Browse Items (477 total)

  • Collection: Members

Joseph_Rush.PNG
Description: Joseph Rush was a master builder already active in Carpenters' Company affairs by February 15, 1763, when he was elected to the important committee to set the prices used by masters in measuring carpentry work in Philadelphia. On January 20, 1766, he…
Member number: 60*
Date elected: 1/4/1763

Isaac_Coats.PNG
Description: Isaac Coats, Jr., was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company by 1768 although no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to provide a specific date. He was an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British…
Member number: 53*

Description: Nathaniel Irish was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in the early 1760s, although the loss of early Company records make it impossible to confirm the exact date. He was excluded from The Company in 1769. In 1775 he presented a…
Member number: 54*
Birth date: 1/1/1737

Description: Patrick Craghead was a master builder who became a member of The Carpenters' Company before 1767. He served as a Second Lieutenant in Baldwin's Artillery Artificer Regiment during the Revolution. Written by Sandra L. Tatman, from thePhiladelphia…
Member number: 55*

Mc_Mullin.PNG
Description: William McMullin was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company c.1768 (records unclear) and then dropped from the membership rolls in 1770.Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and Builderswebsite.
Member number: 73*
Date elected: 1/1/1768

Description: William Dilworth was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1763, but no Company records prior to the l760s survive to confirm the date of his membership. From 1763 through 1765 he was a member of the important Company committee…
Member number: 56*

Old_Pine_Church_Carson.jpg
Description: Robert Carson was a master builder who became a member of the Carpenters' Company prior to 1770. He is recorded as having built pews for the Third (Old Pine) Presbyterian Church of 1768. During the American Revolution, English soldiers utilized the…
Member number: 57*

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Description: James Bringhurst was a master builder who subsequently became a successful merchant. He was elected to The Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia before 1768, but no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to give a specific date. Prior to the…
Member number: 66*
Birth date: 1/1/1730
Date elected: 1/9/1763

William_Rakeshaw.PNG
Description: Master builder William Rakestraw is probably the son of William (d.1736)) and grandson of William (d. 1718), making it difficult to sort early references. As a lad he was apprenticed to the leading master builder James Portues who bequeathed him 40…
Member number: 61*
Birth date: 1/1/1718
Date elected: 1/5/1763

John_Hitchcock.PNG
Description: John Hitchcock was a master builder who became a member of the Carpenters' Company in the 1760s, although no Company records prior to 1763 survive to confirm the date of his election. He was the illegitimate son of Joseph Hitchcock, who bequeathed…
Member number: 62*
Date elected: 1/6/1763

Joshua_Pancoast.PNG
Description: Joshua Pancoast was a master builder who briefly appears on the rolls of The Carpenters' Company in 1770, after his death at the age of 32 the previous year. The earliest record of him in Philadelphia was the announcement of his intention to marry…
Member number: 63*
Birth date: 4/2//1737
Date elected: 1/7/1763

Evan_Peters.PNG
Description: Evan Peters was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of the earliest surviving records of the 1760s. He first appears in the Company records early in 1770, the same year he made a pump for The Company's lot. (Making…
Member number: 65*
Date elected: 1/9/1763

Samuel_Powel_1799.PNG
Description: The master builder Samuel Powel has commonly been mistaken for the wealthy and socially prominent Mayor of Philadelphia, Samuel Powel (1738-1793), grandson of Samuel Powell. The date of this Powel's election to The Carpenters' Company is unknown; he…
Member number: 68*

William_Lownes.PNG
Description: William Lownes was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1768. From 1773 through 1775 he was elected a Philadelphia City Assessor and was probably actively floowing his craft inasmuch as he took several apprentices in the early…
Member number: 67*

Joseph_Gridley.PNG
Description: Joseph Gridley was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1767, but no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date of his membership. Inactive in Philadelphia after 1771 and marked as dead in Company records…
Member number: 69*

William_Robinson.PNG
Description: William Robinson was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of surviving records; first present at a Company meeting in 1766; elected Warden of The Company in 1773 but was "Out of the Province" much of that time.…
Member number: 70*

James_Graisbury.PNG
Description: James Graisbury was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to 1769, but no Company records prior to the 1760s survive to confirm the date of his memebership. Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and…
Member number: 71*
Birth date: 1/1/1724

Jacob_Reary.PNG
Description: The master builder Jacob Reary was elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of earliest surviving records of the 1760s. At The Company meeting of April 15, 1771, Thomas Nevell reported that Reary "Stood in Need of Some Assistance After…
Member number: 72*

Thomas_Shoemaker.PNG
Description: Thomas Shoemaker was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company on 1 February 1769, the same year he appears in the Philadelphia tax lists as a resident of the North Ward. He was an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan,…
Member number: 74*
Date elected: 1/1/1769

David_Evans.PNG
Description: David Evans is unfortunately a common eighteenth-century Philadelphia name; the lives of three house carpenters and one cabinetmaker overlap, making it difficult to separate documentary references. Nonetheless, two master builders have been…
Member number: 75*
Birth date: 1/1/1733
Date elected: 1/2/1769

David_Evans.PNG
Description: William Colladay was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1769, serving as a member of various committees throughout the l770s. One of several master builders who were active in civic affairs in the last quarter of the eighteenth…
Member number: 76*
Birth date: 1/1/1738
Date elected: 1/3/1769

Abraham_Jones.PNG
Description: Abraham Jones was a successful master builder from Southwark elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1770, and brother of Isaac Jones. He was an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British Architect (R. Bell for J. Norman,…
Member number: 77*
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Thomas_Middleton.PNG
Description: Thomas Middleton was a master builder believed to have come to Philadelphia in 1762 from Monmouth County, New Jersey. He signed the articles of The Carpenters' Company in 1770 and died the following year. Written by Roger W. Moss, from…
Member number: 78*
Birth date: 1/1/1716
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Description: William Boyer was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1770. He was an "encourager" to the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British Architect (Philadelphia: R. Ball for J. Norman, 1775). Boyer was listed in the Mulberry…
Member number: 79*
Date elected: 1/1/1770

andrew_edge_1774.PNG
Description: Andrew Edge was a master builder who erected several speculative houses on Fifth and Sixth Streets in the 1760s and 1770s. On the recommendation of Benjamin Loxley, he was elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1770 but rarely attended meetings.…
Member number: 82*
Birth date: 8/10/1736
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Samuel_Jarvis.PNG
Description: Samuel Jervis was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1770. He was an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British Architect (R. Bell for J. Norman, 1775), the first book on architecture published in…
Member number: 83*
Birth date: 1/1/1748
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Samuel_Wallis_1781.PNG
Description: The master builder Samuel Wallis signed the Articles of The Carpenters' Company on 16 July 1770. Never regular in his attendance at Company meetings, he may have been out of Pennsylvania much of the time. (There was a Samuel Wallis in Harford County,…
Member number: 84*
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Benjamin_Mitchell_1798.PNG
Description: Benjamin Mitchell was a master builder who joined the Friendship Carpenters' Company in 1770; and when that company merged with The Carpenters' Company in 1786, he signed the articles. Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and…
Member number: 141*
Date elected: 1/16/1786

Description: Samuel Caruthers was a house carpenter elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1771, although he never signed the articles and there is no record of his attending meetings. He is primarily of interest as a manufacturer and dealer in hand tools for the…
Member number: 89*
Date elected: 1/2/1771

Description: John Allen was a Master Builder proposed for membership in The Carpenters' Company by Thomas Nevell, and Abraham Carlile. He was elected on April 15, 1771, but died without taking part in any recorded activities of The Company. Written by Roger W.…
Member number: 90a*
Birth date: 1/1/1721
Date elected: 4/15/1771

Description: The master builder Moses Thomas was married in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1742. The date of his arrival in Philadelphia is unknown, as is the date of his election to The Carpenters' Company; he appears to have signed the articles of The Company…
Member number: 90*
Date elected: 1/1/1772

Description: Thomas Procter was an Irish-born master builder who, wishing to improve his understanding of the "art of architecture," studied with Thomas Nevell in 1771. The following year he was elected to membership in The Carpenters' Company, the same year…
Member number: 91*
Birth date: 1/1/1739
Date elected: 1/2/1772

Description: Although trained to the craft of house carpentry, Adam Zantzinger spent most of his life as a merchant. He was elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1772 and signed the Articles the following year, even though he was advertising his ironmongery store…
Member number: 92*
Birth date: 8/18/1746
Date elected: 1/3/1772

Description: ohn Keen, eldest son of Matthias and Mary (Swift) Keen, was born in Philadelphia and apprenticed to Robert Smith. He became a member of The Carpenters' Company in 1772 and rapidly joined the inner circle of master builders; he served The Company as a…
Member number: 93
Birth date: 3/29/1747
Date elected: 1/4/1772

Description: Joseph Evans was a master builder from Dock Ward nominated to the Friendship Carpenters Company by Robert Evans and elected to membership in 1772. Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and Builderswebsite.
Member number: 94*
Date elected: 1/5/1772

Description: Joseph Govett was a master builder proposed for membership in The Carpenters' Company several times (1765, 1771, 1772) but was blocked from admission until 1772 because of his membership in the Journeymen Carpenters' Company. He was an "encourager"…
Member number: 96*
Birth date: 12/13/1739
Date elected: 1/1/1772

Description: John Lort was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1773, the same year as his partnership with Thomas Nevell. The partners were paid 47 pounds 13 shillings 10 pence for work performed at Carpenters' Hall that was then under…
Member number: 95*
Birth date: 1/1/1752
Date elected: 1/1/1773

Description: Joseph Ogilby was a leading master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1773. He became a Warden of The Company in 1775 but was replaced the next year when it was reported that he had left the city. Ogilby was an "encourager" to the…
Member number: 97*
Birth date: 1/1/1737
Date elected: 1/1/1773

Description: William Williams was one of the leading master builder/proto-architects in late eighteenth-century Philadelphia. He first comes to notice with a provocative advertisement in the Pennsylvania Packet for January 4, 1773: William Williams, a native of…
Member number: 98*
Birth date: 1/1/1749
Date elected: 1/1/1773

Description: Robert Allison, a talented carpenter and master builder, proved to be one of the Carpenters’ Company’s most colorful members. Carpenter, master builder, land speculator and developer, he was a strong supporter of the American cause. Well-known…
Member number: 99
Date elected: 1/1/1773

Description: George Forepaugh was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1774 and served as Warden from 1780. According to Hazard's Register, he was the master carpenter for the Senate gallery of Congress Hall, 1795. When Forepaugh died in 1817,…
Member number: 101*
Birth date: 10/19/1743
Date elected: 1/1/1774

Description: Samuel McClure was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1774. For a brief period (1781-1782) he served The Company as a Warden. In 1779 he was assessed for a tax of 1 pound and 10 shillings for the state tax in the Dock…
Member number: 102*
Date elected: 1/1/1774

Description: Joseph Few was a master builder nominated to The Carpenters' Company by William Williams and elected 17 April 1775, although he never signed the Articles. He built a residence at 301 Pine st. 1774-1775. This building was later occupied by Thaddeus…
Member number: 103*
Date elected: 1/1/1775

Description: John Smith, son of the master builder/architect Robert Smith, was registered as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia from July 1760 to April 1765. He was listed as the administrator of his father's estate in 1777, and, in fact, was…
Member number: 104*
Date elected: 1/1/1779

Ashton_Trip.PNG
Description: William Ashton was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company on April 19, 1770. He was an encourager to the 1775, Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British Architect. Written by Roger W. Moss, from thePhiladelphia Architects and…
Member number: 80*
Date elected: 1/2/1770

Ashton_Trip.PNG
Description: The master builder John Trip was elected to The Carpenters' Company on April 19, 1770, but rarely attended meetings. In 1800 it was reported that he was living in Wilmington, Delaware. Some Company records indicate that he was expelled from…
Member number: 81*
Date elected: 1/1/1770

Joseph_Rhoads.PNG
Description: The Southwark master builder Joseph Rhoads was elected to The Carpenters' Company prior to the date of earliest surviving records. He first is recorded as present at a Company meeting in 1767, and he served on various Company committees in 1770s. On…
Member number: 52*

Description: Matthias Sadler was a master builder apprenticed to Joseph Ogilby from 1771 until 1776. He served during the Revolution in Baldwin's Artillery Artificer Regiment and by 1780 appears as a resident of Mulberry Ward in Philadelphia. On April 30, 1781 he…
Member number: 105*
Date elected: 1/1/1781

Description: James Gibson was a master builder and an "encourager" of the Philadelphia edition of Abraham Swan's The British Architect (R. Bell for J. Norman, 1775), the first book on architecture published in America. Throughout the Revolution he served, as did…
Member number: 106*
Date elected: 1/1/1782

Description: George Ingels was a master builder elected to The Carpenters' Company in 1782, and he actively served The Company as a member of committees or an officer (President, 1795-1813). He marched at the head of 450 "architects and house carpenters" in the…
Member number: 107*
Date elected: 1/2/1782
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