 His great-great grandfather, Sir John Pell was the nephew of the 1st Lord, Thomas Pell, who acquired Pelham Manor from the Siwanoy Indians in 1645.His maternal grandparents were John Ferris and Marianna (née Hunt) Ferris.Pell studied botany at Columbia College under Dr. David Hosack, a well-known botanist and horticulturalist who founded Elgin Botanic Garden in 1801.