Washington Charles De Pauw was an American manufacturer and philanthropist. He gave liberally to educational establishments and churches.
Background
Washington Charles De Pauw was born on January 4, 1822 in Salem, Washington County, Indiana, United States; the second son of John and Elizabeth (Battiste) De Pauw. The name is derived from Pau, the capital of French Navarre, where the family originated, but front which, owing to its Huguenot sympathies, it migrated in the late sixteenth century to French Flanders and the Walloon provinces where the name was modified to its present spelling. Cornelius De Pauw (1737 - 99) was the private reader of Frederick the Great. Charles, his son, born at Ghent in 1756, was educated in Paris, became imbued with the principles of the American Revolution and came to America with Lafayette in 1776. At the close of the Revolution he married a Virginia lady and settled in the Blue-Grass region of Kentucky. Here John, the father of Washington Charles, was born. In early manhood he settled in Washington County, Indiana, United States, where he was made county surveyor; and in 1814 he laid out the town of Salem. Later he was admitted to the bar, was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1816, became a judge, was a general of the state militia, and on four different occasions served as a member of the General Assembly.
Career
Before the age of twenty-one he entered the county clerk’s office and at the age of twenty-two was elected to the clerkship.
He invested his first savings in a saw and grist-mill, and on retiring from the clerk’s office (1853), started a small bank. He later invested in other banks and became one of the leading bankers in the state.
At the opening of the Civil War he was employed for a short time in the army-supply department, but soon withdrew, devoting his entire time to banking.
He was a large purchaser of government bonds and securities—as a patriotic duty—but he later profited greatly from these investments. Following the war he became interested in manufacturing, and among other ventures established a plate-glass plant in New Albany, Indiana, which became one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the country.
In 1882 it was estimated that his manufacturing enterprises in New Albany alone represented an investment of $2, 000, 000.
From early manhood he was interested in religious and educational activities, but he always declined to participate in politics, refusing the Democratic nomination for lieutenant-governor in 1872.
For a number of years he was a trustee of Indiana University, and also of Indiana Asbury University. He was a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872 and 1876, and to the Ecumenical Methodist Council in London in 1881.
He gave liberally to schools and churches, but his largest benefaction was made to Indiana Asbury University (established 1837) which became De Pauw University in 1884.
In 1881 he provided in his will for the founding and endowment of an institution to be known as De Pauw University. At this time Indiana Asbury University was in financial distress, and when it became known to the trustees that De Pauw contemplated the founding of a new institution, they appealed to him to take over Indiana Asbury, the trustees offering to change the name to De Pauw University. The negotiations were successful and the contract was signed October 16, 1882. The contract between De Pauw and the trustees provided for the raising of $150, 000 for the purchase of additional grounds and the erection of buildings, De Pauw agreeing to pay two dollars for every one dollar thus raised. Altogether De Pauw gave, during his lifetime, about $300, 000 to the University.
His sudden death—from the effects of an apoplectic stroke—left his affairs in confusion, and the terms of his will, which had made liberal provision for carrying on the work of the University and for an endowment, were found impossible of fulfilment.
Achievements
Washington Charles DePauw was a large purchaser of government bonds and securities, establisher of the largest and most successful plate-glass plant in New Albany.
Personality
DePauw was a broad, solid, and strong man, slightly below the average in height, with a florid, good-humored face.
Deeply religious, and generous to ever good cause, he abhorred waste and prodigality. His business ethics were far above the average of his time and no man ever had a more sincere desire to serve his fellow men.
Connections
De Pauw was married three times. His first wife, Sarah Malott, whom he married about 1846, died after the birth of their second child. In 1855 he married Katharine, daughter of Dr. Elijah Newland. She bore him three sons, and died while the youngest was an infant. On January 8, 1867, De Pauw married Frances Marion Leyden, by whom he had four daughters, two dying in infancy.
