Wistar-Wister Family(2)
THE WISTAR-WISTER FAMILY (Part 2):
(Condensed from a talk given before the Junto, August 20, 1946, by Milton Rubincam, President, National Geneaological Society and editor of “The Pennsylvanian”)
Dr. Wistar’s grand-nephew, Brig. General Isaac Jones Wistar (1827-1905), was an adventurer and soldier-of-fortune who served his country well during the Civil War, but his great contribution to the progress of humanity was his founding (in 1892) of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology ofthe University of Pennsylvania, which he named in honor of his illustrious great-uncle, Caspar Wistar. He was President of the American Philosophical Society from 1901 to 1903,
The junior line of the family was founded in Philadelphia in 1727 by John Wister, younger brother of Caspar the First. His fortune was secured in the wine trade. He was thrice married, his second rife, Anna Catharine, daughter of Johann Philipp Ruebencamm, Reformed pastor of Wanfried, Hesse-Rheinfels, Germany, presenting him with the son, Daniel, who perpetuated the male line of the younger branch. In 1744 John and Anna Catharine built Grumblethorpe, the historic mansion in Germantown which became the first country seat of a Philadelphia gentleman. It was Daniel's daughter, Sally Wister, who wrote the charming diary that is recognized as an important document of the life and times of the Revolutionary War period.
John Wister II, one of Daniels sons, was the father of William, who married Sarah Logan Fisher, a descendant of William Penn's famous friend and secretary, James Logan. Their sons, William Rotch, John, Langhorne, Jones, Francis, and Rodman, were notable as the founders of the game of cricket in America. During the Civil War these lads made their contributions to the Union's cause, serving valiantly as soldiers, William Rotch and Francis becoming colonels and Langhorne a brigadier-general, Col, William Rotch Wister married Mary R. Eustis, a granddaughter of the eminent Unitarian clergyman, Rev, William Ellery Charming, by whom he had, among others, two daughters who have much influenced affairs in Philadelphia in the present century. The elder, Mary Channing Wister (wife of her cousin, Owen Wister), was a co-founder of the Civic Club of Philadelphia (1893), of which she later became president, and served on the Board of Education at a time when few women were members. Her death in 1913 evoked the following tribute from the late Gov. Martin G. Brumbaugh: "Her work for our schools was so unselfish, so altruistic, so splendidly progressive that it is entirely fair to say that she was a great leader of educational thought and accomplishment." Mrs. Wister's sister, Miss Frances Anne Wister, also closely identified herself with matters of municipal importance. She has served as president of the Civic Club of Phila. and the Phila. Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, and as vice-president of the Independence Hall Association. In 1936 she was recipient of the 5th Annual Gimbel Award as the most out-standing Philadelphia woman for that year.
Charles Jones Wister, Sr., another son of Daniel, was a successful business man who became important as an amateur mineralogist, botanist, chemist, and meteorologist. His son, Charles J., Jr., was president of the Site and Relic Society of Germantown [the forerunner of the Germantown Historical Society] and of the board of trustees of Germantown Academy. Another son, Dr. Caspar Wister, was the husband of Annie Lee (Furness) Wister, noted translator of German works, A third son, Dr. Owen J. Wister, married a daughter of the famous English actress, Fanny Kemble, by whom he became the father of Owen Wister (1860-1936), author of The Virginian and other novels, and biographer of Washington, Grant, and Theodore Roosevelt, whose writings have established for him a secure place in American literary annals.
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