Benjamin Thaw Sr.


Benjamin Thaw Sr. was a Pittsburgh banker and philanthropist.

Early life

Thaw was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 24, 1859. He was one of five surviving children born to Eliza Burd Thaw and William Thaw Sr. After the death of his mother in 1863, his father remarried to Mary Sibbet Copley, with whom his father had five more children. From his father's second marriage, his half-siblings included Harry Kendall Thaw, Margaret Copley Thaw and Alice Cornelia Thaw. His father was considered one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, and left an enormous fortune for Thaw and his siblings upon his death in August 1889.
Thaw was educated at the Fourth Ward public school before attending the Western University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1878, followed by a years's graduate work at Yale University.

Career

His first job was as a railroad clerk before he organized the Hecla Coke Company with his elder brother, William Thaw Jr. The company was later acquired by the H. C. Frick Coke Company in 1905. Thaw spent much of his time managing his later father's estate and, from 1889 to 1932, he was a trustee of the "coke trust" the elder Thaw created.
Thaw served as a director of the First National Bank, the People's Pittsburgh Bank and was a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh as well as a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.

Personal life

In 1886, Thaw was married to Elma Ellsworth Dows, a daughter of Stephen Leland Dows and Henrietta Dows of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They spent much of their time in Pittsburgh, but maintained a residence in New York at 854 Fifth Avenue and, later, at 640 Park Avenue. Together, they were the parents of the following children:
His wife died at their home in Paris in November 1931. A month after his wife's death, he sold much of the art collection she had acquired over many years. Thaw died at his home in Morewood Place in Pittsburgh on August 20, 1933. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.