William Wilson Corcoran
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banker, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, 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. William Corcoran was raised in Georgetown. He studied classics and mathematics at local private schools run by Alexander KirkAlexander Kirk
Alexander Kirk is a comedy actor and writer in British television, film, and theatre.Kirk trained at Bretton Hall, ....
and the Reverend Addison Belt, and also studied for some time at Georgetown College, the predecessor of Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
. Corcoran was raised as a Master Mason on July 26, 1827 at Potomac Lodge in Georgetown.
In 1835, Corcoran eloped and married Louise Morris, who was the daughter of Commodore Charles Morris
Charles Morris (naval officer)
Commodore Charles Morris, USN was a United States naval officer and administrator whose service extended through the first half of the 19th century.-Biography:...
. His wife died in 1840, but not before they had three children (Harriet Louise, Louise Morris, and Charles Morris). The middle child, Louise Morris (1838–1867), was the only one to survive into adulthood. She married George Eustis, Jr..
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 failed in 1823 during a depression, after which he worked on another family business. In 1828, he took control of large amount of real estate from his father.In 1837, Corcoran established a brokerage firm on Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
at 15th Street. He was very successful and soon entered into a partnership with George Washington Riggs
George Washington Riggs
George Washington Riggs was an American businessman and banker. He was known as "The President's Banker."- Life and work :...
. 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
New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
New York Avenue is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House in Washington, D.C. It is a major east-west route in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants and connects downtown with points east and north of the city via Cheverly, Maryland, the John Hanson Highway and the...
.
Philanthropy
In 1854, Corcoran was able to retire with an immense fortune and devote himself to art and philanthropyPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. In 1848, Corcoran had purchased 15 acres (6 ha) of land for Oak Hill Cemetery, which overlooks Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban natural area with public park facilities that bisects Washington, D.C. The park is administered by the National Park Service.-Rock Creek Park:The main section of the park contains , or , along the Rock Creek Valley...
. He organized the Oak Hill Cemetery Company to oversee the cemetery, which was formally incorporated by Act of Congress
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
on March 3, 1849. Corcoran paid for the construction of a Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
chapel in Oak Hill Cemetery, commonly known as the Renwick Chapel
Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel (Washington, D.C.)
The Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel, also known as the Renwick Chapel or James Renwick Chapel, is a historic building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. Designed by James Renwick, Jr. in 1850, Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel is the architect's only known example of Gothic Revival...
. 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
George Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...
. Corcoran also gave many gifts to several universities, including George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, the Maryland Agricultural College, the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, and Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
. Corcoran also contributed to a fund to purchase George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon
The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
estate, after his family could no longer keep it up, and the federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
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 artVisual arts of the United States
American art encompasses the history of painting and visual art in the United States. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, artists primarily painted landscapes and portraits in a realistic style. A parallel development taking shape in rural America was the American craft movement,...
. By the mid-1850s his pictures and sculpture were overflowing his mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
on Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square may refer to a place in the United States:*Lafayette Square, Los Angeles, California, a neighborhood in the mid-city section of L.A.*Lafayette Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Central Business District*Lafayette Square, St...
and he hired the foremost architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
of the day, James Renwick, to build a picture gallery in the Second Empire style on Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
. Before it was ready, however, the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
began, and Corcoran, a Southern sympathizer, left Washington for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where his son-in-law, George Eustis Jr., was a representative of the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
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
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
in 1874. What is now known as the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...
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
Renwick Gallery
The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, located in Washington, D.C., and focuses on American craft and decorative arts from the 19th century to the 21st century...
, a Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
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
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
), and the land and half the construction costs for what is now the Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes
Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes
The Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes is an historic Episcopal church building located at 1215 Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C., USA. The current structure built in 1874 as the Church of the Ascension was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In the...
. Corcoran was also the President of the Corporation of Columbian University. The bank he co-founded existed as Riggs Bank
Riggs Bank
Riggs Bank was a Washington, D.C.-based commercial bank with branches located in the surrounding metropolitan area and offices around the world. For most of its history, it was the largest bank in the nation's capital. Riggs had been controlled by the Albritton family since the 1980s, but they lost...
up until 2005, when it was taken over by PNC Bank. Early in 1883, Corcoran arranged to have the body of John Howard Payne
John Howard Payne
John Howard Payne was an American actor, poet, playwright, and author who had most of his theatrical career and success in London. He is today most remembered as the creator of "Home! Sweet Home!", a song he wrote in 1822 that became widely popular in the United States, Great Britain, and the...
returned to the United States, an expense he personally bore. Payne, actor, poet, and author of "Home! Sweet Home!
Home! Sweet Home!
"Home! Sweet Home!" is a song that has remained well-known for over 150 years. Adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera Clari, Maid of Milan, the song's melody was composed by Englishman Sir Henry Bishop with lyrics by Payne...
" had been the United States Consul to the Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
of Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
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 Tunis.
He has a street named after him in the Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...
neighborhood in the District of Columbia between Q street and R street NW, one block away from Riggs Street. As well, the Corcoron neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN which is bounded by East Lake Street to the north, East 36th Street to the south, Hiawatha Avenue to the east, and Cedar Avenue to the west, is named for William Corcoran.