Chew family (Colonial Philadelphia)

Chew family (Colonial Philadelphia)
Name	Chew family
Origin	Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania
Founded	17th century
Founder	Samuel Chew
Region	Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland
Notable	Benjamin Chew; Samuel Chew; Margaret Chew; Edward Shippen; Philip Syng; Tench Coxe

Contents

Chew family (Colonial Philadelphia) The Chew family were a prominent Anglo-American lineage in Colonial Philadelphia associated with Province of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Burlington County, New Jersey, Chester County, Pennsylvania and neighboring colonies. Through marriage, landholding, and legal practice they intersected with figures such as William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and institutions including Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Christ Church, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania and Old Swedes' Church. Their networks tied them to families like the Shippen family, Bartram family, Cadwalader family, Livingston family, Powel family, Galloway family and Biddle family.

Origins and Immigration

The Chew line traces to English and Welsh roots with early settlers arriving in the late 17th century during colonization under William Penn and the Proprietorship of Pennsylvania. Samuel Chew established residence in Burlington County, New Jersey and later in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, connecting to land grants issued under Penn and the Province of Pennsylvania charter. Early ties included correspondence and legal transactions with figures such as Edward Shippen and Benjamin Franklin, and land dealings involving neighboring proprietors like John Bartram and James Logan.

Notable members included Chief Justice Benjamin Chew, a litigant and jurist who engaged with legal contemporaries such as John Dickinson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, William Rawle and James Wilson. Samuel Chew served as a colonial physician linked to medical circles around Royal College of Physicians contacts and corresponded with physicians associated with Pennsylvania Hospital and Thomas Bond. Female members connected by marriage included links to Margaret Chew marriages into the Shippen family and alliances with merchant houses such as Samuel Powel and John Brown (merchant). Later descendants intersected with political actors like Tench Coxe and cultural figures like Benjamin West and Charles Willson Peale.

Chew family members held appointments in colonial and early republic institutions: seats on the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, service as justices on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and roles in municipal governance of City of Philadelphia. They engaged in legal debates with John Adams and participated in constitutional discussions alongside Thomas McKean, Robert Morris, George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr. and James Wilson. Civic activities included trusteeships at University of Pennsylvania and governance roles at Pennsylvania Hospital and Christ Church, Philadelphia, often collaborating with contemporaries such as Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Andrew Hamilton (lawyer), Joseph Reed and Aaron Burr.

The Chews amassed wealth through landholding, plantation agriculture, mercantile trade, and legal fees, interacting commercially with the East India Company, Royal African Company, and merchants operating out of Philadelphia port. Estates encompassed rural plantations in Chester County, Pennsylvania and riverfront holdings along the Delaware River and Schuylkill River. Financial connections tied them to banking figures including Stephen Girard, Alexander Hamilton (as Secretary of the Treasury), Robert Morris and merchant networks such as the Baring family and Fitzhugh family. They engaged in commodity markets trading wheat, tobacco, and shipping goods to ports like London, Bristol, New York City and Charleston, South Carolina.

The Chews were patrons of arts, sciences, and philanthropy, sponsoring exhibitions and commissions with artists such as Benjamin West, Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Sully and institutions like the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. They participated in elite social circles alongside the Powel family, the Shippen family, the Cadwalader family, James Logan, John Dickinson, Hugh Mercer and Francis Hopkinson. Religious affiliations connected them to Anglicanism in colonial America, Christ Church, Philadelphia, and benefactors of Old St. Joseph's Church. Cultural patronage extended into botanical exchanges with John Bartram and scientific correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, David Rittenhouse and Caspar Wistar.

Chew residences included landmark properties noted for Georgian and Federal architecture: Cliveden (Benjamin Chew House), Grumblethorpe, Chew House (Germantown), and country estates that hosted visitors such as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Architects, builders, and craftsmen in their employ included connections to Robert Smith (architect), Bodleian Library benefactors and artisans who worked on projects like Independence Hall renovations. Their houses were settings for political salons, art collections featuring works by Benjamin West and Charles Willson Peale, and libraries with volumes tied to the Library Company of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society.

Post-Revolution, the family's fortunes shifted amid political realignments involving Federalists, Democratic-Republicans, and economic transformations influenced by figures like Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris. Portions of their estates passed into families such as the Powel family and Biddle family while properties became preserved sites connected to Historic Germantown and National Park Service stewardship. The Chew legacy persists through preservation of Cliveden, documentation in archives including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and scholarly interest from historians of Colonial America, Early American Republic, Architectural history and Quaker studies.

Category:People from Philadelphia Category:Colonial families of the United States