William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875)

City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works

Publications and Research Lehman College

2003

William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875)

Janet Butler Munch CUNY Lehman College

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ASPINWALL, WILLIAM HENRY (16 December 1807–18 January 1875), merchant. Born in New York City, Aspinwall was educated at Bancel’s Boarding College, where he gained fluency in French and Spanish that he later used in business. He headed Howland and Aspinwall, an international import-export firm, and established the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which contracted to carry U.S. mail to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama. Growing out of this venture was the Panama Railroad. Until the Union Pacific was completed in 1869, Panama was the quickest route between the east and west coasts of the United States. Aspinwall reaped enormous financial rewards, retiring as one of the nation’s richest men. He quietly enjoyed his wealth and came to be called the “merchant prince.” He represented the rising mercantile aristocracy that established lavish country seats, supported civic and philanthropic interests, and fostered cultural appreciation. In his leisure time Aspinwall traveled and developed a keen interest in fine art. He displayed his prized collection of the great masters to the public in an annex of his townhouse. Later he helped establish the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became a trustee of the Lenox Library, which merged into the New York Public Library. Aspinwall died in New York City.

Further Reading: Duncan S. Somerville, The Aspinwall Empire, 1983; John Haskell Kemble, The Panama Route 1848–1869, 1943; “The Aspinwall Gallery,” Harper’s Weekly, 26 February 1859.

Janet Butler Munch