Thomas Vowell was an Alexandria wholesale merchant. In 1787 he sold clothes and dry goods at a store on King Street near Royal Street. Vowell had a store on Harper's Wharf in 1790, during which year GW made payments to him for various items, including rum, candles, and silk (see Ledger B, 316, 318, 320). At that location, Vowell sold West India and New England rum, tea, molasses, and salt. In addition to his role as a merchant, Vowell also served for a time as director of the Great Hunting Creek Bridge Company, and as treasurer of the Bible Society of the District of Columbia. Vowell continued to be active as a merchant into the early part of the nineteenth century, owning a warehouse as late as 1823. He appears to have also been a partner in the Alexandria firm of Thomas Vowell & Sons (see Miller, Artisans and Merchants of Alexandria, 2:210-11; see also Daily Federal Republican [Georgetown, D.C.], 11 Feb. 1814).