Alfred Shipley Pell

Alfred Shipley Pell (April 27, 1805 – May 21, 1869) was an American insurance executive who co-founded the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.

## Early life

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Pell was born in Westchester County, New York, on April 27, 1805.[1] He was the second son of William Ferris Pell and Mary (née Shipley) Pell (1783–1848). His elder brother was Archibald Morris Pell (who married Catherine Elizabeth Rutgers).[2] His younger siblings were Duncan Pell, the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, Walden Pell (who married Orleanna R. Ellery),[3] Morris Shipley Pell (who married Mary Rodman Howland),[3] Mary Pell (who married Capt. Francis S. Haggerty),[3] Sophia Gertrude Pell (who married their cousin James Duane Pell), James Kent Pell (who died unmarried),[4] and Clarence Pell (who married Annie Claiborne).[5][6]

His paternal grandparents were shipping merchant Benjamin Pell and Marianna (née Ferris) Pell.[7] His mother was the daughter of Morris Shipley of London.[8]

## Career

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Pell worked for the Mutual Safety Insurance Company before Pell and Morris Robinson decided to form a life insurance company with Robinson as president.[9][10] They received a charter for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York from the state of New York on April 12, 1842, and opened the doors for business less than a year later on February 1, 1843. Robinson served as president of Mutual Life until his death in May 1849 after which he was succeeded by Joseph B. Collins.[11] Pell was also among the founders of the American Free Trade League.

In 1848, he became the New York agent of the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company which had been founded in 1836.[12][13] He continued to serve in that capacity, and as United States manager of the firm until his death in 1869. After his death, his son Alfred succeeded him as manager of the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company but resigned in 1871 to become the manager of the Commercial Union Assurance Company of London.[14][1]

## Personal life

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On April 9, 1829, Pell married Elizabeth Cruger (1809–1846), a descendant of the Schuyler family.[15] Together, they were the parents of:[16]

* William Cruger Pell (1830–1898), who married Margarita (née Brantly) Cress (1828–1906), the daughter of William Theophilus Brantly and widow of Louis Cress, in 1876.[17]
* Alfred Walden Pell (1833–1901),[18] who married Gertrude Elliot Cary (1840–1875), a daughter of William Ferdinand Cary and granddaughter of Thomas Handasyd Perkins, in 1867. After her death, he married Mary Kirkland Tracy (1839–1882), a daughter of Charles Tracy, in 1877. After her death, he married Mary Louisa Huntington (1845–1904), a daughter of Edward Huntington, in 1883.[19]
* Robert S. Pell (1835–1868), who died unmarried.[19]
* Arthur Pell (1841–1894), who died unmarried at the Hotel Normandie.[20]

On February 17, 1848, Pell married Eliza Wood, a daughter of John Wood.[3] Together, they were the parents of:[19]

* Elizabeth Edith Dennistoun Pell (1852–1890), who married British banker Martin Archer-Shee, a grandson of the painter Sir Martin Archer Shee, in 1872;[21] they were the parents of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Martin Archer-Shee.[22]

Pell died at West Point, New York on May 21, 1869.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c Singer, Isidore; Leon, Edwin Warren De (1910). International Insurance Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Theory and Practice of Al Branches of Insurance Throughout the World and from the Earliest Times to the Present Day ... American encyclopedic library assoc. pp. 555–556. Retrieved 16 March 2022.555-556&rft.pub=American+encyclopedic+library+assoc.&rft.date=1910&rft.aulast=Singer&rft.aufirst=Isidore&rft.au=Leon,+Edwin+Warren+De&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNMqAAAAYAAJ&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Alfred+Shipley+Pell" class="Z3988">
2. ^ Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1901). The Livingstons of Livingston manor; being the history of that branch of the Scottish house of Callendar which settled in the English province of New York during the reign of Charles the Second; and also including an account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The nephew," a settler in the same province and his principal descendants. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
3. ^ a b c d Burke, Arthur Meredyth (1991). The Prominent Families of the United States of America. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 461–463\. ISBN 9780806313085. Retrieved 29 August 2019.461-463&rft.pub=Genealogical+Publishing+Com&rft.date=1991&rft.isbn=9780806313085&rft.aulast=Burke&rft.aufirst=Arthur+Meredyth&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-78JbUTUewC&pg;=PA462&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Alfred+Shipley+Pell" class="Z3988">
4. ^ "Died" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 November 1874. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
5. ^ "Died" (PDF). The New York Times. 9 June 1865. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
6. ^ "Mrs. Annie E. Claiborne Pell" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 November 1916. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
7. ^ "Neighbors". academic2.marist.edu. Marist College. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
8. ^ Nemy, Enid (13 August 1979). "Pell Clan: 'A Nice Little Thing to Belong to'" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
9. ^ Stalson, J. Owen (1942). Marketing Life Insurance: Its History in America. Harvard University Press. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
10. ^ "A Card". The New York Times. 24 June 1853. p. 8. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
11. ^ Clough, Shepard Bancroft (1946). A Century of American Life Insurance; A History of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, 1843-1943, by Shepard B. Clough. New York City: Columbia University Press. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
12. ^ Rode's New York City Directory, for ... C.R. Rode. 1850. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
13. ^ Company, Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance; Limited, Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company (1898). 1848-1898. Fifty Years of Work in the United States of America: Being an Account of the Entry Into the United States of the Company Now Known as the Liverpool and London and Globe, in the Year 1848 and of Its Work There for Fifty Years; with which is Included a Brief History of the Establishment and General Operations of the Company. J.C. & W.E. Powers Press. Retrieved 16 March 2022. `{{cite book}}`: `|last1=` has generic name (help)
14. ^ "Insurance". The Public: 247. April 10, 1879. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
15. ^ Christoph, Florence A. (1987). Schuyler Genealogy: The Schuyler families in America Prior to 1900. Friends of Schuyler Mansion. pp. 127, 250. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
16. ^ Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. p. 120. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
17. ^ Supreme Court, County of New York. GENERAL TERM. New York: Douglas Taylor & Co., Printers. S. Warren Street. 1895. pp. 32–37. Retrieved 16 March 2022.32-37&rft.pub=Douglas+Taylor+&+Co.,+Printers.+S.+Warren+Street&rft.date=1895&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Uv62RUjQMcC&dq;=William+Cruger+Pell&pg;=RA2-PA149&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Alfred+Shipley+Pell" class="Z3988">
18. ^ "Obituary Notes. ALFRED PELL". The New York Times. 21 March 1901. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
19. ^ a b c Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 238. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
20. ^ "DIED -- PELL". The New York Times. 14 May 1894. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
21. ^ Who's who. A. & C. Black. 1910. p. 48. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
22. ^ "Obituary: Lieut.-Colonel Sir M. Archer-Shee. The Army And Politics". The Times. 7 January 1935. p. 19.