William Weightman: Difference between revisions
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Responsible for introducing quinine to the United States, Weightman amassed a large fortune through shrewd investments, derived from his manufacturing enterprise. His fortune is considered one of the 100 largest ever amassed in the United States, adjusting for inflation.<ref>[http://www.scottwinslow.com/2002/wealthy.asp The Wealthy 100<!-- bot-generated title -->] at www.scottwinslow.com</ref> |
Responsible for introducing quinine to the United States, Weightman amassed a large fortune through shrewd investments, derived from his manufacturing enterprise. His fortune is considered one of the 100 largest ever amassed in the United States, adjusting for inflation.<ref>[http://www.scottwinslow.com/2002/wealthy.asp The Wealthy 100<!-- bot-generated title -->] at www.scottwinslow.com</ref> |
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In 1834, Powers and Weightman won the [[Elliott Cresson]] Medal, presented by the [[City of Philadelphia]], under the recommendation of the Franklin Institute.<ref> http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=3711 The Franklin Institute Awards - Laureate Database page on Powers and Weightman]</ref> |
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Having outlived his two sons, Weightman came to rely on his daughter, Anne Weightman Walker, in his later years. They lived in a large mansion in the [[East Falls]] section of the city that Weightman had named Ravenhill. (At his death in 1904, the Ravenill Mansion passed on to Anne who gave the estate to the [[Archdiocese of Philadelphia]] in 1910. Cardinal [[Dennis Joseph Dougherty]] of the Archdiocese would go on to grant the Mansion to an order of nuns: [[Religious of the Assumption]]. They opened a private girl's school there and named it Ravenhill Academy — best known for its most famous attendee: [[Grace Kelly]]. In 1982, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, today known as [[Philadelphia University]], purchased Ravenhill Mansion and the school along with its surrounding 27 acres.) |
Having outlived his two sons, Weightman came to rely on his daughter, Anne Weightman Walker, in his later years. They lived in a large mansion in the [[East Falls]] section of the city that Weightman had named Ravenhill. (At his death in 1904, the Ravenill Mansion passed on to Anne who gave the estate to the [[Archdiocese of Philadelphia]] in 1910. Cardinal [[Dennis Joseph Dougherty]] of the Archdiocese would go on to grant the Mansion to an order of nuns: [[Religious of the Assumption]]. They opened a private girl's school there and named it Ravenhill Academy — best known for its most famous attendee: [[Grace Kelly]]. In 1982, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, today known as [[Philadelphia University]], purchased Ravenhill Mansion and the school along with its surrounding 27 acres.) |
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Revision as of 18:53, 13 January 2010
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William Weightman I (September 30, 1813 - August 25, 1904) was a chemical manufacturer and, by the early 1890s, one of the largest landowners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Biography
Weightman was born in Waltham, Lincolnshire, England and came to the United States at the age of 16 (in 1829) on the suggestion of his uncle, chemist John Farr, founder of the firm of Farr and Kunzi, the first manufacturers of sulfate of quinine in the United States.
Upon Kunzi's retirement in 1836, Farr partnered with Thomas Powers and Weightman to establish Farr, Powers and Weightman, manufacturing chemists. In 1841, Weightman married Louisa Stillwagon; together, they had three children: John, William Jr., and Anne.
When John Farr died in 1847, the business became Powers and Weightman, chemical manufacturers.
Responsible for introducing quinine to the United States, Weightman amassed a large fortune through shrewd investments, derived from his manufacturing enterprise. His fortune is considered one of the 100 largest ever amassed in the United States, adjusting for inflation.[1]
In 1834, Powers and Weightman won the Elliott Cresson Medal, presented by the City of Philadelphia, under the recommendation of the Franklin Institute.[2]
Having outlived his two sons, Weightman came to rely on his daughter, Anne Weightman Walker, in his later years. They lived in a large mansion in the East Falls section of the city that Weightman had named Ravenhill. (At his death in 1904, the Ravenill Mansion passed on to Anne who gave the estate to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1910. Cardinal Dennis Joseph Dougherty of the Archdiocese would go on to grant the Mansion to an order of nuns: Religious of the Assumption. They opened a private girl's school there and named it Ravenhill Academy — best known for its most famous attendee: Grace Kelly. In 1982, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, today known as Philadelphia University, purchased Ravenhill Mansion and the school along with its surrounding 27 acres.)
Upon the death of her first husband, Anne went on to marry Frederic Courtland Penfield, an orientalist and diplomat, in 1908. Her heir was her niece Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs.
Anne, a devout convert to Roman Catholicism, commissioned the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Muller-Ury (1862-1947) to paint a portrait of Pope Pius X in May 1907 (now at the Graduate House at the North American College in Rome). He also painted a double portrait of Mrs. Walker with Mrs Meirs.
A posthumous portrait of William Weightman was also commissioned; it was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington and in Philadelphia in 1908.
References
- ^ The Wealthy 100 at www.scottwinslow.com
- ^ http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=3711 The Franklin Institute Awards - Laureate Database page on Powers and Weightman]
- Philadelphia - A History of the City and Its People. Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer (Philadelphia, 1911).
- James Foss. Willis Gaylord Hale and Philadelphia's Rebellion of the Picturesque: 1880-1890. Masters Thesis, Penn State University, 1964.