Joseph Stiles (258)

Joseph Stiles (21 November 1714– 1797) was a merchant, privateer, educator, public officeholder, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in England, Stiles settled in Philadelphia in 1741 where he opened a store that specialized in cloth and “ready-made” clothes. Ready for an increase in income, he subsequently signed on as an officer aboard a privateering ship, a decision the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting condemned by disowning “Captain” Stiles. After some years, Stiles left his work as a pirate for, of all things, education.  By 1754, he had opened a successful school attended by the likes of APS Member Charles Biddle. No passing whim, Stiles stayed in education for over two decades while also running a side business that sold fishing gear in the early 1770s. The onset of the American Revolution revived his merchant skills and put them to good use. He first served as the treasurer for the United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manufacturers (a job that included organizing the production of textiles) and then as the superintendent of ordnance stores in 1776, where he organized the procurement and disbursements of arms and ammunition. Stiles continued in this vein of work in 1783 when he assumed the role of Superintendent of the Powder Magazine. It was during these later years that Stiles, who never stopped donning plain garb, rejoined the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Though he never attended nor showed any interest in the APS, he was active in the Society for the Relief of Poor, Aged, and Infirm Masters of Ships, their Widows and Orphans, acting as their treasurer from 1780 through 1792. He died survived by his two daughters who continued in the Quaker faith. (PI)