Elizabeth Willing Powel

Elizabeth Willing Powel (February 21, 1743 [O.S. February 10, 1742/43] – January 17, 1830) was an American socialite and patriot during the American Revolution. The daughter and later wife of mayors of Philadelphia, she was a politically connected woman who hosted well-attended and high-profile parties, after the fashion of a French salon, which became a staple of political life in the city. She corresponded widely, including with the political elite of the time, and was instrumental in convincing George Washington to continue for a second term as president.

Elizabeth Willing Powel
Portrait of Elizabeth Willing Powel
by Matthew Pratt, c. 1793
Born
Elizabeth Willing

(1743-02-21)February 21, 1743
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British America
DiedJanuary 17, 1830(1830-01-17) (aged 86)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeChrist Church Burial Ground
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1769; died 1793)
Parent(s)Charles Willing (father)
Relatives
Signature

Powel is said to be the person who asked Benjamin Franklin, "What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?", to which he reportedly said, "A republic ... if you can keep it",[lower-alpha 1] an often quoted statement about the Constitution of the United States. The story of Powel's exchange with Franklin was adapted over time, with the role played by Powel all but removed in 20th-century versions. The setting of the exchange was revised from her home at Powel House to the steps of Independence Hall. Powel herself was often replaced with an anonymous "lady".

After her husband Samuel Powel's death in 1793, Powel managed the family's estate and business dealings until her own death in 1830. Powel House was later renovated and reopened to the public as a museum. She had also inherited a country estate on which she built a home for her adopted son John Hare Powel. The estate later became part of Powelton Village in Philadelphia.

Early life and family

Elizabeth Willing was born in Philadelphia on February 21, 1743 [O.S. February 10, 1742/43],[5][6] to Charles and Ann (née Shippen[7][8]) Willing, both prominent Philadelphians of their day.[9][10] Charles immigrated to the city at the age of 18 as a merchant in foreign trade. He was twice elected as mayor of Philadelphia in 1748 and 1754.[11] Ann descended from a Quaker family of successful merchants who emigrated to the Colonies three generation prior.[12] The family lived in a house on the corner of Third Street and Willings Alley in Philadelphia.[5][13] While the details of her education are unknown, according to historian David W. Maxey, the family was wealthy enough to easily afford private tutoring, and the content of Elizabeth's writing indicates a quality education.[5]

Elizabeth had five elder siblings, Thomas, Ann, Dorothy, Charles, and Mary, and five younger siblings, Richard, Abigail, Joseph, James, and Margaret.[14] Dorothy was married to Walter Stirling in 1953, Mary to William Byrd III in 1961, and Ann to Tench Francis Jr. in 1962.[14][15] This made Elizabeth the eldest of her unmarried sisters, and Thomas, who had inherited their home after their father's death in 1954, was married to Ann McCall in 1963 and began to quickly fill the house with more children. This all resulted in increased pressure on Elizabeth to find a suitor. Rumors at the time spoke of Elizabeth's potential engagement with John Dickinson, author of the widely circulated Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. However, Elizabeth denied any such relationship in private letters to her sister Mary, assuring her that, should such a relationship exist, Mary would have been among the first to know.[15] In a wedding officiated by Jacob Duché at Christ Church on August 7, 1769, Elizabeth married Samuel Powel.[16][17] Also of Quaker ancestry, Samuel was well-traveled and, at the time, one of the richest merchants of Philadelphia. As a young man, he had inherited a fortune from his grandfather of the same name who died in 1756.[16] He later became the last colonial and first post-Revolution mayor of Philadelphia.[9] Their marriage brought together two of the most prominent mercantile families in the city.[18]

Powel gave birth four times,[6][17] but none of her children lived for long. Her first son was christened Samuel Jr. before he died on July 14, 1771. On August 6, 1771, her second child, a girl, was stillborn or as Elizabeth wrote "at most but just breathed". Another boy was stillborn on April 2, 1772. Her fourth child, and third son, was christened Samuel C. but died at two weeks old on July 11, 1775.[19] The death of all her children and her constant depression throughout her life was reflected in her correspondence.[20] She kept a lock of hair from both her sons named Samuel and wrote often of her loss, lamenting her unfulfilled dreams of motherhood.[19][20]

Public life
Portrait of Powel by Matthew Pratt, c. 1769[21]

On August 2, 1769, five days before the Powels' marriage, Samuel purchased their home, later known as Powel House, located on South Third Street in Philadelphia,[6][22] just south of Elizabeth's childhood home.[23][24] Here she hosted well-attended and high-profile parties, after the fashion of a French salon, which became a staple of political life in the city.[6] Elizabeth encouraged political discourse and often opined on matters of state herself. Elizabeth's sister, Ann Francis, wrote to their sibling Mary Byrd of the "uncommon command [Elizabeth] has of language and [how her] ideas flow with rapidity."[25] French nobleman François-Jean de Chastellux recalled that, rather than her husband as the foremost political thinker of the family, "contrary to American custom, [Mrs. Powel] plays the leading role in the family."[26][27]

During the 1774 meeting of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Powel opened her home to the delegates and their families, hosting dinner parties and events to discuss the politics of the day.[26][lower-alpha 2] As historian Zara Anishanslin observes, most women were excluded from the political institutions of the day, and hosting politicians and prominent public figures in a domestic setting became their opportunity to take a leading role in political discourse.[26]

During the occupation of the city as part of the Philadelphia campaign, the family home was taken over by the British. Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, used the ballroom as his military headquarters from winter to early spring of 1778.[30] For two weeks in June 1778, Carlisle personally commandeered the Powel's bed chambers, forcing them to move to a wing of their home that housed the household servants.[31][32] Carlisle and the Powels often dined together and discussed politics. He found them to be "very agreeable, sensible people".[33][30] When British troops withdrew from the city, Elizabeth emerged among the most prominent Philadelphian socialites of the post-revolution period, helping to establish the "Republican Court" of the leading intellectual and political figures of colonial America.[32][34][35]

Powel played host to contemporary elites including Benjamin Rush, the Marquis de Lafayette, and John Adams.[34] She maintained frequent correspondence with her interlocutors.[lower-alpha 3] She discussed politics, and the education and social standing of women, exchanged poetry, recommended books, and reviewed scientific findings in medicine and physics.[37] She frequently studied and wrote on the subject of health, prompting Elizabeth Hamilton to later recall, "[r]emember Mrs. Powel on the advantages of health, and disadvantages of the want of it."[38] When Rush published his Thoughts upon Female Education (1787), he dedicated the work to Powel.[39][40]

Friendship with Washington
The Antifederalist would use [retirement] as an Argument for dissolving the Union, and would urge that you, from Experience, had found the present System a bad one, and had, artfully, withdrawn from it that you might not be crushed under its Ruins ...For Gods sake do not yield that Empire to a Love of Ease, Retirement, rural Pursuits, or a false Diffidence of Abilities ...

– Elizabeth Powel to George Washington, November 17, 1792[41]

Elizabeth was a close friend and confidant to George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and later the first president of the United States. She was also a friend of his wife, Martha. George and Elizabeth corresponded regularly.[42][6][lower-alpha 4] On January 6, 1779, the Powels hosted a Twelfth Night ball attended by the Washingtons, who were celebrating the 20th anniversary of their marriage.[44][45]

In November 1792, Washington confided in Powel that he intended to step down at the end of his first term as president. In her own words, her "mind was thrown into a Train of Reflections" and she considered it "inconsistent with [their] Friendship" to withhold her thoughts. She wrote Washington urging him to reconsider, and taking her advice seriously, he agreed to a second term.[6][41] A few months later in February 1793, President Washington commissioned a poem by Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson as a gift to Powel for her 50th birthday.[46][47]

"A republic ... if you can keep it"
James McHenry's diary entry dated September 18, 1787, which reads: "A lady asked Dr. Franklin well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it."[6] He later added the footnote about "Mrs. Powel".[3]

In September 1787, in the final days of the Constitutional Convention formed to draft the Constitution of the United States, Powel is said to have shared an exchange with Benjamin Franklin, for which she is most often remembered. According to the historians Maxey and Anishanslin, she asked Franklin, "What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" referring to the governmental structure of the newly formed United States. Franklin is said to have responded, "A republic ... if you can keep it."[3][26][48] The first account of the story was recorded by a delegate of the Convention, James McHenry, on the last page of his journal about the Convention. The entry, dated September 18, 1787, also records that "The lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philad[elphi]a."[4][26] On July 15, 1803, McHenry published an extended version of the conversation in The Republican, or Anti-Democrat, a short-lived anti-Jeffersonian newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland:[3][49][50]

Powel: Well, Doctor, what have we got?[lower-alpha 5]
Franklin: A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.[lower-alpha 6]
Powel: And why not keep it?
Franklin: Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.

The story was republished by a number of contemporary newspapers. Writing in 1814, Powel could not recall, but would not deny that the interaction had taken place:[6]

I have no recollection of any such conversations ... Yet I cannot venture to deny after so many Years have elapsed that such conversations had passed. I well remember to have frequently associated with the most respectable, influential Members of the Convention that framed the Constitution, and that the all-important Subject was frequently discussed at our House.

Later life and death
Madam Powel by Francis Alexander, c. 1825

In 1793, Philadelphia underwent an epidemic of yellow fever, during which the Washingtons invited the Powels to seek refuge at Mount Vernon. The family decided instead to remain in the city, where Samuel contracted and later died of the disease on September 29.[6][51] Powel never remarried and lived for more than three decades after her husband's death.[52] Following the death of George Washington in December 1799, she was among the first to write to the widowed Martha,[6][20][53] and continued correspondence with the Washington family, including George's nephew, Bushrod Washington, for whom she had purchased a gift of black satin robes upon his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1799.[6]

Powel oversaw the management of her husband's estate and wrote increasingly on the subject of business.[38] She adopted her sister Margaret Willing Hare's son, John Hare Powel, who assumed her married name and, upon her death, would inherit her wealth.[54][17] Elizabeth assumed ownership of her late husband's country estate, Powelton. She began building a new house on the property on May 13, 1800.[55]

Elizabeth sold Powel House in 1798[56] and spent her final years in a mansion on Chestnut Street, a short distance from Independence Hall.[57] A month before her death, attendants at a dinner party reported she was in a state of "nervous irritability and mental distress," questioning "have I ever done good in my life? Can people go to Heaven without doing good?"[58] She died on January 17, 1830,[59] and her funeral five days later was, according to Maxey, a well attended "social event and a religious experience" presided over by William White, the bishop of Pennsylvania.[52] She is buried beside her husband in the cemetery at Christ Church in Philadelphia.[58]

John Hare inherited most of Powel's wealth including Powelton.[60] This estate in Blockley Township included a Greek Revival country home Elizabeth had built in the early 1800s and which John Hare expanded, in 1824–25, with designs from architect William Strickland.[61] He also inherited her mansion on Chestnut Street which he converted into a hotel named Marshall House[62] and leased to Samuel Badger who operated it from 1837 to 1841.[63]

Legacy
Powel House, early 20th century

In 1925, the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the interior decoration of Powel House, including the woodwork. The second-floor parlor was reconstructed as an exhibit inside the museum.[64] Under the leadership of Frances Wister, the house located at 244 South Third Street was purchased in 1931 by the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks (PhilaLandmarks).[65] On May 28, 1934, the Philadelphia Museum of Art returned the interior elements to the house[66] which was fully restored and furnished with pieces from the 18th century.[67] It was opened to the public as a museum on November 23, 1938.[68][69] In late 2016 or early 2017, a descendant of John Hare found a previously undiscovered cache of documents belonging to Elizabeth in a false-bottom trunk. The collection of about 256 pages, consisting mostly of financial records and inventories in her handwriting, were given to PhilaLandmarks for safekeeping.[70]

According to Mickey Herr of PhilaLandmarks, Powel's relationship with Washington was later "looked at with jaded eyes". Herr specifically criticized the 1986 miniseries George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation[70]—in which Powel is played by Penny Fuller[71]—for portraying her as "a flibbertigibbet of the first order".[70] In 2015, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia hosted a play entitled Com[promising] Future, examining the exchange between Franklin and Powel at the time of the Constitutional Convention.[72][73]

The story of Powel's exchange with Franklin was adapted over time, with the role played by Powel all but removed in 20th-century versions,[26] while Franklin's response continued to be attributed to him after the quote's publication in The American Historical Review in 1908.[49] Over time, the setting of the exchange was revised from Powel House to the steps of Independence Hall. Powel herself was often replaced with an anonymous "lady". When she is included in biographer Walter Isaacson's 2003 book, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Powel was portrayed not as a prominent figure of importance and intelligence but as an "anxious lady" who "accosted" Franklin. According to Anishanslin, Isaacson further diminishes her role by relaying her question in the passive form "what have you given us?" instead of the original "what have we got?".[26]

During the December 2019 impeachment of Donald Trump, Powel's exchange with Franklin experienced a resurgence in popular culture. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in opening the debate to adopt the articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives, made a reference to Franklin's quote.[49] Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch's book published a few months before was also entitled A Republic, If You Can Keep It.[26] Gorsuch attributes the question posed to Franklin to a "passerby".[74] Neither Pelosi nor Gorsuch mentioned Powel.[26]

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See also

Notes
  1. Some sources quote Franklin's response as "A republic, madam ..."[1] as James McHenry retold the story in The Republican, or Anti-Democrat newspaper on July 15, 1803.[2] McHenry's original diary entry during the Convention reads: "A lady asked Dr. Franklin well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it."[3][4]
  2. John Adams wrote in his diary of the provisions provided for guests: "Again a most sinful feast, curds and creams, jellies, sweetmeats of all sorts, twenty kinds of tarts, truffles, floating-island, sylabubs, etc., in fact everything that could delight the eye or allure the taste.[28][29]
  3. According to an estimate by Samantha Snyder, reference librarian at George Washington's Mount Vernon, more than 500 of Powel's letters survived, and were identified among the collections of institutions across the United States.[36]
  4. While her relationship with Washington lasted well after her husband's death, up until Washington's own death in 1799, theirs was not a romantic relationship. As Cassandra Good, Marymount University professor of history and politics pointed out in The Atlantic, it was "fully in keeping with the customs of the period" for "most elite men [to have] female friends".[43]
  5. In his earlier journal entry, this question was posed as "... what have we got a republic or a monarchy?"[6][2]
  6. McHenry's earlier journal entry did not include "Madam".[2]

References
  1. Metaxas 2017, p. 9.
  2. Bell, J. L. (March 27, 2017). "How Dr. McHenry Operated on His Anecdote". Boston 1774. Archived from the original on January 5, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  3. Bell, J. L. (March 25, 2017). "'A republic…if you can keep it.'". Boston 1775. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. McHenry, James (April 12, 2008). "Diary, September 18, 1787. Manuscript. James McHenry Papers, Manuscript Division". Library of Congress. Convention and Ratification – Creating the United States (63.02.00). Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020. [Digital ID# us0063_02p1].
  5. Maxey 2006, p. 17.
  6. Snyder, Samantha. "Elizabeth Willing Powel". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  7. Maxey 2006, p. 16.
  8. Anishanslin 2016, p. 173.
  9. Watson 2012, p. 71.
  10. Templier 2013, p. 17.
  11. Jordan 2004, p. 124.
  12. Anishanslin 2016, p. 171–173.
  13. Carlisle, Dennis (April 3, 2017). "A Tradition Of Demolition At 3rd and Willing's Alley". Hidden City. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  14. Johnson 1905, pp. 247–248.
  15. Maxey 2006, pp. 16–18.
  16. Maxey 2006, p. 19.
  17. Templier 2013, p. 18.
  18. Kirtley 2012, p. E14.
  19. Snyder, Samantha (May 1, 2019). "New Discoveries on the Powel Children Pt. III". Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  20. Anderson, Alicia K. (July 5, 2017). "Friends in Grief: Martha Washington and Elizabeth Willing Powel". The Washington Papers. University of Virginia. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  21. Tatum 1976, p. 17.
  22. Gallery 1994, p. 28.
  23. Maxey 2006, p. 20.
  24. Templier 2013, p. 20.
  25. Maxey 2006, pp. 29–30.
  26. Anishanslin, Zara (October 29, 2019). "What we get wrong about Ben Franklin's 'a republic, if you can keep it'". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  27. Tatum 1976, p. 16.
  28. Peeke 1917, pp. 18–19.
  29. Mercur 1942, pp. 55–56.
  30. Kopaczewski 2017, p. 18.
  31. Maxey 2006, pp. 24–25.
  32. Templier 2013, p. 22.
  33. Jesse 1901, p. 275.
  34. "The Powel House". North American Reciprocal Museums. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  35. Leibiger, Stuart. "U.S. Presidency (1790–1800)". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  36. "Elizabeth Willing Powel's Republic of Letters". samanthasnyder.org. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  37. Templier 2013, p. 62.
  38. Templier 2013, p. 63.
  39. Maxey 2006, p. 71.
  40. Mulford 1995, p. 229.
  41. "To George Washington from Elizabeth Willing Powel, 17 November 1792". Founders Online. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  42. Fraser 2015, p. 288.
  43. Good, Cassandra (September 28, 2018). "Did George Washington 'Have a Couple of Things in His Past'?". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  44. Fraser 2015, p. 233.
  45. Kopaczewski 2017, pp. 18–19.
  46. Good 2015, p. 152.
  47. "From George Washington to Elizabeth Willing Powel, February 1793". Founders Online. National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  48. Maxey 2006, p. 30.
  49. Brockell, Gillian (December 18, 2019). "'A republic, if you can keep it': Did Ben Franklin really say Impeachment Day's favorite quote?". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  50. Bell, J. L. (March 26, 2017). "'This prophetic answer of the Doctor'". Boston 1775. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  51. Smith, M. Earl. "Samuel Powel". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  52. Maxey 2006, p. 3.
  53. Wigge, Mary K. (April 19, 2018). "Condolences: Personal And Public". The Washington Papers. University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  54. Simpson 1859, pp. 808–809.
  55. Wood 1967, p. 147.
  56. Funk 2015, p. 1.
  57. Maxey 2006, p. 51.
  58. Maxey 2006, p. 4.
  59. "Died". National Gazette and Literary Register. January 19, 1830. p. 2. Retrieved February 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  60. Wood 1967, p. 145.
  61. Wood 1967, pp. 145–150.
  62. Hawkins 1988, p. 11.
  63. Hawkins 1988, p. 14.
  64. Kirtley 2012, pp. E19–E20.
  65. Mires, Charlene (2019). "Historic Preservation". The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  66. Kirtley 2012, p. E22.
  67. Open House TV (June 2, 2017). "The Powel House". YouTube. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  68. "Powel House: Political Intrigue. Influence. Sinful Feasts". Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  69. "Our History". Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  70. Herr, Mickey (June 14, 2017). "A Woman Rediscovered: A false-bottomed trunk and an apparent love of citron cake". Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  71. Marill 2008, p. 536.
  72. Loeb, Pat (July 2, 2015). "Philadelphia Teen Wins Constitution Center's Playwriting Contest". CBS Philly. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  73. "Com[Promising] Future New Performance at National Constitution Center". National Constitution Center. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  74. Gorsuch 2019, p. 8.

Sources

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