Edward Shippen (Boston, Massachusetts, July 9, 1703 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 25, 1781) was a wealthy merchant and government official in colonial Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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He entered into mercantile pursuits with James Logan, with whom he was in business from 1732 as the firm of Logan and Shippen. Afterward he went into the fur trade with Thomas Lawrence, as the firm of Shippen and Lawrence.
In 1744 he was elected mayor of Philadelphia. In 1745 and for several years thereafter, he served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In May 1752, he moved to Lancaster, where he was appointed prothonotary, as which he served until 1778. He had large transactions as paymaster for supplies for the British and provincial forces when they were commanded by General John Forbes, General John Stanwix, and Colonel Bouquet, and managed them with so much integrity as to receive public thanks in 1760. He was a county judge under both the provincial and state governments.
In early life he laid out and founded the town of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. In 1746 to 1748, he was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), of which he was a member of the first board of trustees, from which he resigned in 1767. He was also a subscriber to the Philadelphia Academy (now the University of Pennsylvania) and a founder of the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.
He was the son of Joseph Shippen, the brother of William Shippen, physician, and the grandson of Edward Shippen, an earlier mayor of Philadelphia.
Known as "Neddy," he married Sarah Plumley (b. November 8, 1706, Philadelphia; d. April 28, 1735, Philadelphia), daughter of Charles Plumly and Rose Budd, on September 20, 1725. Their known children included:
In August 1747, he married Mary Gray, daughter of William Gray and Mary; he was her second husband.
| Preceded by Benjamin Shoemaker |
Mayor of Philadelphia 1744−1745 |
Succeeded by James Hamilton |