Charles Frederick Berwind

Charles Frederick Berwind (April 1, 1846 – December 4, 1890) was a founder of the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company, serving as its first president.

Charles Frederick Berwind
President of Berwind-White Coal Mining Company
In office 1886–1890
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Edward Julius Berwind
Personal details
Born	(1846-04-01)April 1, 1846 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	December 4, 1890(1890-12-04) (aged 44) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Resting place	West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Spouse	Anita Hickman ​ ​ (before 1890)​
Relations	Edward J. Berwind (brother) Julia A. Berwind (sister) Robert E. Strawbridge Jr. (grandson)
Children	4

Early life

Berwind was born on April 1, 1846 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of five sons born to German immigrants Augusta (née Guldenferring) Berwind (1821–1904) and John Berwind (1813–1893).^[1][2] Among his siblings was Edward Julius Berwind,^[3] and sister Julia A. Berwind, a social welfare activist.^[4]

Career

After receiving an education in the public schools, he entered the office of R. H. Powel & Co. as an office boy in 1861. He was rapidly promoted and, in 1863, when Powelton Coal and Iron Company was formed, he was made assistant to the president before being promoted to vice-president upon reaching the age of majority.^[5] In 1869, he formed Berwin & Bradley, taking over the coal business of the Powelton company.^[5] In 1874, Berwind joined White & Lingle.^[5]

In 1886, Berwind went into business with his younger brother, Edward, and Judge Allison White; co-founding Berwind, White & Company, which was incorporated as Berwind-White.^[6] The Berwinds worked closely with J. P. Morgan in the consolidation, reorganization, integration, and expansion of his coal mining operations.^[7] After his death in 1890, his brother Edward became sole manager of the company.^[8]

Berwind served as president of the Pennsylvania and Northwestern Railroad Company, a director of the Girard Life Insurance Company, of the Girard National Bank and of various coal and lumber companies.^[5]

Personal life

 

Portrait of his granddaughter, Anita (née Strawbridge) Grosvenor, by Philip de László, 1931.

Berwind was married to Anita Hickman (1852–1922),^[9] the daughter of Cheyney Hickman, a government director of the Bank of the United States.^[10] Anita was born in Río Cuarto, Argentina, where her family fled after her father committed financial fraud.^[11][12] Together, they were the parents of four daughters, two of whom married into the European aristocracy:^[13]

• Anita Berwind (1875–1942),^[14] who married Robert Early Strawbridge Sr., chairman of Strawbridge & Clothier, in 1895.^[15]
• Edith Berwind (1879–1963),^[16] who married Baron von Kleist of Geneva, Switzerland.^[17]
• Gertrude Berwind (1881–1929),^[18] who married Ruprecht, Baron Boecklin von Boecklinsau in 1900.^[19] They divorced in 1920 and she was "the first American woman to renounce a foreign marriage after the World War."^[20]
• Frederica Vesta Berwind (1884–1954), who married Charles Gilpin III (1878–1950) in 1903.^[21] They divorced in January 1911 and she married banker Henry Herman Harjes in 1911.^[22] After his death in 1926,^[23] she married Seton Porter.^[24]

Berwind died of Bright's disease at his residence in Philadelphia on December 4, 1890.^[25] His widow died at the home of their youngest daughter Frederica in Paris in April 1922.^[9][26]

Estate and descendants

In 1918, during World War I, Alien Property Custodian A. Mitchell Palmer took over the property and trust funds of American women who had married Germans and Austrians and that of the German and Austrian heirs of such former American women.^[27] At the time, Gertrude, Baroness von Boecklin of Rust, Ringsheim in Baden, Germany, had her assets seized, which included the more than $300,000 in property that was placed in trust from her father's estate.^[27]

Through his daughter Edith, he was a grandfather of Alta von Kleist (d. 1967),^[28] who first married Count James de Martino of Rome in 1933.^[29][30] Asta later married Jean Paul-Boncour (the French Ambassador to Argentina and Thailand whose brother, Joseph Paul-Boncour, was the Prime Minister of France^[31]).^[17]

Through his daughter Gertrude, he was a grandfather of Baron Ruprecht von Boecklin of 277 Park Avenue,^[32][33] who inherited the Baroness' estate upon her death.^[20]

Through his daughter Anita, he was a grandfather of Anita Strawbridge (wife of Lt. Cmdr. Hon. Theodore P. Grosvenor),^[34][35] and Robert Early Strawbridge Jr. (1896–1986), a polo champion and chairman of the United States Polo Association.^[36]

See also

• Wilmore Steamship Company

References

1. Group, Berwind; Berwind, Charles Graham (1993). The History of Berwind, 1886-1993. Berwind Group. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
2. Ingham, John N. (1983). Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 69-70. ISBN 9780313239076. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
3. "E J. Berwind Dies; Coal Operator, 88; Said to Have Been Country's Largest Individual Owner of Bituminous Mines. Also a Patron of Arts Colleague of J. Pierpont Morgan Had Wide Railroad, Utilities and Steel Interests" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 August 1936. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
4. "Julia A. Berwind, a Society Figure; Leader Here and in Newport Dies -- Did Welfare Work" (PDF). The New York Times. May 18, 1961. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
5. "Philadelphia Affairs. Death of Charles F. Berwind and Dunbar Price--Reading Terminal". The Baltimore Sun. 5 December 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
6. The Trow City Directory Co.'s, Formerly Wilson's, Copartnership and Corporation Directory of New York City. Trow. 1889. p. 27. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
7. Mulrooney, Margaret M. (1989). A Legacy of Coal: The Coal Company Towns of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. p. 51. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
8. "Berwind-White Coal Shifts Its Officers; E.J. Berwind Retires as President to Become Chairman--Other Changes in Corporations" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 January 1930. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
9. "Deaths". Vogue. Condé Nast Publications: 74. June 1922. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
10. Report of the Committee of Investigation Appointed at the Meeting of the Stockholders of the Bank of the United States, Held January 4, 1841: Made to an Adjourned Meeting, Held April 5, 1841 : Also a Report of the Board of Directors. 1841. p. 64. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
11. "BERWIND/HICKMAN". www.thewindberproject.org. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
12. Pennsylvania Law Journal. Walker. 1845. p. 87. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
13. "Former American Women, Now Wives of German Noblemen, Return to America". Morning Press. Vol. 48, no. 126. 25 January 1920. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
14. Times, Special to The New York (21 July 1942). "Mrs. Strawbridge Dead in Newport; Wife of the Vice President of Philadelphia Department Store Stricken on Visit Active in Civic Affairs Had Been Commended by Queen Elizabeth for Work in Aiding British Relief" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
15. Times, Special to The New York (25 December 1963). "Robert Strawbridge Dies at 93; Headed Department Store Chain" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
16. "Deaths" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 December 1963. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
17. "Edith von Kleist Dies in Geneva". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 13 December 1963. p. 42. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
18. "Baroness Boecklin.; Former Gertrude Berwind of Philadelphia Dies in Geneva" (PDF). The New York Times. 10 October 1929. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
19. Times, Special to The New York (16 October 1900). "Von Bocklinsau -- Berwind" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
20. "Boecklin Estate to Son; Former Baroness Who Left $1,190,652 Had Made No Will" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 March 1931. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
21. "Mask and Wig Man Marries Debutant Smart Set Witnesses Nuptials of Miss Berwind and Mr. Charles Gilpin, 3rd". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 24 April 1903. p. 9. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
22. "Mrs. Gilpin Weds Mr. Harjes in Paris; Only Members of the Two Families and Official Witnesses at the Church Ceremony" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 February 1911. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
23. Times, Special Cable to The New York (22 August 1926). "H.H. Harjes Dies from Polo Injury; Head of Morgan Banking Firm in Paris Was Thrown From Horse at Deauville. Unconscious Until Death Banker Won Croix de Guerre in World War and Was a Leader in Finance" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
24. Times, Special to The New York (14 June 1954). "Mrs. Porter, Aided France in 2 Wars; Organizer of Hospital at the Front in 1914 Dies---Set Up Relief Groups Here" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
25. "Obituary Notes" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 December 1890. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
26. "Obituary Notes | Mrs. Charles Frederick Berwind" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 April 1922. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
27. "Palmer Takes Over American Trusts; Property Custodian Attaching Funds of Women Married to Germans and Austrians. Will Exceed $21,300,000 Countess Szechenyl, Formerly Gladys Vanderbilt, at Head of List with $9,000,000. Berwind Estate Affected. $4,000,000 Securities Taken Over" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 November 1918. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
28. "Mrs. Paul-Boncour" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 July 1967. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
29. Times, Special to The New York (7 May 1933). "Asta Kleist to Marry.; Daughter of Philadelphia Baroness Engaged to Count de Martino" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
30. Times, Wireless to The New York (15 September 1933). "Count J. De Martino Weds Ast a De Kleist; Church Ceremony In Geneva for Philadelphia Girl and Resident of Rome" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
31. "Joseph Paul‐Boncour Is Dead; Ex‐Premier of France Was 98" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 March 1972. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
32. "Troth is Announced of Miss Jane Brand; Chicago Girl Is Engaged to Baron von Boecklin of New York City" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 July 1934. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
33. Times, Special to The New York (22 August 1934). "Baron Von Boecklin Wed; Marries Miss Jane Brand at Lake Geneva, Ill" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
34. "Grosvenor--Strawbridge" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 June 1923. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
35. Times, Wireless to The New York (18 January 1931). "Hon. Anita Grosvenor Hurt As Horse Falls; Former Miss Strawbridge of Philadelphia Thrown in Riding With Cottesmore Hounds" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
36. "Robert Strawbridge Jr. Dies. Former Polo Star and Official". New York Times. March 8, 1986. Retrieved 2011-03-29. Robert E. Strawbridge Jr., one of the nation's leading polo players in the 1920s and 1930s and a longtime official of the sport, died Thursday at his farm in Chatham, Pa. ... He was elected chairman of the United States Polo Association in 1936 and retained the post for two decades.

External links

• Charles Frederick Berwind at Find a Grave
• Copy Print Photograph of Anita Hickman Berwind, c. 1910, at the Preservation Society of Newport County