John Hewson (1744 – 1821) was a textile artist. He trained in a cotton-printing factory in London, but moved to the United States on the advice of his friend Benjamin Franklin, and set up a calico printing factory in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His chintzes were used in American quilts, often as the centerpiece.Quilt with center medallion by Hewson at the Smithsonian In November 2014, a DNA test revealed Hewson to be the paternal fifth great-grandfather of American actress and comedian Tina Fey.
He is interred at Palmer Cemetery in Philadelphia.
References
John Hewson in Remembering Kensington & Fishtown: Philadelphia's Riverward Neighborhoods, by By Kenneth W. Milano, 2008