Wetherill
A History of Discovery
Robert Wetherill
Chester Times
June 18, 1934
Robt. Wetherill Dies at his Home in His 87th Year
Prominent Banker and Industrialist Here for Many years
Famed as Engine Builder; Had Varied Interests in Long Career
Robert Wetherill, Sr., eminent industrialist and banker whose
endeavors have been allied with the growth of this city for more
than sixty years, died this morning at 3 o'clock at his home,
Twentieth street and Providence avenue, where he had been seriously
ill for the past four weeks. Mr. Wetherill was in his eighty-seventh
year. Last winter he suffered an attack of pneumonia but t
hrough the
efforts of his physician and through his own indomitable will, he
struggled through a long illness and recovered.
The death of Robert Wetherill, Sr., brings to an end a career which
was highly familiar to nearly all the older residents of this city
and one which was recognized by bankers as outstanding.
He was the
outstanding wealthy
man of this city and county for many years and
throughout the years of his opulence he had so managed his
enterprises and finances that they were of benefit to large groups
of men who found employment through his ingenuity and enterprise.
Born in 1847
Born in Lower Merion township, Montgomery on September 4, 1847, he
was educated in the Philadelphia public schools and the Upland
Normal school.
He came to this city as a young man and served his apprenticeship of
four years with Miller and Allen, machinists and foundrymen of this
city. During this time he showed himself to be a sharp observer as
well as a good and steady worker and he acquired a working knowledge
of the business in all its ramifications, serving not only in the
heavy labor end but working his way to the headship of the
draughting department.
Equipped with this thorough knowledge of one who has worked his way
from the bottom of the ladder of an industry, he erected a small
foundry and engine building plant in this city in 1871 and the
following year formed a business partnership with his brother,
Richard Wetherill, under the firm name of Robert Wetherill and
Company.
This new enterprise was in close pro
ximity to the
location of the
place where he had learned his trade, which was situated on Broad
street, west of Walnut street, while the new Wetherill Company plant
was located at Sixth and Upland streets. At the time the business
was first opened it was known as Wetherill, Keesey and Wildey
Company but the change in name was made when the Partnership with
Richard Wetherill was effected and Robert Wetherill and Company
remained a standard name in the engine building trade until a few
years ago when the enterprise was sold to former Governor William C.
Sproul, who operated it for a time, then sold it to the Sun
Shipbuilding and Drydock Company upon the formation of this concern.
This industry was the home of many innovations in engine
construction and the company held exclusive control of the famous
Berry safety boiler, an invention of the late William H. Berry, of
this city, and was the birthplace of the Corliss engine which has
world-wide reputation and a model of which was displayed in the
Centennial Exposition in 1876.
Industrial Connections
Industrial connections of Mr. Wetherill extended far beyond his own
engine building organization as was evidenced by the fact that in
1886 he was elected President and manager of the Standard Steel
Castings Company, located at the time in the western section of this
city. He served for many years as a director of the Cambridge Trust
Company, now the Chester-Cambridge Bank and Trust Company, and he
was active as one of the directors of this bank, which he had helped
to found, and was chairman of the board at the time of his death. He
had also served as president of the Argo Leather Company. Some of
the other companies with which he served in official capacity were
as follows: American Water Works and Electric Company, American Pipe
and.Construction Company, Springfield Consolidated Water Company,
New York and Pennsylvania Company, General Refractories Company and
the Aberfoyle Manufacturing Company. He was also identified with the
coal mining industry and was connected with the textile industries
of the south. His real estate holdings both here and elsewhere were
unusually large. After giving up the Wetherill plant, he was called
in as receiver for the American Pipe and Construction Company and
straightened out the financial affairs of this concern. After the
receivership he was made president of the company and saved the
business for the stockholders.
Member of Old Family
The son of Robert and Phoebe Ann (Delany) Wetherill, Robert
Wetherill was able to claim himself a descendant by direct lineage
of one of the families whose history is most intimately linked with
the development of this section of the United States. He was a
direct descendant, of Joran Keen, to whom in 1644 the Swedish Crown
patented the territory upon which much of the present city of
Chester is located. In the year 1879, on February 27, Robert
Wetherill was married to Mary B. Gray, daughter of William C. Gray,
who was colonel of the 119th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil
War. Mrs. Wetherill died three years ago.
Robert Wetherill home, 20th & Providence Ave.
The Wetherill home, an ornate stone mansion constructed by Robert
Wetherill and located on a plot of ground at Twentieth street and
Providence avenue, which occupies an entire block of ground with the
main structure, garage and servants' homes, and its attractive lawns
and formal gardens has for years been considered one of the show
places of this city.
In his relations with his friends, his employees and the members of
his family and his business associates, Robert Wetherill was one who
always appeared to understand the problems of his fellow men with
sympathy and a genuine friendship and interest, and he was held in
universal esteem by all who had come in contact with him. Men who
learned their trades alongside Robert Wetherill at the workbench or
who later found employ in his enterprises always had a fond word for
his capabilities and his personality.
He held membership in several local clubs and in the Union League of
Philadelphia.
Besides his brother, Richard Wetherill, and one sister, Mrs. Phoebe
Harman, one son, Robert Wetherill, Jr., of this city, and five
daughters, Mrs. T. Woodward Trainer, of this city; Mrs. J. Renwick
Kerr, of Rose Tree; Mrs. J. Philip Van Keuren, Mrs. Gideon M. Stull
and Mrs. Arthur Copeland, all of this city survive. Another
daughter, Mrs. Phoebe Nolting, died a few years ago at her father's
home.
Funeral services, which will be in charge of Right Rev. Francis M.
Taitt, Bishop of the Pennsylvania Diocese of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, and Rev. Stanley V. Wilcox, rector of St. Paul's
Protestant Episcopal Church, will be held at the Wetherill
residence, Twentieth street and Providence avenue, on Wednesday
morning at 11 o'clock.
Robert Wetherill Family
Front row seated left to right:
Harrison B. Wetherill
Mildred Stull
Mary Gray Van Keuren holding her sister Louise
Edward B. Wetherill
Richard Wetherill II
Ida Kerr
Kathleen Stull
William G. Wetherill
Arthur E. Copeland, Jr.
Mary Louise Trainer holding Robert W. Copeland
Nancy Kerr
Robert Wetherill, III
Seated in chairs left to right
can't identify the first two ladies but they have marvelous hats
Mary G. Wetherill
Robert Wetherill (king of the hill)
Identity of next lady is also unknown
Anne W. Kerr (one of Robert's daughters)
Phoebe W. Nolting (one of Robert's daughters)
Standing left to right
Thomas Allen
Nella Allen (daughter of Richard, Robert's brother and business
partner)
Dr. Philip Van Keuren
Louise Van Keuren (one of Robert's daughters)
James R. Kerr
Mildred W. Stull (one of Robert's daughters)
Gideon Stull
Thomas Woodward Trainer, Jr.
Mary W. Trainer (one of Robert's daughters)
T. Woodward Trainer
Robert Wetherill n (aka Bert, son of Richard)
J. Renwick Kerr
Naomi Wetherill (wife of John!)
Kathleen W. Copeland (another of Robert's daughters)
John L Wetherill (Son of Richard and best friend of our grandfather)
Arthur E. Copeland
This photo was taken on the occasion of Robert Wetherill's 80th
birthday in 1927 and represents pretty much the entirety of the
family as it existed in the midst of the roaring 20's. The picture
was taken at Boxwood Farm in Media, Pa. which was then owned by one
of our Robert Wetherill's six sisters, Anne Kerr.
