Robert Ralston (1761 Little Brandywine,

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, ...

– 11 August 1836

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) was a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

He became a merchant at an early age, and amassed a large fortune in the

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

n trade, which he spent liberally in benevolent enterprises. He contributed largely to the establishment of the Widows' and Orphans' Asylum and the Mariner's Church in Philadelphia, founded th
Pennsylvania Bible Society
(then called the 'Bible Society at Philadelphia'), which was the first

Bible society A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, and in 1819 became first president of the board of education of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church. His colonial estate in Philadelphia became the location of Mount Vernon Cemetery and

Mount Peace Cemetery Mount Peace Cemetery is a cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that is owned and operated by the Odd Fellows organization. It was established in 1865 and is located at 3111 West Lehigh Avenue, near the Laurel Hill Cemetery. The cemetery prope ...

. The

Robert Ralston School The Robert Ralston School is an historic, American school building that is located in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. History and architect ...

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1986.

Notes

References

1761 births 1836 deaths American philanthropists People of colonial Pennsylvania Colonial American merchants Businesspeople from Philadelphia 19th-century American merchants {{US-business-bio-1760s-stub