administrator merchant philanthropist
John David Wolfe was born on July 24, 1792, in New York City, New York, United States. He was a son of David Wolfe, a businessman, and Catherine (Forbes) Wolfe. His grandfather, John David Wolfe, emigrated from Saxony early in the eighteenth century.
John's father, David Wolfe, and his brother were partners in a hardware business at the corner of Maiden Lane and Gold Street in New York City. In 1816, John succeeded to his father's half-interest in the hardware store, his partner at first being a cousin, who later withdrew from the firm, which was thereafter styled Wolfe & Bishop. The business prospered, and long before he was fifty, Wolfe was rated among New York's wealthy merchants.
To add to his resources, John made fortunate investments in real estate of New York City. Weathering the financial panic and depression of 1837, he found himself five years later in such a secure position, that he thought he might safely retire from business. That, however, did not mean for him a cessation of activity. The thirty years of life, that remained, were crowded with varied forms of effort.
For two decades before the Civil War and for seven years after its close, Wolfe ranked among those laymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, who were distinguished for faith and work, as well as for gifts to the church treasury. Beginning as a vestryman of Trinity Church, in his later years, to the day of his death, he served as senior warden of Grace Church. With few exceptions, his most important benefactions were for distinctively religious objects.
In a time, when frontier conditions generally prevailed west of the Missouri River, John was one of a small group of wealthy Eastern men, interested in church institutions in that part of the world. He founded, under church auspices, a High School for Girls and Wolfe Hall in Denver, before Colorado was admitted to statehood, and generously supported a diocesan school for girls in Topeka, Kansas. John also provided a building for the theological seminary, connected with Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. The dioceses of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Utah, Nevada and Oregon - all received liberal grants from Wolfe, especially for educational uses.
John carried forward the work, begun by William Augustus Muhlenberg, in St. Johnland on Long Island, including a home for crippled and destitute children and a home for aged and destitute men. He also built a cottage for the Sheltering Arms charity in New York City. Moreover, John took an important part in promoting the Home for Incurables in Fordham, St. Luke's Hospital, and other metropolitan institutions.
Moreover, Wolfe founded and headed the Chemical Bank and directed the Hudson River Railroad. He also served as president of the American Museum of Natural History from 1869 till 1872. In his later years, he took an active interest in New York Hospital and the New-York Historical Society. It's also important to note, that John served as president of the Working Women's Protective Union.
It's worth mentioning, that, Wolfe prepared and circulated at his own expense a "Mission Service," containing excerpts from the Book of Common Prayer. This was translated into four languages.
John David Wolfe was a prominent New York City merchant, who made a fortune in a hardware business and invested much of his money in New York real estate. On retiring from business, he devoted his life to philanthropy. He founded and generously supported a number of schools, seminaries and dioceses under church auspices, as well as built home for crippled and destitute children, a home for aged and destitute men, both in St. Johnland on Long Island, and a cottage for the Sheltering Arms charity in New York City. He was instrumental in promoting the Home for Incurables in Fordham, St. Luke's Hospital and in the founding of the Chemical Bank. Wolfe was also known as the founder and first president of the American Museum of Natural History.
Wolfe married Dorothea Ann (Lorillard) Wolfe, a daughter of Pierre Lorillard II. Their marriage produced a daughter, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, who carried forward many of her father's philanthropic activities.
Pierre Lorillard II was a tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, banker, businessman and real estate tycoon.
