Peter Arrell Brown Widener
| Peter Arrell Browne Widener | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | November 13, 1834 |
| Died |
November 6, 1915 (aged 80) 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 Arrell Browne 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 Arrell Browne Widener III (1925-1999) Ella Widener Wetherill (1928-1986) |
Peter Arrell Browne Widener (November 13, 1834 – November 6, 1915) was an American art collector, businessman, and head of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A merchant who supplied meat to the Union Army during the United States Civil War, Widener grew to prominence in the city and by 1871 had become Philadelphia City Treasurer. 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.
Widener was named after Peter Arrell Browne (1782-1860), a noted lawyer in 19th-century Philadelphia. In 1858, he 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, 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.
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