Guide to the Photograph Collection of George and Marguerite Westinghouse, 1898-1914
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Photographic Collection of George and Marguerite Westinghouse
- Creator
- Westinghouse, George, 1846-1914
- Creator
- Westinghouse, Marguerite, 1842-1914
- Collection Number
- MSP#432
- Extent
- 0.25 linear feet (1 box)
- Date
- 1898-1914
- Abstract
- George Westinghouse was an engineer and entrepreneur responsible for innovations in the railroad and eletricty fields. George and Marguerite Westinghouse were prominent citizens of Pittsburgh and also owned houses in Lenox, MA, New York City, and Washington, D.C. The George and Marguerite Westinghouse Papers include programs, menus, and other items that primarily illustrates the couple's social lives.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
George's father, George Westinghouse Sr. (1809-1890), owned a machine shop in upstate New York that manufactured agricultural equipment, mill machinery, and small steam engines. George Sr. married Emaline Vedder in 1830 and they resided in Central Bridge, Schoharie County, New York. George Jr. was born there on Oct. 6, 1846, the eighth of ten children. In 1856 the family moved to Schenectady, New York where George attended school. When George was 14, he began working in his fathers business after school. He and his father had negotiated a starting wage, but his father gave him opportunities for a raises based on the work he produced. He had a mind inclined to inventing at an early age and at 15 George had produced a small rotary engine.
The Civil War began and George enlisted in the Army in 1863. He served in the Infantry and Calvary from 1863 to 1864 and later joined the Navy as an assistant engineer from 1864 to 1865. After the war he attended Union College in Schenectady, New York. However, according to biographer Francis E. Leupp his college experience lasted only four months because he was not interested in foreign languages and English rhetoric and always had his mind on one invention or another.
He returned to work at the family business and his rotary engine. In 1865 he received his first patent for his work on this engine. When he was restless in Schenectady, his father would send him on short business trips. In 1866 George was riding a train for one of these trips when a two car derailment ahead of his train led to a two hour wait for the passengers. Watching the railroad men work on the derailed train, George thought of a better way to put the cars back on the tracks. At home he worked out his ideas, but his father was unwilling to loan him money for an invention outside the threshing machine industry. Only 20 years old, George found help from two local businessmen and was soon selling his car-replacers and reversible steel frogs (a railroad track switching mechanism). Two years later, when business was slow, the two businessmen decided to end their partnership with George. He traveled to Pittsburgh where he had heard about a new foundry that could produce the steel for his railroad frogs cheaper than the mills in New York.
He soon had a contract with Anderson and Cook to manufacture his equipment. He had also met the young Pittsburgh entrepreneur Ralph Baggaley, and the two of them formed a partnership to develop George's next invention- the airbrake. The air brake was finally tested in 1868 and became the basis for the founding of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company in 1869. His work to improve railroad signaling devices led to the founding of Union Switch and Signal in 1881. His belief in the alternating current method of electrical transmission led to the founding of the Westinghouse Electric Company in 1886. Overall, his inventions would lead to 361 patents and 61 companies.
It was on another train trip that George met Marguerite Erskine Walker from Roxbury, New York. Born to Captain Daniel Lynch and Eliza Smart (Burhans) Walker, she was a "young woman whose appearance attracted him instantly" according to his biographer Francis E. Leupp. Before she left, George had given her a short list of people who could vouch for his character and background. Soon (after two visits to Kensington and three visits to Roxbury) the couple was engaged. They were married in Brooklyn, N.Y. on August 8, 1867. "Gay and cheerful, and a good listener, as well as an affectionate wife, Marguerite Westinghouse always considered herself her husband's partner" according to biographer H. Gordon Garbedian. George was equally as devoted to Marguerite, calling or sending a telegram nightly if he was away.
Although George and his wife moved to Pittsburgh in 1868, it was not until 1871 that they bought the home referred to as "Solitude" in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The entry in the 1888 Pittsburgh Social Mirror reads:
"Mrs. George Westinghouse, Jr., of Homewood, lives in greater style, entertains more splendidly and wears more gorgeous, varied, elegant toilets, has more and finer diamonds than any woman in Pittsburg[h]. Her table appointments are simply superb, the entire service being of solid silver and gold (whose cost it would be idle to attempt to guess), and the cut glass, Sevres, Dresden and other fine porcelains are worth a small fortune."
In Pittsburgh, Mrs. Westinghouse served on the board of managers for numerous hospitals and was also a member of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Twentieth Century Club. Marguerite was also a member of the National Geographic Association, the National Society of Fine Arts, the American Social Science Association, the American Forestry Association, the Archaeological Institute of America, and the American Red Cross.
The Westinghouse's also maintained a summer home called "Erskine Park" in Lenox, Massachusetts, where Mrs. Westinghouse's health could benefit from the clean mountain air. While there, Marguerite enjoyed an active role in landscaping and general improvement of the grounds. She also kept horses and livestock. In Massachusetts, Mrs. Westinghouse was a member of the Lenox Golf Club, the Mahkeenac Boating Club, the Berkshire Hunting Club, and the Massachusetts Forest Association. The couple's winter home in Washington, D.C. was used for entertaining political and industrial friends. Mrs. Westinghouse also served on the boards of hospitals in Washington. Their fourth home was located in New York City. The Westinghouse's also traveled abroad.
The couple had one son, George Westinghouse III, who was born on May 20, 1883. George III was educated at Yale and later married Evelyn Violet Brocklebank in Cumberland, England in 1909. George Westinghouse died on March 12, 1914 and Marguerite died a few months later on June 23. They are both buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. George III moved to Vancouver Island, British Columbia and had 6 children. He died in 1962.
Information about George and Marguerite is available in:
George Westinghouse: His Life and Achievements by Francis E. Leupp
George Westinghouse: Fabulous Inventor by H. Gordon Garbedian
The Life of George Westinghouse by Henry G. Prout
Who's Who in America vol. VII (1912-1913) by Albert Nelson Marquis
Scope and Content Notes
This collection contains seven photographs, including photographs of George Westinghouse, his wife Marguerite, and their son, George III. Each folder contains one photograph. The folders are arranged alphabetically. After George's death, H.T. Herr, the vice-president and general manager of Westinghouse Machine Company, sent the portrait of George in folder 1 to Alexander Garden Uptegraff at Erskine Park. According to George Westinghouse biographer Francis Ellington Leupp, A.G. Uptegraff was a long-time "member of the family circle and represented Mrs. Westinghouse in many of her social and charitable projects."
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ms. Gertrude R. Mallary and Mr. DeWitt Mallary in 1998.
Preferred Citation
Collection of George and Marguerite Westinghouse, 1898-1914, MSP#432, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Cassandra L. Pyle in June 2006.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
The George and Marguerite Westinghouse collection also includes manuscript and oversize materials. The manuscript materials are described in a separate finding aid for MSS #432. The oversize materials are designated as MSR #432 and contain two undated prints of Marguerite, one print of Marguerite and George III taken about 1883, and one 1913 print of George signed to A.G. Uptegraff in "high appreciation of 25 years of faithful service." According to George Westinghouse biographer Francis E. Leupp, A.G. Uptegraff was a long-time "member of the family circle and represented Mrs. Westinghouse in many of her social and charitable projects."
Subjects
- Westinghouse, George, 1846-1914
- Westinghouse, Marguerite, 1842-1914
- Westinghouse, George, III, 1883-1962