Background
Peter Arrell Browne Widener was born on November 13, 1834 in Philadelphia, Pa. , the son of John and Sarah (Fulmer) Widener, who were of pre-Revolutionary German stock.
Peter Arrell Browne Widener was born on November 13, 1834 in Philadelphia, Pa. , the son of John and Sarah (Fulmer) Widener, who were of pre-Revolutionary German stock.
His early education was good, although his father, who at one time freighted goods between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and later became a brick-maker, was in very moderate circumstance. He attended the Coates Street Grammar School and attended Central High School for two years. Upon leaving school he became a butcher's boy in his brother's meatshop.
He remained in the meat business for many years, became interested in politics, and was soon an important factor in the local Republican party. During the Civil War he secured a contract from the Federal government to supply with mutton all its troops that were located within a radius of ten miles of Philadelphia. The contract netted him a profit of $50, 000, a very large sum for that time, and he invested this money in certain strategically located street railways and built up a chain of meatstores throughout Philadelphia. His political influence grew rapidly and he was elected to several minor offices. He was a member of the Philadelphia board of education from 1867 to 1870. In 1873 he was appointed to complete the unexpired term of Joseph F. Mercer as city treasurer and the next year was elected to this office, in which he served one term. Philadelphia's political offices at this time carried with them especially large salaries and fees and Widener was able to accumulate a large sum of money. Meanwhile, he had been buying stock in Philadelphia traction companies. In 1875, he, William L. Elkins, and several others became definitely interested in street-railway ownership and operation. Eventually they effected a consolidation of all the lines in the city, first as the Philadelphia Traction Company (1883), then as the Union Traction Company, and finally as the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. In New York, beginning in December 1884, he was associated with Thomas F. Ryan and William C. Whitney, supplying large capital to their joint operations and contributing valuable experience in the practical management of street railways. In the development of traction lines in Chicago, he and Elkins were conspicuous. He and his associates also acquired large street-railway holdings in Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Their properties totaled a greater mileage than those of any other similar syndicate. As a street-railway magnate, Widener greatly advanced technical developments. When he first entered the business, horse-cars were used exclusively. He became interested in the use of cable-cars, and then of electric cars, in an endeavor to create the most modern and efficient system of local transportation. Widener helped to organize the United States Steel Corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Company, and the American Tobacco Company. He had large investments in many other corporations, among them the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Standard Oil Company, the United Gas Improvement Company, the Philadelphia Land Title and Trust Company, and the Philadelphia Company for Guaranteeing Mortgages. His directorships were legion and his authority in many cases was complete. His main interest, outside of business, was in the collection of old and valuable articles. His art collection, which he kept in his beautiful home, "Lynnewood Hall, " Elkins Park, a suburb of Philadelphia, contained many of the most valuable paintings, among them the small "Cowper Madonna" by Raphael and "The Mill" by Rembrandt. This collection and that of Chinese porcelains were considered among the finest in the country. He also gathered together rare and valuable bronzes, tapestries, statuary, chinaware, and old furniture. It has been estimated that he gave over eleven millions of dollars in money and property to those institutions and organizations in which he was interested. He built and endowed the Widener Memorial Industrial Training School for Crippled Children (opened in 1906) in memory of his wife and their son Harry K. Widener. He gave his Broad Street residence to the city for the purpose of housing a branch of the Philadelphia Free Library (Josephine Widener Branch), and upon his death he gave the city his valuable art collection.
He was then probably the richest man in Philadelphia, his fortune being estimated at from thirty-five to fifty millions of dollars. He was one of the leaders in the consolidation movement which swept the country during the latter part of the nineteenth century and he was among the first wealthy men to share a large part of his accumulations with society.
Widener traveled extensively and maintained a large library with which he was familiar. He was well informed, an interesting conversationalist and a ready, forceful, and convincing speaker.
On August 18, 1858, he married Hannah Josephine Dunton. They had three sons.
