Peter Arrell Brown Widener
| Peter Arrell Brown Widener | |
|---|---|
| File:Pabwidener.jpg | |
| Born | November 13, 1834 |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery |
| Residence | Lynnewood Hall |
| Occupation | Businessman, art collector, philanthropist |
| Known for | Co-founder Philadelphia Traction Company, U.S. Steel, American Tobacco |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836-1896) |
| Children | Harry (1859-1874) George Dunton (1861-1912) Joseph Early (1871-1943) |
| Parent(s) | Johannes & Sarah Fulmer Widener |
| Relatives | Grandchildren: Harry Elkins Widener (1885-1912) George D. Widener Jr. (1889-1971) Eleanor Widener Dixon (1891-1953) Peter A. B. Widener II (1895-1948) Josephine "Fifi" Widener Leidy Holden Wichfeld Bigelow (1902-1961) Great-grandchildren: Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. (1923-2006) Joan Leidy Ray (1923-) Peter A. B. Widener III (1925-1999) Ella Widener Wetherill (1928-1986) |
Peter Arrell Brown Widener (November 13, 1834 – November 6, 1915) was an American art collector, businessman, and head of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]
Biography
A merchant who supplied meat to the Union Army during the United States Civil War, Widener grew to prominence in the city and by 1873 had become Philadelphia City Treasurer.[1] In 1883, he became very successful as a result of his investing in trolley cars and public transit systems as a founding partner of Philadelphia Traction Company, which expanded to other major cities in the United States. He and his Philadelphia business partner William L. Elkins invested in public transit systems in other major cities with businessmen such as Charles Tyson Yerkes, the streetcar czar of Chicago. Widener used the great wealth accumulated from that business to become a founding organizer of U.S. Steel and the American Tobacco Company as well as to acquire substantial holdings in Standard Oil. He is considered to have been among the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune.[2]
Widener married Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836–1896), and they had three sons: Harry, George, and Joseph. In 1887 he built an ornate Philadelphia mansion at the northwest corner of Broad Street and Girard Avenue, although he vacated it 13 years later and donated it to the Free Library of Philadelphia as a memorial to his late wife. In 1900 he completed Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a 110-room Georgian-style mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer. Widener was an avid art collector,[3] with a collection that included more than a dozen paintings by Rembrandt as well as works by then-new artists Édouard Manet and Auguste Renoir.
Widener's son, George Dunton Widener, and grandson, Harry Elkins Widener, died when they went down with the RMS Titanic.
Widener died at Lynnewood Hall at the age of 80 on November 6, 1915, after having suffered from poor health for three years.[1]
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Widener Mansion Broad & Girard.jpg
Peter A. B. Widener Mansion, Broad St. & Girard Ave., Philadelphia, PA (1887), Willis G. Hale, architect.
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LynnewoodHall front.jpg
Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, PA (1897-1900), Horace Trumbauer, architect.
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USS Vixen 1898.jpg
Peter A. B. Widener's Yacht Josephine later USS Vixen (PY-4)
See also
- Rhône (The) v. Peter A.B. Widener (The) (a barge named after Widener was involved in a collision in Canada, which became a noted court case)
- Widener University
References
External links
- Article on Widener and Widener Mansion in Philadelphia, PhillyHistory.org.
- Peter Arrell Brown Widener at Find a Grave
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters
- Infobox person using religion
- Articles with hCards
- 1834 births
- 1915 deaths
- American transportation businesspeople
- American art collectors
- Widener family
- Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
- People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
- 19th-century American businesspeople
- Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
