George Dunton Widener

George Widener

George Dunton Widener (born June 16, 1861 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank ) was an American businessman , banker and member of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Philadelphia.

Life

George Widener was born in Philadelphia as the middle of three sons of the wealthy entrepreneur Peter Widener (1834-1915) and his wife Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836-1896). The father had made his fortune investing in public transportation and was a founding member of the Philadelphia Traction Company , whose ventures expanded to other major cities in the United States. After Widener's older brother Harry died young, he was the main heir to one of Philadelphia's greatest fortunes. The family belonged to the upper class of the city and was very socially respected. His younger brother Joseph Widener was one of the founders of the National Gallery of Art inWashington, DC

George Widener made his own name. He got into his father's business and eventually took over the running of the Philadelphia Traction Company. In this role he supervised the development of electrically operated trams . He was also the president or director of a dozen regional road and rail companies and a board member of various other companies, such as the Land Title Bank and Trust Company, the Electric Storage Battery Company and the Portland Cement Company, which built the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia would have.

Widener was also actively involved in charity and was very interested in art . An art lover, he held the post of director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts . He was a member of various social organizations such as the Philadelphia Country Club. On November 1, 1883, he married Eleanor Elkins (1862-1937), the daughter of William L. Elkins, a business partner of his father. They had three children: Harry Elkins Widener (1885–1912), George Dunton Widener, Jr. (1889–1971), and Eleanor Elkins Widener (1891–1953). The family lived at Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room Georgian-style property in Elkins Park , Pennsylvania. Shortly before his death, Widener also commissioned the prominent architect Horace Trumbauer for a 2,800 square meter property in the neoclassical style on Aquidneck Island . It was intended to serve as a summer residence and was still in the planning phase at the time of Widener's death.

death

In the spring of 1912, George Widener traveled to Paris with his wife and son Harry to find a head chef for the newly opened Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia. For the return voyage, the family booked a first-class passage on the RMS Titanic , the largest ship in the world to date , which made its maiden voyage to New York . The family boarded the luxury liner in Southampton on April 10, 1912 and occupied the neighboring cabins B-80 and B-82. The group was accompanied by George Widener's English servant Edwin Keeping and Eleanor Widener's East Prussian maid Amalie Gieger.

On the afternoon of April 14, George and Eleanor Widener were chatting on the ship's promenade deck with Bruce Ismay , the director of the White Star Line that owned the Titanic . During the conversation, Ismay was given an iceberg warning by Captain Edward Smith , which Ismay put in his jacket pocket without comment. That evening the Wideners gave a dinner in honor of Captain Smith at the Titanic's Ritz-Carlton Restaurant . Guests in attendance included Bruce Ismay, President William Taft's military adviser Archibald Butt , Washington stockbroker and horse breeder Clarence Moore, and married couples John B. Thayer and William E. Carter. After the women had retired to their cabins, the gentlemen of the group went to the first class smoking room on the A-deck. There, they were still, when the Titanic at 23.40 with the iceberg collided.

George and Harry Widener took Eleanor to lifeboat No. 4 on the starboard side . In the group of passengers waiting to board the boat were the Astor , Thayer, Carter, and Ryerson families . After some difficulties, this lifeboat was only launched at 1:55 a.m., more than two hours after the collision and 25 minutes before the sinking. It was the penultimate boat that left the Titanic before sinking. The passenger Archibald Gracie saw George Widener with John B. Thayer standing at the railing, lost in a deep discussion. They were joined at the last minute by lawyer Charles Duane Williams, father of Richard Williams .

All three men as well as Harry Widener and the butler Edwin Keeping were killed in the sinking. Eleanor Widener and Amalie Gieger survived in lifeboat No. 4 and were taken to New York along with the other survivors on board the RMS Carpathia . The bodies of George and Harry Widener were never found. The funeral service for the two men took place in St. Paul's Church in Elkins Park. The church was renovated in 1912/13 with financial support from Eleanor Widener. In the course of this, two windows made of Tiffany glass were installed, which are supposed to remind of George and Harry Widener. The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library , which belongs to Harvard University, was named after Harry Widener .

Web links

• Information and photos about George Widener
• Detailed information on the Widener family

• George Dunton Widener in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Philadelphia Traction Company facts and links