Alfred Sands Pell

Alfred Sands Pell (March 1, 1786 – April 28, 1831) was an American merchant who died at sea in 1831. Early life Pell was born in New York in September 1779. He was the second son of shipping merchant Benjamin Pell (–1828) and Marianna (née Ferris) Pell (1757-1795), who married in 1778. Among his siblings were William Ferris Pell (husband of Mary Shipley); Gilbert Titus Pell (husband of Elizabeth Birkbeck, a daughter of Morris Birkbeck, and father of Morris Birkbeck Pell), and representative in the Illinois Legislature, who was appointed United States envoy to Mexico in the 1850s; and Maria Pell (wife of Jacob T. Walden). His family were among the largest landowners along the Hudson River. His paternal grandparents were Joshua Pell (son of Thomas Pell, 3rd Lord of Pelham Manor and grandson of Sir John Pell, 2nd Lord of Pelham Manor) and Phoebe (née Palmer) Pell (daughter of John Palmer). His great-great grandfather, Sir John Pell was the nephew of the 1st Lord, Thomas Pell, who acquired Pelham Manor from the Siwanoy Indians in 1645. His maternal grandparents were John Ferris and Marianna (née Hunt) Ferris. Career Pell followed in his father's career and became a wealthy merchant with Pell & Co., which imported mahogany and marble before becoming an auction house that later went into financing.