Wilson Jewell papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS 2/080

Scope and Contents

This small collection of Wilson Jewell's letters, marriage certificates, and other items provides documentation of his personal life, 1824-1867, as well as the history of the Jewell family. The collection is divided into three series: letters and documents relating to Wilson Jewell, 1824-1867; a letter of his son, Howard L. Jewell, 1905; and papers relating to the Jewell family, 1821-1977.

Items of note in the collection are, in Series 1, a letter, 1 May 1867, from Jewell to his son, Howard L., and grandson, Harry L., in which he describes his transatlantic voyage and the sights of Paris, France; Charlotte M. Jewell's eulogy of her husband, circa 1867; and, in Series 3, a Jewell family genealogical chart, compiled by Wilson Jewell's great great granddaughter, Alice Jewell Charlton Powell, in 1977.

Dates

1821 - 1977
Majority of material found within 1821 - 1867

Creator

Jewell, Wilson (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Wilson Jewell, Philadelphia physician, was born on 12 November 1800, the son of Kenneth Jewell, a tailor and draper. Jewell married Rachel Lyons (1801-1865) on 22 April 1824; they had nine children. Jewell married Charlotte MacMullen on 18 April 1867. He died of heart disease in Philadelphia on 4 November 1867.

Jewell received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1824, then travelled to China. On his return, he married and began his medical practice in Branchtown, Pennsylvania. He came to Philadelphia in 1828.

Wilson Jewell had a keen interest in public health and researched cholera and yellow fever. In 1835, he became Physician to the House of Refuge. He was president of Philadelphia's Board of Health and helped formulate laws for the registration of births, marriages, and deaths. He was also president of the Quarantine and Sanitary Commission in 1867, vice president of the American Medical Association, president of the Philadelphia Medical Society, and a member of the Northern Medical Association and the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania. He became a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1851.

Extent

2 folders (13 items)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Physical Location

Small collections and flat files

Custodial History

This collection of Wilson Jewell's personal and family papers was donated to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by Robert K. and Alice Jewell Charlton Powell of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, in 1977, on four separate occasions: 12 January, 9 March, 13 June, and 20 September.

The collection was processed and catalogued in April 1990. At the time of processing, a printed catalogue from the sale of Jewell's library in 1867 could not be located.