Franz Martin Drexel was born April 7, 1792, the eldest son of Franz Josef Drexel and Magdalena Wilhelm, in Dornbirn, in the Austrian Vorarlberg, not far from the Swiss border. His father was a successful merchant with business associates in both Switzerland and Italy. In 1803, Francis was sent to study Italian and French at a Catholic convent school In Italy. Drexel would eventually become conversant in five languages. He returned two years later and was apprenticed to a painter in a nearby village. When Napoleon invaded Austria, in order to escape conscription, and with help from his father, he crossed the Rhine into Switzerland. He remained there for about five years, painting portraits, houses, and signs to support himself. 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 May 1817, Drexel took ship from Amsterdam on the John of Baltimore, headed for Philadelphia, where he opened a studio and found work as an art instructor at Bazeley's Female Academy. A popular portrait painter, his work was frequently shown at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts annual exhibitions. A law suit for libel against his brother-in-law, Bernard Gallagher, was settled out of court as damages would have bankrupted the latter. Although Gallagher acknowledged the false statements, nonetheless, commissions for paintings decreased and Drexel lost his position at Bazeley's. He then left his wife and two children in Philadelphia, to travel to Peru and Chile, painting portraits, including one of General Simón Bolívar. 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 at the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church at Sixth and Spruce streets on April 23, 1821. They had the following children:
Mary Johanna Drexel, who married John D. Lankenau, a businessman and philanthropist
He died on June 5, 1863 and is interred at The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia. A sculpture of Drexel stands atop the Francis M. Drexel Memorial Fountain in Drexel Square in Chicago. Drexel donated the land that came to be known as Drexel Boulevard. One of the oldest public sculptures in Chicago, it was commissioned by his sons Francis A. and Anthony J. Drexel. Drexel Park, located on S. Damen St. in Chicago is named after Drexel Blvd. Drexel presented another large tract - one further east - to the South Park Commission for use as parkland.
