Paul Tulane was a businessman and philanthropist who resided in New Orleans and Princeton, New Jersey.
Background
Paul Tulane was the son of two French Huguenots, Louis Tulane and Maria Tulane. His family lived in St. Domingo in Haiti, where his father made a large fortune as a lumber trader, navigating connections in the between the United States and The West Indies. The Hatian revolution broke out while the family was living there. Several of their family members were killed and Louis Tulane lost all of his investments. The Tulane family was ruined and moved to Princeton. Paul Tulane was born there on May 10, 1801.
Education
He was educated in private schools, including Somerville Academy of New Jersey, until he was fifteen years of age.
Career
Tulane’s luck changed when a wealthy cousin took him on as a companion while traveling through the South and West of America. The journey lasted three years, during which time, Tulane visited New Orleans. While aboard a steamboat in Kentucky, Tulane met some French speaking Creole men from New Orleans who were taking their sons to college. Shocked, Tulane asked, “Is it true? That there is no college in New Orleans where the young men can be educated?” This interaction foreshadows Tulane’s dedication to the development of higher education in New Orleans. He was so impressed with the city that he moved there in 1822.
Tulane intentionally arrived in the Crescent City at the height of a Yellow Fever Epidemic. The fatalities of the disease meant that many clerkship positions had been vacated and he was easily able to find work. He established a business in selling dry goods and supplies to planters and merchants, named Paul Tulane & Co. He possessed incredible acumen and was very industrious. One story tells of Tulane purchasing a large quantity of wet blankets from a wharf auction. He dried them in Congo Square and then sold them for a high profit. He would recalled “That was the best day’s work I ever did. ” Tulane established a retail location of Paul Tulane & Co. at 16 Chartres street and a branch of his company in New York. He was incredibly successful and by 1828, he was worth over $150, 000.
During an 1840 tour of France, his father pointed out the depressed economies of Tours and Bordeaux that had come as a result of the abolition of slaves in that country. He warned his son that the Southern economy could suffer the same fate, and urged him against investing in New Orleans. Tulane followed his Father’s advice and began to move most of his investments to New Jersey. He officially retired in 1857 and moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he resided until his death.
Paul Tulane was very generous with his fortune. He gave to numerous charitable institutions and Presbyterian churches. One such donation is detailed in a correspondence from M. M Trawiek in 1876 (see additional images. ) She thanks Tulane for relieving their church’s debt. Tulane donated a sum of $2, 000 to the Trawiek family.
In 1881, Paul Tulane invited Senator Randall E. Gibson to his home in Princeton to discuss a large donation to be used for expanding higher education in New Orleans. Tulane meant to “Foster such a course of intellectual development as shall be useful and of solid worth, and not merely ornamental or superficial. ”
Tulane made an initial donation of real estate, valued at $363, 000. In 1882, with the help of Senator Gibson, the Tulane Education Fund was established and first met on April 17th of that year. The next year, the project met a serious roadblock when the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled the Fund would not be tax exempt. T Senator Gibson focused his efforts towards the privatization of the University of Louisiana. The board would have full control of the New Orleans campus and rename it Tulane University of Louisiana, but it’s previous status as a public institution offered a potential loop-hole for taxation. After significant legal wrangling on the part of Gibson, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on June 5th, 1884 that the Tulane Education Fund and all of its property was tax exempt. The University would be devoted to practical subjects and science per Tulane’s request. Gibson convinced him to expand the schools subject matter to include literature, history and philosophy. Gibson also advised Tulane to change his bequest from serving just the “young men of the city of New Orleans” to “young white persons” of New Orleans. This decision opened the possibility of admitting women.
Tulane made subsequent donations to the University totaling $1, 050, 000, and promised a large final endowment in his will. However, when Paul Tulane died in 1887, his lawyer searched his Princeton mansion for the will to no avail. His estate was divided between Tulane’s nieces and nephews, with no financial contribution to the University he was so dedicated to.
Religion
He was liberal in his philanthropy, however, spending thousands of dollars on individuals and local organizations in the interest of religion, charity, and education.
Politics
Tulane was a staunch Confederate. He was the largest the donor in New Orleans to the Confederate army, and gave liberally to the families of Confederate soldiers in New Orleans. Tulane estimated that he lost $1, 200, 000 from the war.
Personality
Paul Tulane is remembered as a benevolent and humane man as well as a shrewd business man.
Tulane's was a rugged personality. Physically, he was short and heavily built; as a businessman he was frugal, industrious, and tenacious, exacting to the last penny.