Dewees, William, Jr. (c. 1712-1777)

Pennsylvania papermaker.

Operated a paper mill in Cresham township on the Wissahickon, near Philadelphia, from 1736. Dewees, his father, and his uncle Gerard Dewees purchased rags in volume from Franklin and sold him paper (1735-41). Sheriff of Philadelphia County.

Son of William Dewees, a Dutch immigrant who built a paper mill near Germantown, the second in America (1710).