S.R. Durand: "William Poyntell, one of my great-great-grandfathers, came to Philadelphia from England during or just before the end of the Revolutionary War, when he was about twenty years of age. At the time of his death in 1811, an excellent account of his life was published in Gentleman's Magazine. I am including at the end of this sketch of his life its description of his funeral. On June 20, 1970, I visited the Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, and found in the parish register the following entry: 'William, son of Jonathan and Anne T. Pointel, baptized April 9, 1756.' He had been born in Chipping Norton on March 23, 1756. I was not able to find a marriage record of his parents, nor the baptismal records of any other Pointel children in the registry. Letters from William Poyntell's uncle William Tayler of London indicate that Anne T. Pointel's maiden name was Tayler. Since Jonathan Pointel was in the excise service, William Poyntell's parents might have been in Chipping Norton for only a short while at the time of his birth and baptism. William Poyntell was married to Anne Wilcocks on December 23, 1779 in Christ Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. In the First Census of the United States in 1790, [in the section labeled] Philadelphia, South Second Street from Market to Chestnut Street, east side, it is recorded "Poyntell, William (Stationer and Book Seller) 1 free white male 16 years and upwards, 2 free white males under 16 years, 7 free white females." In March of 1973, I donated to the New York Historical Society two letters written July 6 and 7, 1808 by Charles Poyntell to his younger brother, Master William Poyntell. Charles, with his father and brother George, was in New York to see George off for England on the British packet "Duke of Kent." These letters were of historical interest because they described in detail many buildings and parks in New York and compared them with those in Philadelphia. I have a letter from William Tayler, Esq., uncle of William Poyntell, dated July 11, 1815 to William Poyntell's widow giving an accounting of the final settlement of her son George's business affairs in England after his death. William Poyntell admired his uncle William Tayler, for whom he was most likely named. On land he owned, he founded a town in Pennsylvania and named it Taylersville. I believe the name of this town must have been changed later on, for I do not think a town exists in Pennsylvania today named Taylersville. On April 14, 1784, William Poyntell purchased of John and Sarah Wolcott all the land on the east side of Ninth Street between Pine and Lombard streets for 375 pounds sterling. He was only 28 years old at this time, so must already have been very successful in business. On April 23, 1786, he bought of Daniel King, Brass Founder and his wife Rebecca a piece of land called "Rural Felicity," situated about six miles from the City Court House in Bristol Township in the County of Philadelphia [now Bucks County]. This property once belonged to James King. He developed the land there into his country estate, and called it "Auburn Hill." He willed this 60-acre estate to his son George. In the City Hall Land Records office of Philadelphia, I once recorded several dozen other purchases of properties made by William Poyntell during the next twenty years. At the time of his death, he left rentals of many buildings equally divided in one-fifth shares to the five children who survived him. This helped to provide our ancestress, Sarah (Poyntell) Relf, with a good income during all her long life. In 1807, William Poyntell was one of the principal founders of the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and drew up the financial plan for the academy. In William Poyntell's will, signed June 29 and proved September 16, 1811, he left an annuity bequest to his brother, Jonathan Poyntell [of] London. He left bequests of 200 pounds sterling each to Ann, William, and Elizabeth Reider, children of his late sister, Ann Reider, and he left 50 pounds sterling to his cousin, Elizabeth Crane, daughter of his mother's sister. His wife received an annuity of $2000 per year. His two surviving sons each received $9000 in lieu of a proportion in the sale of his backlands. His daughter, Sarah, wife of Samuel Relf, received $5000 in lieu of proportion of sale of the backlands. The other two daughters, Rebecca Poyntell Caldcleugh and Ann Poyntell Johnston, each received through their husbands all undisposed backland property more than 20 miles distant from Philadelphia. William was to receive $6000 additionally upon reaching the age of 21 if required to enter business. He also received all of his father's library books, maps, prints, surveyor compass and chain, camera obscura, ancient coins and his share in the Philadelphia Library. He also was to receive $150 per annum for clothes and if his mother should die before he became 21, he was to receive $250 for boarding. I have a copy of William Poyntell's 14-page will. Since George and William both died soon after their father, the families of the three surviving married daughters must have received, over many years, one third instead of one fifth of rental property income. For a couple of generations, these three families were very well-to-do, but eventually most of the properties decreased in value for housing purposes, since they were in a dock area of the city of Philadelphia and the business and new residential areas grew away from the old part of the city. The account of his life and description of his funeral as published in the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 92, Part 2, page 294, reads as follows:

 'September 10, 1811.  Died at his house in Philadelphia, in his 52nd year, universally lamented, William Poyntell, Esq., late merchant and one of the select council of that city.  He had retired from business several years, having acquired an ample fortune, of which he merited the enjoyment of the most inflexible integrity in all his dealings and transactions with whomsoever he was engaged.
 Mr. Poyntell was an Englishman, and his character holds so bright an example of usefulness and private worth, that we are persuaded we shall stand excused for entering upon it more at length.  He was born at Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, and baptized in the parish church there April 9th, 1756.  His father had a place in the Excise, but, having a small income and an increasing family could give his children no other education than that of a common country school.  Notwithstanding these early disadvantages, his son William, through his own natural talents and energy, sought every opportunity of acquiring knowledge; and to whomsoever he engaged himself, while yet a boy, he gave evidence of a youth of superior mind.  He was first taken into the service of a Mr. Barber, a respectable yeoman at Claypool, near Newark, who perceived his merit and was so attracted by his ingenuous and amiable deportment that he put him again in school, and treated him with the kindness of a father.
 From Claypool he removed to Lincoln, where he entered into the service of Mr. Forster, an eminent proctor, in whose service he remained some time, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employer.  From Mr. Forster's service he came to London, and shortly after went over to Philadelphia, where he was soon taken into the service of a respectable storekeeper of that city, to whom he gave so much satisfaction by his industry and integrity, that at his death a few years afterwards, he left him his successor in business, in which he hade such rapid progress, that he soon laid the foundation of his future prosperity.
 In 1802 (after an absence of near 30 years) Mr. Poyntell visited his native country, and, during his stay in Europe, made a tour over Great Britain and Ireland, Holland, Flanders, the countries upon the Rhine, Switzerland, and France.  Of this tour he has left a journal, replete with many observations which evince the strength and penetration of his mind.  During his travels he also collected many relics of antiquity and specimens of the fine arts.
 Upon his return to Philadelphia in 1803, he engaged upon a work of great public utility, namely the establishment of a printing office for the sole purpose of printing the Greek and Roman classics, and from this press have issued the first American edition of Horace, Virgil, Ovid, Sallust, Caesar, etc., all of them handsomely and correctly printed on superior type and paper, after the most useful form, the Delfin Edition in 8 Vols., together with the necessary lexicon, dictionaries, and grammars, for the use of American universities and schools.
 About this time Mr. Poyntell, having become the proprietor of several considerable estates in the back lands of the Province of Pennsylvania, undertook a journey over them, with a view of increasing the number of settlers.  Here, with a judgment and foresight which characterized all his actions, he laid the plan of a village to which (as a mark of grateful rememberance to a revered relative) he gave the name of Taylersville, and placing about 20 families there, he marked and gave them... 20 acres for a church, buying

Facts about this person:

Record Change June 18, 1999

Probate September 16, 1811 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA