberry Ward and continued to live…

John Thornhill, "one of the most celebrated mechanicks in this or any other state...particulary distinguished for his abilities as an Architect," was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Thornhill. In 1741 he married Jane Cook at Christ Church who the…

Smith, Robert
Characterized as "among the most important and skilled archiect-builders in colonial America" by his biographer Charles Peterson, the chief Philadelphia claimant for the title of America's first architect is the master builder Robert Smith who was…

Loxley, Benjamin
Benjamin Loxley was a prominent master builder who, according to his obituary, was conspicuous for talents, ingenuity and industry; as a citizen, distinguished for active participation and usefulness; and as a man, for integrity and the faithful…

Worrell, James
The master builder James Worrell first comes to historical attention when he married Hannah Parsons, daughter of William Parsons, at Christ Church on 11 October 1749. When his father-in-law died in 1757, Worrell received forty pounds with which he…

Goodwin, John, Jr.
John Goodwin, Jr., was a successful master buider elected to The Carpenters' Company before 1763 although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date of his membership. Highly respected by his colleagues, Goodwin served on the…

Carlile, Abraham
Abraham Carlile was a master builder and lumber merchant. The exact date of his election to The Carpenters Company is unknown because all company records prior to the 1760s are lost. He was, however, an active member and one of the largest…

Davis, Jr., James
James Davis, Jr., was the son of a house carpenter and a successful master builder in his own right. The Carpenters' Company lists him as an early member; he is first mentioned as present at meetings in 1766, although no Company records prior to the…

Master builder Ellis Price was elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of the earliest surviving records from the 1760s. In 1756 he married Sarah Osborne at Christ Church and was disowned by the Friends the following year. At the time of…

Bedford, Gunning
Gunning Bedford was an important master builder who remained active in the building trades throughout his life, although few buildings can firmly be attributed to him. The son of Gunning and Mary Bedford of New Castle (DE), he appears in Philadelphia…

Nevell, Thomas
The master builder/architect Thomas Nevell, who designed the most famous Philadelphia country house--Mt. Pleasant (1763)--and founded a school of architecture in Philadelphia (1771), was the son of Thomas and Mary Nevell. By 1730 both of his parents…

Armitage, James
James Armitage was a master builder elected Warden of The Carpenters Company (1770) and Assistant Master (1781). He took one Isaac McAlee as an apprentice in 1773. Armitage was the principal carpenter for the construction of Old Pine Presbyterian…

Griscom, Samuel
Samuel Griscom was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company before 1766 although no records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date of his membership. His daughter was Elizabeth Ross (Betsy Ross, 1752-1836). Biography…

Master builder James Pearson was an early member of The Carpenters' Company, although the actual date of his election is unknown because of the loss of all Company records prior to 1763. In those earliest surviving records, Pearson is mentioned as a…

The master builder John Wayne is traditionally carried on the rolls of The Carpenters' Company as a member elected prior to the earliest surviving Company records of the 1760s. Wayne died in 1765, and letters of administration were issued to Thomas…

Roberts, William
William Roberts was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of the earliest surviving records; he was first present at a Company meeting in 1768. Roberts was an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan,…

Budd, Levi
Levi Budd (1726-1790) was a master builder of the Northern Liberties who became a member of The Carpenters' Company prior to 1770. Elected Assistant of The Company, 1780-1782, he was one of the six members "displaying designs in architecture" at the…

Plim, Jr., George
George Plim (Plym) was an early member of The Carpenters' Company who first appears in the extant records on April 19, 1770, where it is recorded that "haveing some ago desired to have his name discontinued as a Member, now Attended the Compy mett,…

Lefever, Isaac
Isaac Lefever was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1767. Isaac Lefever begins with an easily traceable history that quickly becomes obscure during the American Revolution. After the Company directed Evan Peters to make a…

Armitt, Richard
Richard Armitt was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia prior to 1767. He supplied lumber for the decoration of John Cadwalader's town house on Second Street, 1769-1770, and is recorded as taking on Alexander Duguid as…

Potter, James
James Potter was a master builder from the Southwark section of the city elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of extant Company records of the 1760s; he is first recorded as present at a meeting in 1769. He was an "encourager" to the…

Benjamin Mifflin was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company by 1770, although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to provide a date. He was often absent from Philadelphia, and references to his working in northern Delaware…

Wood, George
The master builder George Wood was a resident of the North Ward of Philadelphia in 1769 (he lived near Isaac Zane, Sr.) and of the Northern Liberties in 1774. There is confusion concerning his election to The Carpenters' Company that suggests two men…

Worrell, Ezekiel
The master builder Ezekiel Worrell became a member of The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of the earliest surviving Company records of the 1760s. He is first noted as present at a meeting of The Company in 1770. On 7 August 1760 Worrell had…

Josiah Harper was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1763. Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and Builderswebsite.

Rakestraw, Joseph
oseph was one of the most prominent master builders of the years immediately before and after the Revolution. The son of Joseph and Elizabeth Fox Rakestraw, he had become important in Carpenters' Company affairs by the 1760s, although his date of…

Engles, Silas
Silas Engles was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1770, but no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date of his membership. From 1779 through 1790 he served as a committeeman or officer of The Company,…
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