Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-22
INSTRUMENTATION
Mrs. PHILIPPINE Brackenridge's De-
mise Mourned by ALI.
A HOUSEWIFE AND MANAGER
She Merely Directed the Many Affairs of a
Vast Estate,
AND WAS NOTED FOB HER PUBLIC GIFTS

1
| By the death of Mrs. PHILIPPINE Bracken
ridge early yesterday morning, the world hal
| lost true benefactor and noble woman, whC
did more during her lifetime to prove that
woman's sphere was not wholly the fire
side than any other woman Pittsburg his.
torians have had occasion to write about
| She was woman as few women are. "a mother
to all whom she came in contact, the life of the
| fireside home, and on the other hand the mana.
| ger of large estate. looking after its affairs
with a mans mind Tor management, a woman's
intuitive power and above all noble woman's
ambition to live that the world might be better
that she had lived in it and that her deeds of
charity and benificence might be her monu.
ments, imperishable. ..
Mrs Breckenridge was born in Hanover, Ger
many, the daughter of DIR. Stiaren, the first
chemist of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacture
ing Company, of Natrona
NOBLE ANCESTRY OF JUDGES.
February 13, 1852, she married Benjamin
Morgan Breckenridge, son of Judge Henry NJ.
Breckenridge and grandson of Judge Hugh h
Breckenridge, all chronicled in history as
public men of note. Judge Henry NJ. Bracken-
ridge was Judge for 20 years IN the U. s. Dis
trict Court of Florida, spending his vacations
at the old homestead at Breckenridge station
on the West Penn Railroad, between Tarentum
and Natrona.
Her husband, unlike his ancestors, did not
enter public life, and fingered along in delicate
health until 1862, q years ago. when he died.
leaving to his widow the full management of an
estate OF over 1,5OO acres, which had been re-
duced by sales and gifts of land from about
2, 100 acres owned by him and originally $500
acres owned by the first ancestors who settled
in the country about 1898 and were all Ameri-
cans through and through.
Mrs. Breckenridge was equal to the task and
went to work with will. A son, II: M. Brack-
enridge, now the only one of the name left, and
daughter, Cornelia, the late wife of Erastus Nc
Kelvy was left her to cheer her IN her work.
The breckenridge estate in former times COM
prised nearly the whole of the sites of Taren-
tum avenue and Natrona, and it was her one
motto to continue the work of her husbands
ancestors, to build up the towns and by wise
gifts induce manufacturers to select that Sec
tion for business Investments.
TWENTY CHURCHES AS MONUMENTS.
Twenty church spires in Tarentum and Ma
trona now point heavenward, standing on
ground donated by Mrs. Breckenridge To her
the residents of Avenue owe the establishment
in that place of the glassworks of Chalmer
Taylor & Co. and Richards & Hartley, the
ground having been donated to them by Mrs
Breckenridge.
To her Tarentum owes its Breckenridge
avenue, which after passing through the town
winds along the very brink of the river for a
mile and half, one of the beautiful drives of
modern times. 1t was first built for her private
drive and afterward sold to the township. 1t
is truly an engineering feat The banks were
built up of solid masonry and hundreds and
hundreds of loads of cinder filled in. Where
the road is the middle of the river once was
and there 1t will stand, and countless genera.
tions drive along its roadbed and admire the
beautiful scenery
As resident of Tarentum said last night,
her deeds of charity are countless, her friends
the populace and her mourners the people of
the towns she and her husbands ancestors
have made.
While attending to benefcent objects her
estate was by no means neglected,
A HOME AMONG HOMES.
, Her home is one of natures own retreats,
the old homestead nestled half way between
the towns of Tarentum and Natrona. A grove
of stately oaks screen the house from the
past rustic seats, through an inclosed flower
garden with fountain in the center brings one
to the house, quiet and hVmelike farm house.
Toward the river another winding walk lined
with flower beds leads to the river bank and to
the boulevard along its brink. is truly beauti-
full place, a home of homes. Her taste for the
beautiful in nature is seen on every hand, in
the trees her hand had directed the planting
and everywhere all about go
She caused to be planted and cared for
magnificent nursery of 160 acres, counted the
best in the State and her tenants and those
she had to deal with in different departments
in the management of the estate, never had any
cause to complain.
For the past five years her son has managed
the affairs of the estate, andit is through his
management backed by the stock held by Mrs.
Breckenridge, that Tarentum' now has her
water works.
She has a brother, Optician William E.
Stieren Of this city, and sister, Mrs. Nisbit,
of Tarentum.
Next Sunday at 2:30 P. M she will be laid to
her final rest in the Tarentum Cemetery, an
other gift of hers to the town. Her pail
bearers will be her six nephews, Edward, Will
lam and Benjamin NisbiJ and William, Fred
and Edward Stieren.
Judge Collier has been engaged to write her
obituary for publication. and do with better
pen that which the present writer is incapable
Otto do Justice to her noble virtues.