514 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



" Miss Elizabeth Sbewell became I 

 acquainted Tvith Benjamin West, after- 

 ■wards the celebrated artist, and they , 

 fell in love with each other. West at 

 that time, although descended from a [ 

 good family, was poor and little known. 

 Stephen Shewell wished his sister to ; 

 marry another suitor, which she refused 

 to do, in consequence of her attachment 

 to West. The brother objected to West 

 on account of his poverty and obscurity, 

 and he was forbidden to come to the 

 house. Miss Shewell. however, con- 

 tinued to see him elsewhere, and they 

 became engaged to be married. West 

 then determined to go to Europe and 

 prosecute his studies and profession 

 there, and Miss Shewell promised him 

 that when he uotified her of his ability 

 to maintain her and of his wish for her 

 to come to him, she would proceed to join 

 him in any part of Europe and marry 

 him. Her brother was informed of her 

 meetings with West, and of the engage- 

 ments she had entered iuto with him ; so 

 to prevent any further intercourse be- 

 tween them he confined her to her cham- 

 ber and kept her under lock and key 

 until after Wesfs departure for Europe. 

 ''West pursued his studies and pro- 

 fession for some time in various places 

 on the Continent, and finally settled at 

 London, where he soon met with sufH- 

 cient patronage to justify him in calling • 

 on Miss Shewell to fulfill her promise. 

 He then made arrangements for her to 

 come to him in the same vessel that 

 conveyed his request to her, and also 

 that his father should accompany her 

 on the voyage. Upon the receipt of 

 his message, Miss Shewell prepared for 

 her departure, but her brother was 

 apprised of her intention, and again 

 confined her to her chamber. Her en- 

 gagement to West was well known in 

 Philadelphia, and her brother's tyran- 

 nical treatment of her excited great 

 indignation against him, and strong 

 sympathy for his sister. In this state 

 of things, the late Bishop White, who 

 was my guest on his last patriarchal 

 visit to Easton, told us that he, (then 

 about eighteen years of age,) and Dr. 

 Franklin, (about fifty-nine years of 

 age,) and Francis Hopkinson, (twenty- 

 nine years of age,) when the vessel was 

 ready to sail, procured a rope ladder, 

 went to the cai)tain and engaged him to 

 set sail as soon as they brought a lady 

 on board; took old Mr. West to the 



ship, and went at midnight to Stephen 

 Shewell's house, attached the ladder to 

 a window in Miss Shewell's chamber, 

 and got her safely out and to the vessel, 

 which sailed a few minutes after she 

 entered it. 



'• I observed to the Bishop that few 

 persons who knew him now, would 

 believe that he had once turned knight- 

 errant, and liberated an imprisoned 

 damsel from confinement. He replied 

 that Miss Shewell's case was a hard 

 one, and all her friends were indignant 

 at the treatment she had received ; that 

 he had done right ; and he added, with 

 warmth, if it were to do over, he would 

 do it again, for it was evident that God 

 had intended they should come together, 

 and man had no right to keep them 

 asunder. 



" Mr. West was in waiting for Miss 

 Shewell when she arrived in England, 

 and they were soon married, September 

 ■2d, 17(35. Neither of them ever re- 

 turned to this country. Stephen Shewell 

 never forgave his sister; and although 

 she made many efforts to conciliate 

 him, he refused all communication with 

 her." 



West, William, a son of John and 

 Sarah West, and an elder brother of 

 the painter, Benjamin, was born in 

 Upper Providence township in 1724. 

 After receiving a rather better educa- 

 tion than was usual at that early period, 

 he learned the trade of an oak cooper. 

 He was not in membership with Friends 

 till 1752, when he was received by 

 Goshen Monthly Meeting, and the same 

 year removed to Philadelphia, where 

 he married, and it is said carried on 

 the coopering business many years. 

 After the death of his wife he removed 

 to Upper Darby, and engaged in the 

 farming business. This was about the 

 year 1765. The next year he married 

 Hannah Shaw, an English lady, then 

 residing in Philadelphia, and settled 

 permanently on his farm in Upper 

 Darby. Here he commenced a system 

 of farming that soon brought the ex- 

 hausted land thiit he had purchased, 

 into a high state of productiveness. 

 By the introduction of red clover, he 

 was enabled to increase his stock, 

 which during winter he carefully con- 

 fined to the barn-yard, which was kept 

 well strewed with leaves from the 

 woods, and with other vegetable matter. 



