Biographical Sketch of William Rotch WISTER; Philadelphia Co., PA

Contributed to the PAGenWeb Archives by Diana Smith 
[christillavalley@comcast.net] 

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"Philadelphia, A History of the City and its People; A Record of 225 Years"
Publisher:  S. H. Clark; Philadelphia; 1912.     Vol. 3  , page 62
Author, Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer
 
WILLIAM ROTCH WISTER

     In history there are notable examples of the fact that the conservation of 
one's energies and the intelligent direction of one's abilities will bring the 
individual to an old age that has all the strength and vigor, mental and moral, 
that are to be expected in the prime of life.  It is a well known law of nature 
that the exercise of activities keeps one alert; that nothing will bring on the 
evidences of age as quickly as inertia and it is only through use of one's 
powers in certain directions, preventing a normal development, that is followed 
by a suspension in whole or in part, of their normal strength.  William Roth 
Wister has passed the eighty-third milestone of life's journey but his interests 
and activities are those usually attributed to a man of much younger years.  He 
is still a practitioner of the Philadelphia bar, where for sixty-one years he 
has been honored as an ideal follower of his calling.  He is, moreover, 
personally managing extensive and important investments and financial interests.  
There is no lawyer of the city that has so comprehensive and accurate a 
knowledge of the men who have constituted the personnel of the bar here for more 
than a half century or of the events which have shaped the judicial history of 
the state.

     Mr. Wister was born in Germantown in 1827 and is a descendant of the old 
and prominent Wister family, his qualities of sterling worth coming to him as 
the legacy of an ancestry, in the line of which may well known names appear -- 
the names of those who have contributed to Pennsylvania's fame and importance in 
history.  The Wister family settled in Philadelphia in 1729.  His parents were 
William and Sarah L. (Fisher) Wister, the former an early business man of this 
city.  The son was reared amid refining influences that produce a character 
molded along the broadest lines.  He supplemented his early education by a 
course of study in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated 
with the class of 1846.  He determined upon the practice of law as a life work 
and in October, 1846, was engaged as a student in the office of Benjamin Gerhard 
on South Fourth street below Walnut, with whom he remained for three years.  At 
that day lawyers usually had their offices of the first floor of their own 
house, and almost every member of the bar practiced individually, there being 
few partnership relations.  In a paper which Mr. Wister wrote a few years ago in 
describing conditions that existed in the profession in his student days, he 
said, "The business of the day began at nine o'clock and continued until five or 
six o'clock. Students were expected to report at nine o'clock and be ready to 
copy papers, for then there were no stenographers or copying presses, and quill 
pens were still in use.  All the lawyers dined at three o'clock and business was 
suspended from three to four o'clock.  At the latter hour auditors' meetings in 
orphans' court or other matters were held.  Judges were then appointed by the 
governor."

     In October, 1849, Mr. Wister was admitted to the bar and entered at once 
upon active practice, in which he continued until after the outbreak of the 
Civil war, when, in response to the country's call for aid, he went to the 
front, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Twentieth Regiment of the 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.  Following the cessation of hostilities he 
returned to Philadelphia and soon afterward became a member of the city 
councils.  The Financial and Mercantile Examiner said of him:  "In the character 
of William Rotch Wister are embodied those qualities of race diplomacy, tact and 
prudence which years ago brought him an enviable reputation for the successful 
management of difficult legal cases, and his thorough knowledge and masterly 
exposition of the principles of law have been supplemented by the foundation 
traits of firmness, thrift and industry.  In October, 1909 he celebrated the 
sixtieth anniversary of his admission to the bar at his home at Wister street 
and Clarkson avenue, in Germantown, the former thoroughfare having been named in 
honor of his family.

     Mr. Wister has ever been a man of tireless energy and aside from his 
profession has directed his efforts into many other channels.  For a number of 
years he was a director of the old Duncannon Iron Company and is now a director 
of William Wharton & Company, Incorporated, the National Bank of Germantown, the 
Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Homes from Fire, and other 
organizations and institutions.

     Athletics have always been a source of interest to Mr. Wister and his 
active participation, therein, together with his enthusiasm for cricket, led him 
to become one of the factors of the Philadelphia Cricket Club.  His career has 
been one exceptional in its character of usefulness to society and few men 
possess the peculiar order of ability which has enabled him in addition to the 
superior management of his financial interests to so materially promote affairs 
of vital importance to the public at large.  His broad legal learning soon 
gained him preeminence in the field of professional labor which he chose as his 
life work and through all the changes in methods of practice as shown in the 
evolution of the work of the courts, he maintained a position in the foremost 
ranks of lawyers to whom the most important legal interests of the city have 
been entrusted.  His counsel is yet sought and his mentality seems as keen as it 
was in middle life, showing that
                                   "Age has its opportunities no less than youth
                                             Though in another dress."
 
     A contemporary writer said of him:  "William Rotch Wister is held in 
highest esteem by his fellow citizens as one who has exerted a most potential 
influence for good in his career as a private citizen and a man actively 
identified with the development and promotion of the city's financial and 
industrial interests.  Strong in courage and self-reliance, yet uniformly 
courteous to all with whom he comes in contact, he is a conspicuous 
representative of that class which achieve success by indomitable force of 
character and concentration of purpose, while his social qualities have secured 
for him a wide and sincere friendship."  The Journal of Commerce writes:  "Few 
indeed are gifted with the superb intelligence, retentiveness of memory and 
supreme physical endurance.  Of an engaging manner, with a heart full of human 
kindness, Mr. Wister has made for himself an enviable reputation and not only 
all his legal friends but also of his non-professional friends vie with one 
another in singing the praises of this distinguished man of affairs."  It is 
well known that no man of the Philadelphia bar has ever been more respected and 
no man has ever more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people, or more richly 
deserved the esteem in which he is held than does William Rotch Wister.  The 
people of the state, recognizing his merit have rejoiced in his advancement.  A 
gracious presence, an attractive personality, profound legal wisdom, ability in 
public and private life, and the quiet dignity of an ideal follower of his 
calling, combine to make him one of the most distinguished and honored residents 
of the Keystone state.
 
 
 
Transcriber's additional notes:
 
"Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania"
Editor:  John W. Jordan, LL.D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; New York  -  Chicago; 1911
Vol. 1; Page 268
 
WILLIAM ROTCH WISTER, eldest son of William and Sarah Logan (Fisher) Wister, 
born at "Belfield," Germantown, December 7, 1827, was educated at Germantown 
Academy and University of Pennsylvania; entering the University in the sophomore 
class 1846, and graduating 1848.  He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, 
October 6, 1849, and has since practiced his profession in Philadelphia.  He was 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twentieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, June, 1863 - 
January, 1864.

     He married, March 4, 1868, Mary, daughter of Frederick A. and Mary 
(Channing) Eustis, of Massachusetts, granddaughter of Rev. William Ellery 
Channing, D.D.
 
Issue of William Rotch and Mary (Eustis) Wister:
 
Mary Channing Wister, b March 30, 1870; m. April 21, 1898, Owen Wister, author 
of "The Virginian" and other popular stories, son of Dr. Owen Wister, of 
Germantown, hereafter mentioned, by his wife Sarah Butler; had issue:
          Mary Channing Wister, b Sept. 20, 1899
          Frances Kemble Wister, b. Sept, 20, 1901
          Owen Jones Wister, b Sept. 20, 1901
          William Rotch Wister, b Feb. 18, 1904
 
William Rotch Wister, Jr., b Oct. 22, 1871, d July 23, 1872
Frances Anne Wister, b Nov. 26, 1874
Ella Eustis Wister, b Aug. 30, 1879; m. Oct. 20, 1904, Diedrich Jansen Haines, 
b. April 4, 1871, son Eobert Bowne Haines, by his wife Margaret Vaux, dau. of 
Dr. Caspar and Lydia (Jones) Wistar, and descendant of Caspar Wistar, emigrant 
brother of John Wister, as shown in the earlier part of this sketch; they had 
issue:

          Caspar Wistar Haines, b. Oct. 18, 1905