Law Practice
Mentored by Andrew Hamilton from an early age, Chew was highly effective in defending civil liberties and settling boundary disputes; he represented the descendants of William Penn and their proprietorship, the largest landholders in Pennsylvania, for more than 60 years. In 1757 Chew entered private practice: he derived most of his income from that, managing his second wife’s considerable estate, and collecting quit-rents from his various properties. Chew continued the family practice of investing in land in the American colonies until the end of his life, expanding their holdings in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
In his early career, Chew often met with other ambitious young men of Philadelphia at the London Coffee House. Together in 1766, they organized the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, the first in the United States. This adoption of an English sport was part of their becoming gentlemen; they committed to hunting together in the country a couple of times a week.
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