Notes |
Chiefly notable, in its vicinity among the old homes of historic families thereabout, is the residence of Dr. Caspar Wistar,
at the southwest corner of Fourth and Locust Streets. This and the house adjoining, upon the south - long the residence of
the Hon. John Cadwalader - are now owned by the Mutual Assurance Company and are occupied as offices. The site of these houses
was, with other land adjoining, granted by the Penns to Joseph and William Shippen. Dr. Wistar bought the ground and built
in 1798, living here to the end of his life, in 1818. Dr. Caspar Wistar was eminent as a scientist and a scholar. He succeeded
Thomas Jefferson as president of the American Philosophical Society, the members of which formed the coterie, famous as the
"Wistar parties," which met here. Subsequent to the death of Dr. Wistar the house was sold to Job R. Tyson, Esq., and later
became the office of James Dundas and of the Pratt estate. The royal exile, Louis Phillippe, lived, for a time, in the house
shown upon the right of the picture. This dwelling was removed about 1898.
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