Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Sr. (December 16, 1891September 12, 1973) was president of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

from 1948 to 1964.

Early life and family

Robert Sturgis Ingersoll was born December 16, 1891, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

, a son of Charles Edward Ingersoll (1860-1932) and Henrietta Auchmuty (née Sturgis) Ingersoll (1864-1944). His father was a financier who was a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1896 from Pennsylvania, and a candidate for United States Congress from Pennsylvania's 7th District in 1902. His great-grandfather,

Charles Jared Ingersoll Charles Jared Ingersoll (October 3, 1782 – May 14, 1862) was an American lawyer, writer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1813 to 1815, Pe ...

, was a United States Congressman and

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

from Pennsylvania. His 2nd great-grandfather,

Jared Ingersoll Jared Ingersoll (October 24, 1749 – October 31, 1822) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Constitution. He serv ...

, was also a United States Attorney from Pennsylvania, as well as Pennsylvania's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Jared also ran as

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...

's vice-presidential candidate in the

1812 United States Presidential Election The 1812 United States presidential election was the seventh quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 30, 1812 to Wednesday, December 2, 1812. Taking place in the shadow of the War of 1812, incumbent Democratic-Republic ...

. His 2nd great-uncle,

Joseph Reed Ingersoll Joseph Reed Ingersoll (June 14, 1786 – February 20, 1868) was an American lawyer and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1835 he followed his father, Jared Ingersoll, and his older brother, Charles Jared Ingersoll, to represent Penns ...

, was a United States Congressman from Pennsylvania and diplomat. R.S. Ingersoll's 3rd great-grandfather was

Benjamin Chew Benjamin Chew (November 19, 1722 – January 20, 1810) was a fifth-generation American, a Quaker-born legal scholar, a prominent and successful Philadelphia lawyer, slaveowner, head of the Pennsylvania Judiciary System under both Colony and Com ...

. His 7th great-grandfather was

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...

, founder of the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

. Ingersoll was named for his maternal grandfather, Robert Shaw Sturgis (1824-1876). His first cousin, Elizabeth Sturgis Potter, married

Frank Polk Frank Lyon Polk (September 13, 1871 – February 7, 1943) was an American lawyer and diplomat, who was also a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell. Early life Polk was born in New York City. He was the son of W ...

, a United States lawyer and diplomat. Another first cousin was Robert Sturgis Potter (1890-1947), with whom he shared a name. Potter had a son, Robert Sturgis Potter, Jr. (1920-1988), whose daughter, Linda Sophia Potter, is married to

Timothy Shriver Timothy Perry Shriver (born August 29, 1959) is an American disability rights activist, film producer, and former educator who has been Chairman of Special Olympics since 1996 and is the founder of UNITE. He is a member of the Kennedy family as ...

, member of the Kennedy family. His great-uncle was

Joseph M. Warren Joseph Mabbett Warren (January 28, 1813 – September 10, 1896) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Born in Troy, New York, Warren attended the local schools, and in 1827 entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He graduated ...

, a United States Congressman from New York and one-time mayor of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. His second cousin, twice removed is diplomat

David McKean (diplomat) David McKean (born 1956) is an American attorney, author, political advisor, and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 2016 to 2017. He was confirmed to the position in 2016 and sworn in on March 14, 2016. He pre ...

, a United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

from 2016 to 2017. Ingersoll had five siblings: Anna Warren Ingersoll (1887-1980), who never married; Captain Harry Ingersoll (1890-1918), who was killed in action in France during World War I; Charles Jared Ingersoll (1894-1988), named after their ancestor; Susan Brimmer Ingersoll (1896-1987), who married Orville Horwitz Bullitt (1894-1979)- Orville's brother was diplomat

William C. Bullitt William Christian Bullitt Jr. (January 25, 1891 – February 15, 1967) was an American diplomat, journalist, and novelist. He is known for his special mission to negotiate with Lenin on behalf of the Paris Peace Conference, often recalled as a mi ...

; and John Hobart Warren Ingersoll (1899-1967). His nephew, Sergeant Charles Jared Ingersoll, Jr. (1923-1944), was killed in action in Italy during World War II.

Career

Ingersoll graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1915. He would serve as President of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1948 to 1964. During his time there, he also initiated a Board of Governors for the organization, serving as the board's chairman from 1947 to 1959. Ingersoll was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1950.

Personal life

He married Marion Bernard Fowle (1893-1968) and had five children: # Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Jr. (1915-1968); married Harriet Kingston Archer (1916-1995) # George Fowle Ingersoll (1916-1970); named after Marion's father # Phebe Warren Ingersoll Benson (1917-1994) # Charles Edward Ingersoll, II (1922-1982); named after Robert's father # Harry Ingersoll (1924-1982); named after Robert's late brother Robert Ingersoll, Jr. had three children # Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, III (b. 1937), who married Vera Felicity Roosevelt (1939-2000), daughter of Henry Latrobe Roosevelt, Jr., granddaughter of

Henry L. Roosevelt Henry Latrobe Roosevelt (October 5, 1879 – February 22, 1936) was an Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy and a member of the Roosevelt family. Early life Roosevelt was born on October 5, 1879 in Morristown, New Jersey, to Lieutenan ...

, and cousin of United States Presidents

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. Robert and Vera had four children: Archer Sturgis, Julia Story, Eleanor Roosevelt and Isabelle Sturgis Ingersoll. # Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1940-2018); married Patricia Stockton Royce (1937-2010) and had two sons: Joseph Reed, Jr. and Richard Stockton Ingersoll. # Stephen Kingston Ingersoll (1943-1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingersoll, Robert Sturgis 1891 births 1973 deaths People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art Burials in Pennsylvania Members of the American Philosophical Society