William Wilson Corcoran

William Wilson Corcoran (December 27, 1798 – (February 24, 1888) was an American banker, philanthropist, and art collector.

Early life

Corcoran was born in Georgetown in the District of Columbia, the son of a well-to-do father whom the electors of Georgetown twice chose as mayor. His father, Thomas Corcoran, came to Georgetown in 1788 and established a leather business there. [cite book |title=A Portrait of Old Georgetown |date=1933 |publisher=Garrett & Massie, Inc. |author=Ecker, Grace Dunlop |pages=p. 15] William Corcoran was raised in Georgetown. He studied classics and mathematics at local private schools run by Alexander Kirk and the Reverend Addison Belt, and also studied for some time at Georgetown College.

In 1835, Corcoran eloped and married Louise Morris, who was the daughter of Commodore Charles Morris. His wife died in 1840, but not before they had three children (Harriet Louise, Louise Morris, and Charles Morris). The middle child, Louise Morris, was the only one to survive into adulthood.

Business

Corcoran entered business at the age of 17, working in dry goods store owned by two brothers, and opened his own store two years later. Corcoran later established a wholesale auction and commission business. His businesses went under in 1823 during a depression, after which he worked on other family business.cite book |title=A Portrait of Old Georgetown |date=1933 |publisher=Garrett & Massie, Inc. |author=Ecker, Grace Dunlop |pages=p. 126-139] In 1828, he took control of large amount of real estate from his father.cite book |title=The Art Treasures of Washington: An Account of the Corcoran Gallery of Art |author=Henderson, Helen Weston |date=1915 |publisher=L. C. Page & Company |pages=pp. 21-25]

In 1837, Corcoran established a brokerage firm on Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th Street. He was very successful and soon entered into a partnership with George W. Riggs. The firm of Corcoran and Riggs (now PNC Bank) prospered and in 1845, they purchased the United States Bank located on 15th Street at New York Avenue.

Philanthropy

In 1854, Corcoran was able to retire with an immense fortune and devote himself to art and philanthropy. In 1848, Corcoran had purchased 15 acres (6 ha) of land for Oak Hill Cemetery, which overlooks Rock Creek Park. He organized the Cemetery Company to oversee the cemetery, which was formally incorporated by act of Congress on March 3, 1849. Corcoran also established a $10,000 fund, administered by the Benevolent Society, to purchase firewood for the poor in Georgetown. One of William Wilson Corcoran's longtime business associate and friend was the renowned George Peabody. Corcoran also gave many gifts to several universities, including George Washington University, the Maryland Agricultural College, the College of William and Mary, and Washington and Lee University. Corcoran also contributed to a fund to purchase George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, after his family could no longer keep it up, and the Federal government refused to purchase it.

Art

In contrast to many contemporary art patrons, Corcoran was not exclusively interested in European works, and he assembled one of the first important collections of American art. By the mid-1850s his pictures and sculpture were overflowing his mansion on Lafayette Square and he hired the foremost architect of the day, James Renwick, to build a picture gallery in the Second Empire style on Pennsylvania Avenue. Before it was ready, however, the Civil War began, and Corcoran, a Southern sympathizer, left Washington for Paris, where his son-in-law, George Eustis Jr., was a representative of the Confederacy. This son-in law was married to Louise Morris Corcoran (1838-67) the only daughter of William Wilson Corcoran.

Back in Washington after the collapse of the South, Corcoran had some trouble reclaiming all his property and in 1869 gave over his gallery building and much of his collection to the government. Opened officially as the Corcoran Gallery in 1874. What is now known as the Corcoran College of Art and Design grew out of young artists interest in the museum since its inception, and today the Gallery and College function as an institution that remains one of Washington's most important cultural centers. The Gallery and school moved to a new building, however, in 1897, and the old building is now the Renwick Gallery, a Smithsonian museum.

Corcoran made many other important bequests to the people of Washington, among them the Louise Home for Women, several departments of the Columbian University (now the George Washington University), and the land and half the construction costs for what is now the Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes. The bank he co-founded existed as Riggs Bank up until 2005, when it was taken over by PNC Bank. Early in 1883, Corcoran arranged to have the body of John Howard Payne returned to the United States, an expense he personally bore. Payne, actor, poet, and author of "Home Sweet Home" had been the United States Consul to the Bey of Tunis in 1852 and had died there. Payne had been good friends of Corcoran and his business partner, George W. Riggs in 1850, prior to Payne's second appointment as Consul to Tuniscite book
last = Brainard
first = Charles Henry
title = John Howard Payne: A Biographical Sketch of the Author of "Home, Sweet Home"
publisher = G. A. Coolidge
date = 1885
location = Washington, D. C.
pages = 51 – 52, 71 ff.
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Mu9IAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage&lr=lang_en&as_brr=1#PPP17,M1]

He has a street named after him in the Dupont Circle neighborhood in the District of Columbia between Q street and R street NW, one block away from Riggs Street.

References

External links

* [http://www.corcoran.org/about/history.htm Corcoran Gallery of Art]