Jump to content

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Marquand, Henry Gurdon

From Wikisource
22019401911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17 — Marquand, Henry Gurdon

MARQUAND, HENRY GURDON (1819–1902), American philanthropist and collector, was born in New York City on the 11th of April 1819. In 1839, upon the retirement from the jewelry business of his brother Frederick (1799–1882), who was a liberal benefactor of Yale College and of the Union Theological Seminary, he became his brother’s agent. He was one of the purchasers in 1868 of the Iron Mountain railroad, afterwards its president, and a director of the Missouri-Pacific system. He was the first honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, and president (1889–1902) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to which he made valuable presents and loans from his collection of paintings. He died in New York City, on the 26th of February 1902. His varied and valuable art collection and rare books were sold in 1903. He was a benefactor of Princeton University and other institutions. His son, Allan Marquand (b. 1853), graduated at Princeton in 1874, and in 1883 became professor of archaeology and art.