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 * __Peter A.B. Widener__**

During the Civil War, Peter Arrell Brown Widener (1834-1915) was a tradesman who supplied meat to the Union Army near Philadelphia. Following the war, he successfully invested his profits in trolley cars and public transit systems. He collected in the princely tradition; antique furniture, tapestries, and decorative arts created a palatial setting for his Old Master paintings and sculpture.His collection included more than a dozen paintings by Rembrandt as well as works by then new artists Edouard Manet and Auguste Renoir. P. A. B. Widener left the family collection in trust to his son, Joseph, for eventual donation to a public museum. His son, George Dunton Widener, and George's son Harry Elkins Widener, died when they went down with the RMS Titanic. Peter was married Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836-1896) and they built Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a 110-room Georgian-style mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer. Peter was considered to be a robber baron because he may have donated money to the arts academy and other purposes, but he used most of his earnings for himself like the mansion he made and the paintings he bought for himself.



__Peter A.B. Widener Resources__