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Benjamin Thaw Sr.

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Benjamin Thaw Sr.
Born(1859-03-24)March 24, 1859
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 20, 1933(1933-08-20) (aged 74)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh
Yale University
Spouse Elma Ellsworth Dows
​ ​(m. 1886; died 1931)​
ChildrenWilliam Thaw II
Parent(s)William Thaw Sr.
Eliza Burd Blair Thaw
RelativesHarry Kendall Thaw (brother)
Margaret Copley Thaw (sister)
Alice Cornelia Thaw (sister)

Benjamin Thaw Sr. (March 24, 1859 – August 20, 1933) was a Pittsburgh banker and philanthropist.

Early life

Thaw was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 24, 1859. He was one of five surviving children born to Eliza Burd (née Blair) Thaw (1822–1863) and William Thaw Sr. After the death of his mother in 1863, his father remarried to Mary Sibbet Copley, with whom his father had five more children. From his father's second marriage, his half-siblings included Harry Kendall Thaw (known for the 1906 murder of architect Stanford White), Margaret Copley Thaw (who first married a nephew of Andrew Carnegie and secondly, after his death, Roger, Comte de Périgny) and Alice Cornelia Thaw (who married George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford). His father was considered one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, and left an enormous fortune for Thaw and his siblings upon his death in August 1889.

Thaw was educated at the Fourth Ward public school before attending the University of Pittsburgh (then known as the Western University of Pennsylvania). After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1878, Thaw did a year of graduate work at Yale University.

Career

His first job was as a railroad clerk before he organized the Hecla Coke Company with his elder brother, William Thaw Jr. The company was later acquired by the H. C. Frick Coke Company in 1905. Thaw spent much of his time managing his late father's estate and, from 1889 to 1932, he was a trustee of the "coke trust" the elder Thaw created.

Thaw served as a director of the First National Bank, the People's Pittsburgh Bank and was a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh as well as a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.

Personal life

Photograph of his youngest son, Lt. Blair Thaw.

In 1886, Thaw was married to Elma Ellsworth Dows (1861–1931), a daughter of Stephen Leland Dows and Henrietta (née Safely) Dows of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They spent much of their time in Pittsburgh, but maintained a residence in New York at 854 Fifth Avenue (which was owned by Gov. Robert Livingston Beeckman) and, later, at 640 Park Avenue. Together, they were the parents of the following children:

  • Rev. Stephen Dows Thaw (1887–1923), who married Elise Marie Stehlin of Switzerland in 1916.
  • Benjamin Thaw Jr. (1888–1937), the first secretary of the American Embassy in London who married Laura Consuelo Morgan, a daughter of diplomat Harry Hays Morgan and sister to Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness, and Harry Hays Morgan Jr.
  • Henrietta Thaw (1891–1942), who married Lawrence Slade, an official of the New York Trust Company in Paris.
  • William Thaw II (1893–1934), who flew with the Lafayette Escadrille, who married Marjorie Everts.
  • Alexander Blair Thaw (1898–1918), who was killed while serving in the American flying forces in August 1918.

His wife died at their home in Paris in November 1931. A month after his wife's death, he sold much of the art collection she had acquired over many years. Thaw died at his home in Morewood Place in Pittsburgh on August 20, 1933. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.

References

  1. "Obituary | WILLIAM THAW". The New York Times. 18 August 1889. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  2. Times, Special to The New York (26 June 1906). "PITTSBURG GREATLY SHOCKED.; Benjamin Thaw Too Ill to be Told of His Brother's Crime". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  3. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (16 January 1942). "COUNTESS BEQUEATHS $60,000 TO CHARITIES; De Perigny Will Leaves African Farm to Husband". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  4. Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates—A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, p. xiii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
  5. "William Thaw's Will". The New York Times. 3 September 1889. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Benjamin Thaw, Banker, Dies at 74; Noted Pittsburgh Financier Was the Father of Colonel Thaw, World War Ace BEGAN AS RAILROAD CLERK With His Brothers He Formed Big Coke Corporation Later Taken Over by Frick Company". The New York Times. August 20, 1933. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  7. Times, Special to The New York (27 April 1905). "FRICK BUYS HECLA PLANTS.; Pays $6,000,000 for the Extensive Coke Works at Connellsville". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  8. "The Coke Syndicate". The New York Times. 27 December 1887. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  9. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (14 November 1931). "MRS. B. THAW DIES AT HER PARIS HOME; Wife of Pittsburgh Banker Succumbs at 70 After Long Illness--Noted as Art Collector.OWNED RARE ITALIAN ART In 1916 Purchased for $40,000 a Notable Example of French Gothic Wood Sculpture". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  10. "STEPHEN D. THAW MARRIES.; Wealthy Pittsburgher Weds Miss Elise M. Stehlin of Switzerland". The New York Times. 7 July 1916. p. 11. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  11. "BENJAMIN THAW, 48, EX-DIPLOMAT, DIES; Served Government in Many Capitals Since 1915-Left Service 2 Years Ago". The New York Times. 6 March 1937. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  12. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YOBK (19 April 1923). "Benjamin Thaw Confirms Troth". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  13. "MRS. THAW PLANS WEDDING ON COAST Former Consuelo Morgan Will Be Married to Alfons B. Landa Tomorrow BEVERLY HILLS NUPTIALS She Is Sister of Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt; Lady Furness--Bridegroom-Elect a Lawyer". The New York Times. 29 April 1942. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  14. "MISS THAW ENGAGED; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Thaw to Wed Lawrence Slade". The New York Times. 26 December 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  15. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (13 April 1942). "Lawrence Slade". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  16. "WILLIAM THAW 2D, WAR ACE, 40, DEAD; Won 3 Citations for Service in Lafayette Escadrille and Third Pursuit Group. BECAME AVIATOR IN YOUTH First to Fly Up East River Under All Four Bridges -- Member of Pittsburgh Family". The New York Times. 23 April 1934. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  17. "MRS. WILLIAM THAW 2D; Widow of the Lafayette Escadrille Commander Dies on Coast". The New York Times. 16 March 1936. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  18. "LIEUT. BLAIR THAW KILLED IN FRANCE; Pittsburgh Aviator, Just Promoted, Falls While Flying to Paris.AIRPLANE UPSET ON WIRES Engine Trouble the Cause--ThawTook Part in First Flightwith De Havilands". The New York Times. 23 August 1918. p. 5. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  19. "PORTRAIT OF BLAIR THAW.; Late Young Aviator In Exhibition at Misses Hill Galleries". The New York Times. 21 November 1922. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  20. "$70,418 PAID FOR ART OF MRS. THAW AT SALE; Gobelin Tapestry, One of Fifty Offered at Auction, Brings $5,000 Price Here". The New York Times. 13 December 1931. p. 33. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  21. "Benjamin Thaw (1859-1933) - Johnstown Flood National Memorial". www.nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

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