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William Thaw Sr.

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William Thaw Sr.

Birth
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death
17 Aug 1889 (aged 70)
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA
Burial
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA Add to Map
Plot
Section 16
Memorial ID
View Source
William Thaw was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 1818, to John Thaw and his wife Elizabeth Thomas. He worked as a clerk in his father's United States Bank of Philadelphia in Pittsburgh. He later switched to McKee, Clark, and Co. By 1842, he and his brother-in-law, Thomas Shields Clarke, owned steam canal boats, particularly the Pennsylvania and Ohio line. Their company added canal, portage railroad, and other steamboat lines. With the rise of the railroad, Thaw divested the canal business and invested in the new Pennsylvania Company, which managed interests of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in which he was a large shareholder. Thaw endowed science fellowships at Harvard University and Princeton University and bestowed lavish gifts on art and education. He underwrote the building of the Allegheny Observatory for John Brashear, considered at the time one of the ten best observatories in the world. In 1841, William Thaw married Eliza Burd Blair. In 1863, after the death of his first wife, he married Mary Sibbet Copley. In 1887, he commissioned architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. to build him a home. "Lyndhurst," which was completed in 1889, was located at 1165 Beechwood Boulevard in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The home was demolished around 1942. Information from the Wikipedia article on William Thaw, Sr.
William Thaw was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 1818, to John Thaw and his wife Elizabeth Thomas. He worked as a clerk in his father's United States Bank of Philadelphia in Pittsburgh. He later switched to McKee, Clark, and Co. By 1842, he and his brother-in-law, Thomas Shields Clarke, owned steam canal boats, particularly the Pennsylvania and Ohio line. Their company added canal, portage railroad, and other steamboat lines. With the rise of the railroad, Thaw divested the canal business and invested in the new Pennsylvania Company, which managed interests of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in which he was a large shareholder. Thaw endowed science fellowships at Harvard University and Princeton University and bestowed lavish gifts on art and education. He underwrote the building of the Allegheny Observatory for John Brashear, considered at the time one of the ten best observatories in the world. In 1841, William Thaw married Eliza Burd Blair. In 1863, after the death of his first wife, he married Mary Sibbet Copley. In 1887, he commissioned architect Theophilus P. Chandler Jr. to build him a home. "Lyndhurst," which was completed in 1889, was located at 1165 Beechwood Boulevard in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The home was demolished around 1942. Information from the Wikipedia article on William Thaw, Sr.

Gravesite Details

Died in Paris, France



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  • Maintained by: Sheri
  • Originally Created by: Linda Tadd
  • Added: Apr 2, 2010
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50571916/william-thaw: accessed ), memorial page for William Thaw Sr. (12 Oct 1818–17 Aug 1889), Find a Grave Memorial ID 50571916, citing Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Sheri (contributor 47692099).