William Wilson Corcoran was an American banker, philanthropist, and art collector. He started the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Background
Corcoran was born on December 27, 1798 in Georgetown in the District of Columbia. He was one of 12 children (six boys and six girls), six of whom survived to maturity, born to Thomas Corcoran, a well-to-do merchant twice elected as mayor of Georgetown, and Hannah Lemmon.
Education
William Corcoran was raised in Georgetown where he studied classics and mathematics at local private schools run by Alexander Kirk and the Reverend Addison Belt, and also took classes for a year at Georgetown College, the predecessor of Georgetown University.
Career
Instead of finishing his education, he joined the family business and developed a successful business career. He entered the banking business in Washington in 1837, and, after accumulating a fortune, retired in 1854. His charities, estimated to exceed $5, 000, 000, included donation of land for a cemetery in Georgetown, the founding of the Louise Home for Indigent Women, and the Corcoran Art Gallery at Washington. His endowment of the art gallery enabled it to erect a costly edifice, to acquire a valuable collection of early American paintings and Barye bronzes, to conduct a free school of art, and to hold biennial exhibitions of contemporary American paintings. Corcoran died in Washington, Feburary 24, 1888.
Achievements
Connections
In 1835, Corcoran eloped and married Louise Morris. Before his wife's early death in 1840, they had three children, however, only one survived into adulthood.