03/10/2026
Happy Women’s History Month! As a woman-owned & operated business, we love celebrating strong women, and we thought we’d highlight the original owner & builder of our house—Mary Sellers Bancroft!
She was the Quaker widow of a wealthy Philly manufacturer. Mary’s family, the Sellers, were considered one of America’s first families. One of her relatives signed the Declaration of Independence, and many Sellers were part of the Underground Railroad. The Sellers were heavily invested in West Philly, and constructed and resided in a number of the Powelton Village homes that still exist today. 33rd & Baring became a Seller’s/Bancroft Family compound; an escape to be with the ones they loved.
Mary was also incredibly generous and strongly believed in helping others, especially fellow women. She was one of the founders of the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women, where women and children were admitted “without regard to their religious belief, nationality, or color.” She was also a member of the New Century Guild, whose purpose was to provide education and opportunities for working women to learn a vocation. In 1880, out of the goodness of her heart, Mary allowed Colonel Barton Jenks and his family to live with her for free after he lost all of his money. In 1890, Mary Sellers Bancroft sold the house to fellow widow Florence G. Allison and her two young sons.
Another amazing fact about Mary is that she was the grandmother of painter Maxfield Parrish and the great niece of famed Revolution-era portrait artist Charles Wilson Peale. Maxfield spent time at Cornerstone as a child before he left to study art in Paris.
Mary Sellers Bancroft was a treasure to the city of Philadelphia and we are so honored to work in the house that she built.
