William West (127)

William West (1 June 1724–28 October 1782) was a merchant and public officeholder, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in Ireland, West immigrated to Pennsylvania with his older siblings and settled in Philadelphia around 1750. In subsequent years he spent much of his time and energy in the Ohio country trading with Native communities, the British army, and newly arrived settlers. Keen to draw on West’s knowledge of the area, the Provincial Council requested a copy of the chart and distance approximations he had produced. West’s trading continued into the French and Indian War, when he provisioned British garrisons and delivered treaty goods to Native leaders. He held a number of appointed offices, serving as a Commissioner of Indians Affairs, a county representative to the state assembly, and in 1770 a commissioner to work on trade regulations with Indian Nations. During his time in Philadelphia, West supported an assortment of local charitable, educational, and intellectual ventures including the Pennsylvania Hospital, the College of Philadelphia, and the City Tavern. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, West joined the popular outrage over British imperial policies such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. The British advance on Philadelphia prompted him to remove to a large plantation outside of the city, near Valley Forge, a location that afforded him the opportunity to host a number of visiting patriot leaders. In 1779 he embarked on his last trading venture, a risky but profitable enterprise with the Dutch on the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. He died in 1782, the year before the war ended. (PI)