Clarence C. Zantzinger

Clarence Clark Zantzinger (1872-1954) was an architect and public servant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Life

Clarence was born in Philadelphia, the son of Alfred Zantzinger (1839-1873) and Sarah Crawford Clark. Alfred was a medical doctor who was born on June 27, 1839, in Philadelphia to George Zantzinger, a grand-nephew of David Rittenhouse,^[1] and Caroline Helmuth.^[2] Alfred entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1855, graduated from Philadelphia's Hahnemann Medical College in 1862,^[2] and became a volunteer surgeon with the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry.^[3] In January 1863, he married Sarah Crawford Clark, the daughter of Philadelphia financier Enoch White Clark.^[2] Their son Clarence was born in 1872, and Alfred died of typhoid in Philadelphia on August 15, 1873.^[4] Sarah later remarried C. George Currie, a rector of St. Luke's Church in Philadelphia.^[5]

Clarence attended private school in Germany, then St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He matriculated at Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School, where he was a member of the senior S.S.S. Society^[6] and graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1892. Three years later, he earned a B.S. in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He then spent two years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he worked under Paul Blondel and Henri Grisors and graduated in 1901.^[7]

He returned to Philadelphia, set out his shingle, and soon received his first commission: a building to house the West Philadelphia branch (today, the Walnut Street West branch) of the Free Library of Philadelphia.^[8] By 1905, he and Charles L. Borie, Jr. (a fellow graduate of St. Paul's School) had launched a firm of their own with offices at 251 South 4th Street in Philadelphia. They were joined in 1910 by Milton Bennett Medary, and the firm was renamed Zantzinger, Borie & Medary, which specialized in institutional and civic projects.^[7]

In 1903, Zantzinger joined the American Institute of Architects; eight years later, the group made him a fellow. He served for years on the group's National Committee on Foreign Relations and Education; he also served as president of the Philadelphia chapter. Zantzinger was also a member of the T-Square Club; he directed its atelier and served on its education committee.^[7]

In 1917, Zantzinger became a diplomat: President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to represent the U.S. on the War Trade Board in Sweden as a member of the U.S. legation in Stockholm.^[7]

He also served on the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission and as president of Philadelphia's City Parks Association.^[7]

In 1951, he retired from his firm, by then renamed Zantzinger & Borie.^[9]

Works

Among his works were:^[9]

• William Penn Charter School, Germantown, Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania Athletic Club, Philadelphia.
• Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
• The bank building of E.W. Clark & Co., southeast corner of S. 16th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia.^[10]
• St. Paul's Church, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.
• Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Plainfield, New Jersey.
• The administration building for the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale.
• The Men's dormitory group, University of Chicago.
• Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C.
• Public Administration Building, University of Chicago.
• Graduate Cottage, Overbrook School for the Blind, Overbrook, Pennsylvania.
• Nurses Home, Abington Hospital, Abington, Pennsylvania.
• Warehouse for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Family

In 1903, Clarence married Margaret Shippen Buckley,^[9] part of a prominent Philadelphia family that descended from John Buckley (1664-1732), of Wiltshire, England, who in 1681 became one of the first people to purchase land in the colony of Pennsylvania from William Penn.^[11] She was a daughter of iron manufacturer Edward Swift Buckley^[11] and granddaughter of Matthew Brooke Buckley (1794-1856),^[12] a president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from 1842^[13] to 1846.^[14][15] Matthew was the son of Daniel Buckley (1761-1827), a lawyer and former member of the Assembly of Pennsylvania,^[16] who was the son of John Buckley (1719-1799), who was the son of Adam Buckley (1697-1760), who was the son of the John who immigrated from England.^[17]

In 1922, Clarence and Margaret lived at "Greenacre", their house at Seminole and Highland Avenues in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.^[18]

They had at least four children:

1 Clarence Clark Zantzinger Jr. (1904-1993), who followed his father to St. Paul's, Yale, Penn, and the Ecole des Beaux Arts; then joined Zantzinger, Borie & Medary as a draftsman; and finally struck out on his own as an architect. He served as director or other corporate officer in several organizations, including the Fairmount Park Art Association, for which he served as president from 1969 to 1980.^[19] He married Mary Amory Cook, a daughter of Navy Vice Admiral Arthur Byron Cook (1881-1952), an early naval aviator. They had two daughters:

1.1 Amory H. Stedman

1.2 Katharine B. Okie^[20]

2 Alfred Zantzinger (1907-1972), who also attended St. Paul's, married Mary Geist in 1937 (they lived at The Willows, a mansion in Radnor Township purchased for them by the bride's father, Clarence Geist). Alfred worked stints at the E.W. Clark & Co. financial house, the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, and as vice-president of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.^[21] He was the father of:

2.1 Alfred Geist "Gei" Zantzinger (1936-2007), a documentary filmmaker.^[20]

3 Sarah Clark Zantzinger married Harry C. Groome Jr.,^[22] who went on to become a senior vice-president of N. W. Ayer & Son, the country's oldest advertising agency.^[23]

4 Mary Vaux Zantzinger (1910-1987)^[24], who married John Wister Wurts (1907-1972),^[22] a scion of yet another prominent Philadelphia family.^[25] Wurts, who lived as a child on Philadelphia's Portico Row, graduated from Princeton University in 1931^[26] and served in Europe during World War II, winning the Legion of Merit.^[27] Wurts was a son of Charles Stewart Wurts III (Princeton Class of 1890^[27] and a Philadelphia stockbroker) and Elizabeth Wister; grandson of Charles Stewart Wurts II (1830-??) and Mary S. Wood (??-1883);^[28] great-grandson of Charles Stewart Wurts (1790-1859), a founder of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Railroad Companies, and Mary Van Uxem (1802-1877); great-great-grandson of John Wurts (1744-1793) and Sarah Grandin; and great-great-great-grandson of Johannes Conrad Wirz (1706-1763), who founded the Wurts family in America.^[25] Mary and John Wurts had two sons:^[29]

4.1 John Wister Wurts, Jr., who married Tracy Todd Johnson (1942-2000)^[30].

4.2 Clarence Zantzinger "Binky"^[31] Wurts (b. Sept. 27, 1940),^[26] who graduated from Princeton in 1962; married Patricia Weaver; worked as a stockbroker for Drexel & Co., Alex Brown, and other firms; and was president of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange from 1981 to about 1987.^[32] At least one grandchild:

4.2.X.1 Merritt Wurts, Class of 2021 at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.^[33]

Notes

External links

• Photo of "Kate's Hall" at 8440 St. Martins Lane in Chestnut Hill, designed by Zantzinger for Joseph Sill Clark, Sr.
• St. Paul's School obituary for Clarence Zantzinger
• Inquirer obituary for Clarence Jr.
• New York Times obituary for Clarence Jr.