Caspar Wistar (born Caspar Wüster) (February 3, 1696March 21, 1752) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-born

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

maker and landowner in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. One of the first German colonists in Pennsylvania, he became a leader of that community and prospered in land transactions. He “arrived in Philadelphia in 1717 with nearly no money; at the time of his death in 1752, his wealth outstripped that of the contemporary elite more than threefold...an immigrant’s path to achieving the American Dream."

Family

He was the father of Richard Wistar, Sr. (1727-1781),

maker and landowner in

and the grandfather of

Caspar Wistar Caspar Wistar may refer to: * Caspar Wistar (glassmaker) (1696–1752), Pennsylvania glassmaker and landowner * Caspar Wistar (physician) Caspar Wistar (September 13, 1761January 22, 1818) was an American physician and anatomist. He is sometim ...

(1761-1818), the

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and anatomist after whom the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Wisteria'' is named. Another child, Rebecca Wistar, married Samuel Morris. His brother, John (born Johannes Wüster) (1708–1789) emigrated to Philadelphia in 1727 and settled in the Germantown district. John was registered under a variant of the surname, “Wister.” To this day there exists two spellings of the family name. While Caspar anglicized his name to "Wistar", John spelled his "Wister". The two each founded prominent Philadelphia-area families, and the difference in spelling persisted.

Biography

Caspar Wistar, the son of forester Hans Caspar Wüster, spent his first 21 years in Waldhilsbach, a village in the Palatinate near

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

under the reign of prince

Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine (''"Jan Wellem"'' in Low German, English: ''"John William"''; 19 April 1658 – 8 June 1716) of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Elector Palatine (1690–1716), Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, Neuburg (1690–1716), ...

(1658-1716). According to family tradition, he was born in the village's forester’s house. He grew up during the tumultuous

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

(1688-1697) and the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

(1702-1713) which caused hardships and instability for the people of the Palatinate due to invasions by the French and British. Wistar served as a foresters' apprentice, but government reforms (particularly pay cuts for foresters) limited his professional opportunities, so he decided to emigrate to the United States.Kummer, Insa
"Caspar Wistar."
In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 1, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck. German Historical Institute. Last modified September 25, 2014. He left the Palatinate in 1717, forgoing his father’s hereditary title and position to seek out a new life across the Atlantic Ocean. He arrived in

in 1717 (according to his memoir, with only nine pennies to his name). Upon his arrival, he was registered under the surname "Wistar". He worked at various manual trades, including

soapmaking Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as ...

and the manufacture of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

buttons. He became a British subject in 1724 and joined the Religious Society of Friends (the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

) in 1726. He married Catherine Jansen on May 25, 1725; they had seven children.

Glassworks

In 1739, Wistar established a furnace in southern New Jersey and began manufacturing window panes, bottles, and chemical apparatuses. After his death, the glassworks was run by his son Richard until 1781.

References

External links

Caspar Wistar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wistar, Caspar 1696 births 1752 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople American Quakers Wister family German Palatines People of colonial Pennsylvania German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Colonial American merchants