Anne Weightman

Anne Weightman Walker Penfield (1844 - February 25, 1932), was a philanthropist, and one of the richest women in world.[1][2]

Biography

She was born in 1884 to William Weightman.[3]

She lived with her father at Ravenhill, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.

She married Robert J. C. Walker and he died December 19, 1903, in Philadelphia.[4] At the death of her father in 1904, Ravenhill passed to her.

In May 1907, she commissioned Adolfo Müller-Ury to paint a portrait of Pope Pius X (now at the Graduate House at the North American College in Rome). He also painted portrait of alone as well as a double portrait of Mrs. Walker with her favourite niece Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs (for the latter's husband), and a posthumous portrait of her father.

Upon the death of her first husband, she went on to marry Frederic Courtland Penfield, an orientalist and diplomat, in 1908.[5] To celebrate her wedding she gave $1M to charity.[1]

She died on February 25, 1932.[4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Celebrates Wedding by Giving $1,000,000. Mrs. Walker Remembers Relatives and Institutions in Marrying Frederic C. Penfield. Daughters of Mrs. Wister, Who Tried to Break Weightman Will, Among Beneficiaries.". New York Times. February 27, 1908. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20A11F9345A17738DDDAE0A94DA405B888CF1D3. Retrieved 2010-09-28. "Frederic Courtland Penfield, diplomat, author, and clubman, and Mrs. Anne Weightman Walker, one of the wealthiest women in the world, were married at 10:45 ..." 
  2. ^ "Woman 60 Years Old, Worth $50,000,000, Manages Great Chemical Plant; Mrs. J.R.C. Walker, Now in Change of Powers & Weightman Business, Commands a Small Army of Employees. A Womanly Woman". New York Times. September 4, 1904. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00813F8345E12738DDDAD0894D1405B848CF1D3. Retrieved 2010-10-20. "By the recent death of her father, William Weightman, head of the firm of Powers Weightman" 
  3. ^ "William Weightman Dead. One of the Largest Real Estate Owners in the Country.". New York Times. August 26, 1904. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00E1FF8395414728DDDAF0A94D0405B848CF1D3. Retrieved 2010-09-28. "William Weightman, popularly known as the richest man in Pennsylvania, and certainly one of the largest real estate owners in the country, died this morning at his Summer home, "Raven Hill," in West School Lane, Falls of Schuylkill." 
  4. ^ a b "Sketches of the Bench and Bar of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania". http://www.lycolaw.org/history/sketches/21.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-30. "Robert J. C. Walker died December 19, 1903, a resident of Philadelphia, where he and his wife then resided. Mrs. Walker later married Frederick Courtland Penfield, and she died February 25, 1932." 
  5. ^ "F.C. Penfield Dead at His Home Here. Ex-Ambassador to Austria Had Been Ill With Congestion of the Brain. Born in Connecticut 68 Years Ago and Was for Some Time on The Hartford Courant. Sent to Austria in 1913. Known as Traveler and Writer. Recipient of Many Degrees.". New York Times. June 20, 1922. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950DE2DB1231EF33A25753C2A9609C946395D6CF. Retrieved 2009-07-25. "Frederic Courtland Penfield former Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, died just after 10 o'clock last night at his home, 787 Fifth Avenue." 
  6. ^ "Penfield's Widow Dies In New York. Husband Was Ambassador to Austro-Hungary and at One Time on Courant Staff". Associated Press. February 27, 1932. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/827220552.html?dids=827220552:827220552&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+27,+1932&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Penfield's+Widow+Dies+In+New+York&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2010-09-30. "Mrs. Anne Weightman Penfield, widow of Frederick Courtland Penfield, who was American Ambassador to Austro-Hungary from 1913 until the United States entered the war, died here Thursday night."