Background
William Weightman was born at Waltham, Lincolnshire, England, a son of William Weightman and Anne (Farr) Weightman.
chemist Financier manufacturer
William Weightman was born at Waltham, Lincolnshire, England, a son of William Weightman and Anne (Farr) Weightman.
When sixteen years of age, he emigrated to America at the suggestion of an uncle, John Farr, who was the founder of the firm of Farr & Kunzi, established at Philadelphia in 1818 to manufacture chemicals. In 1836 the firm became Farr, Powers & Weightman, and after Farr's death in 1847, Powers & Weightman. Under the latter name it attained international recognition among manufacturing chemists. Weightman at first acted as chemist for the firm, but after the death of Powers in 1878 he assumed full charge of the business management as well. He continued in active charge until shortly before his death in 1904. The success of the firm, which was one of the earliest of its kind in America, and the leadership it attained were due largely to the enterprise, ingenuity, and skill of Weightman. The firm early became known for the introduction of new chemicals and the development of processes of manufacture. The firm is also credited with having introduced and perfected the manufacture of citric acid in the United States. As a result of sound management over a period of many years, the business of the firm yielded generous profits, and Weightman amassed a fortune. This was augmented by investments in property so extensive and so profitable that he became the largest real estate owner in Philadelphia and was popularly known as the wealthiest man in Pennsylvania in his time. In addition to being the head of his firm, he was director of the Philadelphia Trust Company, the Northern Trust Company, and the Commercial National Bank. From a professional standpoint, his only interest, other than that manifested in the affairs of his firm, is represented by his connection with the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, of which he was a member from 1856 until his death. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the Franklin Institute. He took no part in social functions or public affairs, but apparently derived his pleasures from his home and his recreation from the cultivation of rare flowering plants at his country home, Ravenhill, in Germantown. He died on August 25, 1904, survived by his daughter.
Weightman was the first to manufacture quinine sulphate, and it was through his efforts that the cheaper alkaloids of cinchona, cinchonidine and cinchonine, became favorably known and widely used as substitutes for quinine at a time when the price of the latter was almost prohibitive. A posthumous portrait of William Weightman was also commissioned by his daughter Anne Weightman from the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury; it was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington and in Philadelphia in 1908. The University of Pennsylvania gymnasium, Weightman Hall (1903–05, Frank Miles Day, architect), adjacent to Franklin Field, is named for him.
On March 17, 1841, he married Louise Stelwagon, by whom he had two sons and a daughter.
