William Robert Bucknell (April 1, 1811 – March 5, 1890), was an American real estate investor, businessman, philanthropist, and benefactor to
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
.
Early life
Bucknell was born in
Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania
Marcus Hook is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,397 at the 2010 census. The current mayor is Gene Taylor. The borough calls itself "The Cornerstone of Pennsylvania". The 2005 film ''One Last Thing''... was set an ...
to English immigrants. His father was a
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
farmer, carpenter, and early settler of
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylvan ...
. He had intermittent schooling and was trained as a wood carver.
Career
Bucknell began his career as a wood carver, acquired some savings from that trade and set himself up in business. After his first marriage, Bucknell began conducting real estate transactions with the purchase of suburban lands and the erection of buildings.
Bucknell invested in laying gas lines in the city of
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census.
Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...
. He founded the Chester Gas Company in 1856. Bucknell became a director in the
United Gas Improvement Company of
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 ...
. Bucknell was also a director in the Buffalo Gas Light Company.
In his later years, Bucknell ran a brokerage business in
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 ...
trading in securities and real estate. Bucknell had a large ownership in
The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad,
The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad,
The United Railroads of New Jersey and various coal and iron mines.
Bucknell Mansion
Bucknell built an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Type ...
mansion at the corner of 17th and
Walnut Streets in
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 ...
circa 1860. The building was demolished in 1907 and replaced with the Latham Hotel.
Philanthropy
Bucknell University
In 1882, Bucknell donated $50,000 to
University at Lewisburg
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
when it was experiencing financial troubles. In 1886 the university changed its name from the University at Lewisburg to Bucknell University in his honor.
Baptist Organizations
Bucknell was a generous donor to the
Upland Baptist Church in
Upland, Pennsylvania. He was also a member and major contributor to the
First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Bucknell helped fund the erection of The Baptist Publication House in Philadelphia. He also established the
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
Mission in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and paid the expenses of ten missionaries in India for several years.
Pearl Hall
Bucknell sponsored the building of Pearl Hall, a
serpentine stone library built on the campus of the
Crozer Theological Seminary
The Crozer Theological Seminary was a Baptist seminary located in Upland, Pennsylvania.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1951, and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.
In 1970, the semina ...
, in memory of his late wife, Margaret Crozer, daughter of textile manufacturer
John Price Crozer
John Price Crozer (January 13, 1793 – March 11, 1866) was an American textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At firs ...
. In addition to the $30,000 cost of the building, Bucknell also gave $25,000 for the cost of books and $10,000 for an endowment fund. Pearl Hall formally opened on June 4, 1871.
Pearl Hall is currently part of the campus of the
Crozer-Chester Medical Center
Crozer Health is a four-hospital health system based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and serving Delaware County; northern Delaware and parts of western New Jersey.
History
In 1893, the 48-bed Chester Hospital opened to serve the growing pop ...
.
Personal life
Bucknell married Harriet Burr Ashton (1815-1851), in 1836 and had five children, Lavinia Louisa (b. 1840), William Ashton (b. 1842), William Rufus Babcock (b. 1847), Sarah (b. 1849), and Harriet (b. 1851).
After the death of his first wife, he married Margaret Knowles Crozer (1827-1870). After Margaret's death in 1870 he married for a third time, to Emma Eliza Ward (1852-1927) in 1871. They would have four children, Howard (1874-1962),
Margaret Crozer (1876-1963, who married Count Daniele Pecorini), Gertrude (1877-1936, who married Jay Gould Day) and Edith Louise (1880-1944, who married Samuel Price Wetherill, Jr.).
Bucknell's widow, Emma, was a survivor of the sinking of the
RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912.
Bucknell is interred at the
Woodlands Cemetery
The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed into a ...
in
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 ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucknell, William
1811 births
1890 deaths
19th-century American businesspeople
19th-century American philanthropists
American people of English descent
American real estate businesspeople
Bucknell University people
Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery
Businesspeople from Pennsylvania
People from Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania
Philanthropists from Pennsylvania