Stephen Girard

Stephen Girard (born May 24, 1750 near Bordeaux , † December 26, 1831 in Philadelphia ) was a merchant , banker and philanthropist .

Stephen Girard

Stephen Girard, born the son of a ship's captain, turned to America at a young age and made a significant fortune as a seafarer and merchant in New Orleans , but mostly in Philadelphia, early in this century . Measured by the respective gross domestic products , he is considered one of the richest men in the United States.

Life

Stephen Girard officially became an American citizen on October 27, 1778.

As a private person all his life he showed the roughness and lack of needs of an old seaman, while being extremely economical on a small scale, he was very generous in public affairs.

This benefited the city of Philadelphia above all during his lifetime, but even more from his legacy. He designated the greater part of his estate, amounting to approximately 40 million marks, for the construction of the Girard College, which bears his name .

He designated 40 acres of land belonging to him in the northwestern part of Philadelphia for the necessary buildings, which cost around 3 million dollars. They began in 1834, and in 1847 the institution accepted 300 pupils. That number rose to 1,600 in 1890.

According to Girard's determination, the interest on the remaining capital of 7 million dollars. not be piled up, but must always be used annually for new buildings and improvements. In this way, four new buildings and a large church building were erected by 1890, the number of students increased to 1,600.

The college was primarily aimed at 6- to 10-year-old orphans from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and finally New Orleans . The schooling of these children could last until they were 18 years of age.

Girard insisted that college should not become a bone of contention for religious communities.

literature

Henry W. Arey: The Girard College and its founder; containing the biography of Mr. Girard, the history of the institution, its organization and plan of discipline, with the course of education, forms of admission of pupils, description of the buildings, & c. & c., and the will of Mr. Girard . Publisher: C. Sherman, Printer Philadelphia 1852, Text Archive - Internet Archive
Henry Atlee Ingram: The life and character of Stephen Girard of the City of Philadelphia in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mariner and Merchant . With an appendix descriptive of Girard college. 4th edition, revised. Publisher: Philadelphia PA 1887. Text Archive - Internet Archive
- Appendix. Descriptive of Girard college, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
Richard B. Westbrook: Girard's will and Girard college theology . Published by the author, Philadelphia 1888, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
- Appendix - The Will of the late Stephen Girard, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
John Bach McMaster: The life and times of Stephen Girard, mariner and merchant . Volume 1. JB Lippincott Co., Philadelphia 1918, Text Archive - Internet Archive
The life and times of Stephen Girard, mariner and merchant . Volume 2. With illustrations in color and doubletone, Textarchiv - Internet Archive .
William W. Mills: Stephen Girard. Sailor, master of commerce, philanthropist . King, Philadelphia PA 1907.
David Scattergood: Handbook of Girard College . Self-published, Philadelphia PA 1888.
Stephan Simpson: Life of Stephen Girard with his will affixed . Bonsal Publication, Philadelphia, Penn. 1832.
George Wilson: Stephen Girard. America'S first tycoon . Combined Publications, Conshohocken PA 2000, ISBN 0-938289-56-X .
William F. Zeil: A catalog of the personal library of Stephen Girard (1750-1831) . Girard College, Philadelphia PA 1990, ISBN 0-87169-190-6 .
Girard, Stephen . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 12 : Gichtel - harmonium . London 1910, p. 45 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Girard, Stephen . In: Dumas Malone (Ed.): Biographical dictionary of America . Vol. 7. C. Scribner's Sons, New York 1943, pp. 319-322, Textarchiv - Internet Archive

Web links

Commons : Stephen Girard - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Girard College History
Founder's Hall at Girard College
Girard at a Glance and Quick Facts
Mike DiMeo: Stephen Girard. Merchant, Mariner, Banker, Philanthropist, Humanitarian, Patriot . Girard College graduate (1939) about the college.

Individual evidence

↑ James J. Raciti: Stephen Girard. America's colonial olympian, 1750-1831 . Sunstone Press, Sante Fe 2015, p. 185 and p. 173 , ISBN 978-1-63293-070-5 .

personal data
SURNAME	Girard, Stephen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American merchant, banker, and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 24, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH	near Bordeaux
DATE OF DEATH	December 26, 1831
Place of death	Philadelphia

[1] James J. Raciti: Stephen Girard. America's colonial olympian, 1750-1831 . Sunstone Press, Sante Fe 2015, p. 185 and p. 173 , ISBN 978-1-63293-070-5 .