Joseph N. Pew, Jr.
| Joseph N. Pew, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Newton Pew, Jr. November 12, 1886 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 9, 1963 (aged 76) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place | West Laurel Hill Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Spouse(s) | Alberta C. Hersel |
| Children | 5 |
Joseph Newton Pew, Jr. (November 12, 1886 – April 9, 1963) was an American industrialist and influential member of the Republican Party.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pew was the youngest son of Joseph N. Pew and Mary Anderson Pew. Called "Joe," he attended Shady Side Academy and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1908. As an undergraduate, Pew was captain of the track team and won the IC4A championship in the hammer throw. He was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society. As an outstanding athlete and donor to Cornell athletics, he was inducted into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
Pew married Alberta C. Hersel and had five children.
In 1908, after graduation, Pew began work at Sun Oil , a business founded by his father in 1890. When his father died in 1912, Pew became vice president at the age of 26 and his brother, J. Howard Pew, became president of Sun Oil at the age of 30.
Marcus Hook Refinery
In 1901, Joseph N. Pew, Sr. purchased 82 acres in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, the northernmost city on the Delmarva Peninsula , along the Delaware River, for the Sunoco Refinery. The refinery which was prosperous immediately, was operational in early 1902. The two Pew brothers were instrumental in the expansion and success of Sun Oil. Joseph N. Pew, Jr. persuaded the company to lay gasoline pipelines from the Marcus Hook refinery to distribution points in Ohio, New York, and New Jersey and then negotiated with 1,000 landholders in four states for permission to cross their property. The Lindenthorpe Mansion on the Delaware River waterfront became the Sunoco plant headquarters.
In 1916, Pew and his brother J. Howard, who had become Sun Oil’s president in 1912, expanded into the shipbuilding business. Joseph, Jr. ran the Sun Shipbuilding Company, which would become the largest private shipyard and biggest producer of oil tankers in America by World War II. As visionary of the company, it was Pew who was behind the effort to develop gasoline without tetraethyl lead, creating Blue Sunoco. He also developed a gyroscopic instrument with high-speed camera and timing device for preventing the drilling of crooked holes in oil wells. Receiving a patent in 1926, the device helped the company drill deeper oil wells.
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