William Jewell

William Jewell (1789–1852) was a politician, physician, ordained minister, and educator from Columbia, Missouri and namesake of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. He served as Columbia's second mayor.

Life Jewell graduated with a degree in medicine from Transylvania University. Jewell held political office as mayor of Columbia and later as a state legislator.

As mayor of Columbia, Jewell initiated the surveying and paving of the city's streets. He also improved sanitation standards in the early town. Later, as state legislator, Jewell worked for reforms such as abolishing the whipping post and pillory and for establishing a public hospital in St. Louis. He supported a bill to establish the location of the state university in Columbia and chaired a committee to raise subscriptions for the university, giving $1,800 himself.

William Jewell College history The Partee Collection: An Archive of Missouri Baptist History Centennial History of Missouri: (the Center State) One Hundred Years in the Union, 1820-1921 By Walter Barlow StevensCentennial History of Missouri: (the Center State) One Hundred Years in the Union, 1820-1921 By Walter Barlow Stevens - S.J. Clarke Publishing - 1921 - pp30-33 William Jewell, M.D. 1789–1852, Address to the Boone County Bicentennial by O. Edwyn Luttrell