Caspar Wistar
(1696-1752)

William Rotch Wister (1827-1911†) founded the first Cricket Club in America while attending The University of Pennsylvania. After he graduates in 1845, he works for some Philadelphia lawyers doing clerical work until he is admitted to the bar in 1849. Throughout his life, William will practice law from his home, Belfield, in Germantown. In 1854, he becomes the founder of the Germantown Cricket Club and The Philadelphia Cricket Club. The game of cricket becomes very popular very fast. By 1861, there are 43 cricket clubs in Philadelphia, granting William the title “The Father of American Cricket”. When the Civil War breaks out, William serves as Lieutenant Colonel of the Twentieth Pennsylvania Cavalry. To say this man has made a name for himself would be an understatement.

In 1868, after building a house on Clarkson Ave in Philadelphia, William marries Mary Rebecca Eustis (1844–1944†). Mary comes from a very prominent family herself, being a descendant of William Ellery (1727-1820), a signer of The Declaration of Independence. William and Mary have six children together. Three of them are daughters that go on to make a huge difference in Philadelphia. The oldest is Mary Channing Wister (1870-1913†) the wife of “The Virginian” author, Owen Wister (1860-1938†), President of Philadelphia’s Equal Franchise Society as well as the first woman to serve on the Philadelphia School Board and being responsible for the building of the Broad Street Subway, she was a force to be reckoned with.

This puts us in the year 1874. Let’s take a look at some newspaper headlines to see what’s going on. The Bronx officially becomes a part of New York City. A new game is patented by Walter Clopton Wingfield (1833-1912). He calls it “sphairistike”, later it is called “lawn tennis” but we know it today simply as tennis. Hawaii grants the United States exclusive trading rights with the signing of a treaty. Remember, Hawaii is not yet part of the U. S. The first admission is charged for a football game when Harvard beats Montreal’s University of McGill in a 3-0 win. The cost? 50 cents. The first zoo in America is opened in Philadelphia. Fire breaks out burning 47 acres, destroying 812 buildings and resulting in 20 deaths during the Chicago Fire of 1874 (how did they not see that coming? The year is IN the name!). Lowering the paper, we find ourselves on Clarkson Ave in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.

Surrounded by this Wister family of strong influence, Frances Anne Wister is born on Thursday, November 26, 1874. Willim and Mary name her after famous Shakespearean actress and relative, Frances Anne Kemble also known as Fanny Kemble (1809-1893). It's during Frances Anne Wister’s second year, that her father builds a larger second home across the street that the family move into known as The Wister House. The original home becomes known as the "The Mary and Frances Wister Home" for many years. Today, that home is part of Lasalle University and it is used as a studio for students. With the adding of the second home, the grounds become the Wister Family compound where Frances grows up. The Wister family are very close. Frances’s younger sister, Ella Wister Haines (1879-1969†) once stated that she had noon dinner with her grandparents seven days a week. Sunday dinners consist of ten or more cousins each week.

Frances has a passion for music. She plays the violin while her older sister, Mary, plays piano. At the family gatherings they will often play together along with their cousin, Owen. She continues to play music at local meetings in many Germantown Clubs.

The Academy of Music c1920
The Irvin R. Glazer Collection

The Academy of Music, was built from 1855-1857 by Napoleon LeBrun (1821-1901†) & Gustavus Runge (1822-1900). It stands at the corner of Broad & Locust Streets and houses all musical events in the city. It has hosted out-of-town major orchestras like the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and even, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. With so many orchestras passing though, Philadelphia develops a hunger for fine music. Each time The Boston Symphony Orchestra plays their annually ten performances, each performance is sold out. It’s now 1899 and Frances is twenty-five years old when she decides, along with a group of society women, to raise $250,000 to create an orchestra for Philadelphia. However, when they are unable to raise the needed funds, they decide to come at it from a different and riskier angle. They form the orchestra and hope that they can somehow pay the cost.

Before they can play, they will need a conductor. German-born conductor Johan Friedrich Ludwig Scheel also known as “Fritz Scheel” (1852-1907†) takes the challenge of being the first conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Our boy Fritz spends the next several months to catch musical concerts throughout the city, enlisting members to be a part of this historic moment.

Philadelphia Orchestra 1916

By the Spring in 1900, they are ready for the public. They perform a benefit concert for the families of the United States heroes killed in the Philippines. On Friday, November 19, 1900, The Philadelphia Orchestra play their first official concert at The Academy of Music. The featured work is Beethoven’s Symphony #5. The piano soloist that night is Russian-born Ossip Gabrilowitsch (1878-1936).

With their inaugural season being successful, The Philadelphia Orchestra Association is formed in 1901. Frances forms the Women’s Committee for the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1904 along with some familiar women to Laurel Hill Cemetery, Mrs. George A. Huhn, Mrs. Alfred Reginald Allen, Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener (1862-1937†). The names of honorary vice-presidents are known as well with the likes of a Cadwalader, Stevenson, McKean, Ingersoll, Cassatt and even a Biddle. Now, with 360 sponsors per season, the Philadelphia Orchestra was comfortably established.

With her work with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Frances simultaneously begins joining other women’s organizations that work to constantly improve the city. Along the way, Frances Anne Wister develops the reputation of being very outspoken, being a woman that must be heard and someone who is very hard to say “no” to.

With a family history as rich as hers, along with ties to many important estates in Germantown, Frances grows a large interest in philanthropy and the prosperity of her fellow Philadelphia residents. When older sister, Mary, becomes a founder in the Women’s Civic Club, Fraces becomes vice-president in 1907. She holds the title for a total of forty-nine years. Frances serves as president from 1922-1929 before resuming her vice-president role. The organization replaces horse-drawn carriages with trolly cars, as well as gas lighting along the city streets with electric street lights. While an early supporter of the Octavia Hill Association, they improve the water supply and create better ways of living for the poor.

When Fritz Scheel suddenly dies in March of 1907, he leaves behind several musical scores that become the repertoire of The Philadelphia Orchestra for years to come. German conductor, Karl Pohlig (1858-1928) takes over conducting until he resigns in 1912. While Pohlig is conducting, Frances becomes chair of the Women’s Committees of Philadelphia Orchestra. She holds this position for the rest of her life. The Board of Directors replaces Pohlig with a Lithuanian British conductor Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977).

Mary Channing Wister
(1870–1913)

I have to disclose something here that is very much a part of the story. I ask that you not see this with the lens of modern times. In 1898, Frances’s older sister, Mary, marries her cousin Owen. This is not uncommon for the time. The world is a much smaller place than it is today. People associate with who is in their circle. Circles are very small but become bigger with the advancement in transportation and communication. This does not make them bad people. Both Mary and Owen accomplish astonishing things on their own that are still felt today, but that is another story for another time. By 1913, Mary and Owen have five children with one on the way. On August 24, 1913, Mary gives birth to her daughter, Sarah Butler Wister (1913-1935), but later that night passes away from complications. She leaves Owen a widower and a single father with six children to care for.

With the death of her sister, Frances Ann takes a break from her treasured Philadelphia Orchestra to help Owen with the children. Both Frances and her mother care for the children who age from newborn to fourteen years old for several years. When Owen buys a house in Bryn Mawr, he takes the children with him. They will be cared for by nursemaids and nannies.

Now, Frances can get back to work. Upon her return, she finds that the new conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowski, is eager to move the orchestra from the Academy of Music to a new home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that is not-yet built. Frances will not hear of it. During a verbal argument, Frances calls Stokowski “out of order” and he surrenders to her.

Frances Anne Wister in 1924 after saving the Academy Of Music.
~ Photo courtesy of PhilaLandmarks 

By 1915, Frances and thirteen other members of the Permanent Relief Committee pressure mayor Thomas B. Smith (1869-1949) to aid the population of poor residents. Now that The Academy of Music is 63-years old, there are plans to turn it into a movie theater in 1920. Franses quickly puts that fire out.

Next, Frances begins to support women’s rights. She fights to get women appointed to the Philadelphia Board of Education. This is probably a cause influenced by her late older sister, Mary, who served on the board. Frances also fights for the equal pay for women who do the same jobs as men but get paid less.

By 1931, Frances has the reputation of a very strong-willed woman and an important person in social reform. However, it is her next project that we should be the most thankful for. At age 57, Frances Anne Wister becomes the founder of the Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. When the Industrial Revolution begins, the original sections of Philadelphia, the ones we now know as Old City and Society Hill, are being torn down without respect for the strong history this city holds. Growing tired of the complaints the people of the city have, Frances decides to do something about it. I have to believe that her family influence was a major inspiration for her acting on this matter. Her sister, Mary Channing Wister, had a strong presence in social reform in the city and having a Signer of The Declaration of Independence as an ancestor, Frances is continuing the family legacy.

To start her plan, Frances requests and receives $5000 from Kate S. Curtis (1856-1932†), second wife of Philadelphia publishing giant Cyrus H.K. Curtis (1850-1933†). Being that we are in the middle of The Great Depression, Frances is able to hire draftsmen who are unemployed and pay them low salaries. They redesign the sections of the city that are being affected and restore the old buildings. It is at the second meeting of the official committee of the Society for the Preservation of Landmarks that we learn that the Powel House on South Third Street is in danger of being demolished. Serving as the home of the last colonial mayor and first post-independence mayor Samuel Powel (1738-1793), it has the reputation as the “place George Washington danced”. As early as 1905, the Powel House serves as the subject of many newspaper articles. Before Frances got involved, the owner had been trying to develop the property to reinforce his manufacturing business. He kept the skeleton of the building from any major changes or destruction, but sold off most of the important architectural features to art museums, leaving the rest of the building to decay. When he became ill in 1931, a nephew took over the house that was now in complete shambles. The nephew was looking to sell the property to a taxi company next door who wanted to use it to expand their parking lot.

Before the property could be sold, Frances Anne Wister steps in and calls on The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (NSCDA/PA). The society was formed in 1891 in Philadelphia by women descendants of colonial ancestors. They are dedicated to honor the colonial history of America. Inspired by a renewed interest in the nation’s history after the Centennial celebration in 1876. Through preservation of historic education, historic buildings and collections, the NSCDA/PA work to “inspire a genuine love of country”. At a NSCDA meeting in February of 1931, a new group is born known as The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks or PhilaLandmarks. Their goal is to identify the structures of importance from the Colonial and Early National periods that still stand in Philadelphia. Once identified, they will restore and preserve them.

First up on the agenda was The Powel House. Within two months, Frances Anne leads the charge and makes considerable progress. So much so, that when the first official board meeting took place, men and women from Philadelphia’s most important families took notice and became founders. Some of the names were the very same names that helped out with the founding of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Names like Patterson, McIlhenny, Drexel, Barnes, Curtis, Lippincott, Cadwalader, and Biddle. The list goes on and on. In total, there are fifty-eight founders. A board of directors is nominated and they make a $5,000 deposit on the $30,000 Powel House, which now includes property to the immediate south. PhilaLandmarks takes out a $12,000 mortgage from the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society before the second meeting comes up in May. The outstanding balance before closing comes from a number of sources: seventy-five separate donations, fund raising through the NSCDA and the Civic Club, along with eighty-four member dues and a gift from Mr. & Mrs. Curtis of $10,000.

Frances’s time, effort and dedication to The Powel House does not go unnoticed. She is instantly elected as the first president of PhilaLandmarks and holds that position for the rest of her life. Frances now has a new focus, the preservation of Philadelphia.

Through several fundraising committees she organizes, they hold a number of needlepoint exhibitions along with annual garden, bridge and tea parties. Despite the nation going through The Great Depression, these committees raise enough money to not only pay off the mortgage for the Powel House, but they have enough to secure the house, hire a caretaker and begin to restore and furnish the main rooms so they can eventually open it as a museum.

Frances Anne Wister shows off one of her needlepoints at a Powel House fundraiser.
~ Photo courtesy of PhilaLandmarks 

Frances Anne poses with architect D.H. Durhing who restored The Powel House.
~ Photo courtesy of PhilaLandmarks 

In 1931, a young architect by the name of Sydney E. Martin (1883-1970) is assigned to write a history to accompany the Philadelphia Survey. The following year, he receives a letter from Frances Ann. She wants to know why he didn’t use the name that she had suggested. She has a vision for the area he wrote about and the name is part of that vision. Frances is inspired by a group of English Quakers who purchased the original land from William Penn and called themselves, the Free Society of Traders. The name she wants for that area is Society Hill.

At this time, The Committee of 1926 is in charge of Historic Strawberry Mansion. In 1932, Frances Ann helps them design three sophisticated tours that bring tourists from Philadelphia, through Fairmount Park, through the Main Line and out to Germantown so they can visit every historically important house that still stands.

The Franklin Institute was founded in 1824 to promote mechanical arts as well as honor Philadelphia’s favorite adopted son, Benjamin Franklin. Famed architect John Haviland (1792-1852) designed the original building at 15 South 7th Street. By 1934, the growing library, educational programs and research facilities has out grown its home and moves to its permanent home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The original building stands abandoned for a few years. More on that in just a second.

In 1936, Frances Anne Wister receives the highest award given to women in Philadelphia, “The Gimbel Award”. She is now in great company with other recipients such as Mary Louise Curtis Bok (1876-1970), Elenore Roosevelt (1884-1962), and Amelia Earhart (born in 1897 and disappeared in 1937). Titanic survivor, Lily Potter (1855-1954†) will receive The Gimble Award in 1944 for her years of service for the Red Cross. You can read the story of Lily Potter written by my daughter, Savanna R. Fisher, in the story “Lily Potter: Survivor Of Titanic”. On hand at the luncheon to honor Frances Ann Wister are 500 prominent clubwomen, Frances Anne’s mother and even her cousin, Owen.

In 1937, a friend of Frances’s, inventor and radio manufacturer, A. Atwater Kent (1873-1949), purchases The Betsy Ross House and restores it. A year later, when the original Franklin Institute building is threatened with demolition, Frances reaches out to A. Atwater Kent and convinces him to purchase the historic building. Not only does Kent purchase the building, he founded his A. Atwater Kent Museum there. The museum becomes one that tells the history of Philadelphia through its various collections. Kent is not through yet. He gifts both the Betsy Ross House and the A. Atwater Kent Museum to the city of Philadelphia to be used as public institutions.

A Atwater Kent
(1873-1949)

Frances takes the title to the house that was built by her great-great-great grandfather, John Wister, from thirty-five Wister heirs and in 1940, she forms the Grumblethorpe Association. Using the same gameplan she used for the Powel House, she sets up committees to raise funds for the restoration work. When it is finished, Frances donates Grumblethorpe to PhilaLandmarks and it becomes the second official house museum in their possession. While she is on a roll, Frances also works to save Upsala, the Blue Bell Inn (located in Cobbs Creek), the Deshler-Morris House, the Second Bank of the United States and the nation’s oldest continual residential street, Elfreth’s Alley.

In 1941, Frances writes in the PhilaLandmarks 10th Annual Report. She predicts that when time or money runs out that a list of historic houses will be lost. She writes:

“You will see from this list that places of interest and importance are to be found in every section of Philadelphia, but how long they will be found is another question. How many years will it take to educate the public to preserve landmarks?”

Frances Anne Wister leading tourists into Independence Hall
~ Photo courtesy of PhilaLandmarks 

Regardless of what she is currently working on, Frances Ann never forgets about the Powell House and Independence Hall. In an attempt to bring public awareness to our city’s history, she designs new tours that bring visitors to the historic landmarks around Independence Hall. She calls the new set of tours the “Philadelphia Pilgrimage”. In 1942, at the age of 68, Frances Ann becomes the founding member and vice-president of the Independence Hall Association. This organization helps establish Independence National Historic Park in 1951. The National Park Service preservationist, Charles Peterson (1906-2004) is known as “The Godfather of Preservation”. He happens to be in town when Independence National Historic Park is established. Peterson guides the vision of City Planning Commissioner, Edmund Bacon (1910-2005). Edmund Bacon is of course the father of famed actor and Philadelphia native, Kevin Bacon. Under Peterson’s influence, Bacon, sticks to an Early Republic atmosphere, with open greenways and Brutalist architecture. It is because of Frances Anne Wister’s vison and endless work in Olde City and Society Hill through the 1930’s and 1940’s that gets the ball rolling for the look of the city yet to come.

Edmund Bacon
(1910-2005)

In an attempt to be closer to her work in Center City, Frances moves from the home that her father built on Clarkson Avenue to 112 Spruce Street. Now that the family home serves no purpose to the family, Frances Anne and the rest of the Wister Family present to the city the Victorian home. It becomes a seven-acre addition to Wister Woods Park.

Next, Frances begins working on a specific urban renewal project under the Federal Housing Act of 1954. As a result of her work, Society Hill sees high-end housing, historic sites and beautiful green spaces. Instead of following the norm of other major cities that tore down full neighborhoods, she does something to make Philadelphia stand out. Frances focuses on rehabilitating and preserving the historical character that this city possesses.

As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate with the founding of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the preservation of Philadelphia, Frances is also a proficient writer. She writes many articles for the “Germantown Crier”. Frances writes about her grandmother in “A Wakefield Bride Comes to Germantown”, she writes about her aunt in “Fanny Kemble & Butler Place” and “The Army Then Proceeded To That Unfortunate Place Called Germantown”. However, her most famous written work is “Twenty-Five Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra” a very detailed history of the orchestra she founded.

In 1953, younger sister, Ella Eustis Wister Hains, writes the book “Reminiscences of a Victorian Child”. While talking about Frances’s preservation work, she writes:

“Visiting old places is all but a mania with her. She never takes time out to have a good time as the rest of us would know it. Her days are spent in hard toil, from early morning to midnight. I think she is the strongest woman ever born!”

Frances Anne Wister passes away at Hahnemann Hospital on Saturday, March 17, 1956 at the age of 81. At the time of her death, her accomplishments included:

~ Member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society
~ Member of the Germantown Historical Society
~ Member of the Colonial Dames Of America

~ Vice President of the Independence Hall Association
~ President of PhilaLandmarks (elected 1931)
~ 44 years as President of the Women’s Committee for the Philadelphia Orchestra

~ Chair of the Upsala Foundation
~ Member of Committee of Seventy
~ Member of the Board of Trustees at First Unitarian Church

Upon her death, Frances Anne Wister leaves quite the legacy. In her will, she leaves $100,000 to her first love, the Philadelphia Orchestra. $20,000 goes to the First Unitarian Church. Frances’s nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews receive an inheritance as well.

Named in her honor, The Wister Quartet is formed in 1987 and plays all over the country to this day. Guest artists who have played with The Wister Quartet include Spanish pianist and composer, Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009), and world-renowned French-American cellist, Yo-Yo Ma (1955-). Current information on The Wister Quartet can be found on the website for the German Society of Pennsylvania at: www.germansociety.org/wister-and-more-concert-series/.

None of her major accomplishments could be known by simply looking at her grave. She is laid to rest at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Section J, Lot 233 with a headstone that simply reads:

Frances Anne Wister
November 26, 1874
March 17, 1956

We can now visit a lot of the sights that were saved from the wrecking ball. The sites that make up the colonial character of The Birthplace of America were either rescued, restored, saved or all of the above because of her. Today, Frances Anne Wister is remembered as “The Patron Saint of Historic Preservation”. The next time you are visiting any of these sites, please remember to thank Ms. Wister.