Francis Martin Drexel

Updated on Oct 02, 2024

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Occupation Banker		Name Francis Drexel

Born April 7, 1792 Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria Role Anthony Joseph Drexel's father Died June 5, 1863, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Spouse Catherine Hookey (m. 1821) Children Anthony Joseph Drexel, Francis Anthony Drexel, Joseph William Drexel Grandchildren Katharine Drexel, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Similar People Anthony Joseph Drexel, Katharine Drexel, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel

Francis Martin Drexel (April 7, 1792 – June 5, 1863) was a Philadelphia banker and artist. He was the father of Anthony Joseph Drexel, the founder of Drexel University and the grandfather of Saint Katherine Drexel.

Early life

Francis Martin Drexel was born in Dornbirn, in the Austrian Vorarlberg in 1792. In 1803, he was sent to study Italian and the fine arts in a Catholic institution near Turin. When he returned in 1809, he found Austria invaded by the French, and to escape conscription he crossed the border into Switzerland and then went to Paris, France. In 1812, he returned to the Tyrol incognito. Conscription was still in force, so he went to Bern and continued his study of painting.

Career

In 1817, he sailed for the United States from Amsterdam, and settled in Philadelphia. After a few years, he went to Peru and Chile, painting portraits, including one of General Simon Bolivar. Drexel visited South America twice as well as Mexico.

Drexel & Co.

In 1837, after his permanent settlement in Philadelphia, he founded the banking house of Drexel & Co. which became one of the largest banks in the United States. The original business of Drexel & Co. was discounting privately issued bank notes, the value of which was largely dependent on the character of the principal officers of the issuing bank. The exposure to the principals gained from portrait painting is said to have given Drexel inside knowledge.

After his death in 1860, the Paris firm, Drexel, Harjes & Co., was founded in 1868, and the New York firm, Drexel, Morgan & Co., was founded in 1871.

Children

Drexel married Catherine Hookey (1795–1870) at the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church at Sixth and Spruce streets on April 23, 1821. They had the following children:

Mary Johanna Drexel (1822–1873), who married John D. Lankenau (1817–1901), a businessman and philanthropist

Francis Anthony Drexel (1824–1885), who married Hannah J. Langstroth (1826–1858), and then Emma Mary Bouvier (1833–1883)

Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893), who married Ellen B. Rozet (1832–1891). He was one of the founders of modern finance as well as Drexel University.

Joseph William Drexel (1833–1888), who married Lucy Wharton (1841–1912). He was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and director of the Metropolitan Opera

Heloise C. Drexel (1837–1895), who married James Charles Smith (1828–1893)

Caroline "Carrie" Drexel (1838–1911), who married stockbroker John Goddard Watmough (1837–1913), son of Col. John Watmough.

Drexel died in 1863, a result of injuries suffered in a train accident, and was buried in The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Descendants

Through his eldest son, Francis Anthony Drexel, he was the paternal grandfather of Saint Katharine Drexel (1858–1955). Through his son, Joseph William Drexel, he was the paternal grandfather of Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (1868–1944), a prominent socialite who married John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866–1944).

References

Francis Martin Drexel Wikipedia

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