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Revision as of 20:11, 6 January 2025 by Topshelver (talk | contribs) (article on 19th-century U.S. architect)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Thomas Roney Williamson | |
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| Born | (1852-10-30)October 30, 1852 West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 12, 1896(1896-09-12) (aged 43) Longport, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Burial place | Oaklands Cemetery |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Style | Queen Anne style |
Thomas Roney Williamson (October 30, 1852 – September 12, 1896) was an American architect based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He trained with Henry A. Sims and worked chiefly in the Queen Anne style.
Biography
Williamson was born to Edward Hand and Anna (Roney) Williamson in 1852 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His father and grandfather were prominent lawyers. He attended John Wiley Faires' academy in Philadelphia and at the age of 18 or 19 apprenticed to architect Henry Augustus Sims. He unsuccessfully homesteaded in Colorado before returning to resume his training in 1873. After Sims died in 1875, he continued to practice with his mentor's younger brother, James Peacock Sims. In 1879, Williamson launched his own architectural firm from offices in the Merchants' Exchange Building, in partnership with his younger brother, William Williamson, who in 1890 established a branch office in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thomas Williamson returned to live in West Chester in 1884 but continued to maintain an office in Philadelphia, to which he commuted almost daily. He became a full member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1875.
Williamson died suddenly of a heart attack while vacationing at the seaside cottage of his friend Thomas S. Butler in Longport, New Jersey. He was 43 years old. He was interred at the Oaklands Cemetery in West Goshen Township. His wife, Ada Clendenin, and children Charles and Ada survived him.
Architecture
Williamson worked chiefly in the Queen Anne style, creating inventive designs with polychromy and polytexture, and practiced exclusively in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He specialized in residential architecture, but his output included numerous academic, ecclesiastical, and government buildings. Williamson was among the handful of Pennsylvania architects to use serpentine routinely in their construction, designing West Chester University's Recitation Hall, a gym modeled on Harvard's Hemenway Gymnasium, an auditorium that could seat nearly a thousand people, and the house of college president George Morris Philips (known as "Green Gables"). The latter three buildings have since been demolished, with the president's house being replaced by Philips Memorial Building. Also made of serpentine were his 1889 tower and 1892 choir building of West Chester's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. The tower was later demolished due to structural instability.
In 1895, Williamson designed a Chester County Courthouse annex built of Indiana limestone and measuring 50 x 158 feet. He also designed the Dimmick Memorial Library in Jim Thorpe, the West Chester Public Library (which opened in 1888), the High Street Public School (since demolished), the West Chester Fire Company No. 1 building (dedicated in 1888), and many private residences throughout West Chester and the Philadelphia region.
In 1890, Williamson authored a "Pamphlet on Building, Lighting, Heating, Ventilating and Repairing Schoolhouses, together with Hints on the Care and Construction of Out Houses," copies of which were distributed to each school director in Chester County.
Gallery of projects
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West Chester Public Library, 1888
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Dimmick Memorial Library, 1889
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Tower of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of West Chester, 1889
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Recitation Hall, West Chester State Normal School, 1892
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Chester County Courthouse, 1893
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References
- Tatman, Sandra L. (1985). Biographical Dictionary of Philadelphia Architects, 1700-1930. Boston: G.K. Hall. p. 858. ISBN 978-0-8161-0437-6.
- ^ Tatman, Sandra L. "Williamson, Thomas Roney (1852 - 1896)". Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- Cohen, Charles Joseph (1926). Memoir of Rev. John Wiley Faires, A.M., D.D., founder and principal of the Classical Institute, Philadelphia, a teacher from 1831 to 1888, with photographs and biographic sketches of upward of five hundred of his former pupils. Philadelphia: Priv. Print. for C.J. Cohen by the John C. Winston Co. pp. 804–807.
- "Death notice: T. Roney Williamson". Daily Local News. 1896-09-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- Schiffer, Margaret Berwind (1976). Survey of Chester County, Pennsylvania architecture, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Exton, PA: Schiffer Publishing. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-916838-02-7.
- Dorchester, Jane Elizabeth (2001). The Evolution of Serpentine Stone as a Building Material in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1727–1931. Architecture (thesis). University of Pennsylvania. pp. 4, 93, 106.
- "History of the First West Chester Fire Company". First West Chester Fire Company. n.d. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- Martha Carson-Gentry; Paul Rodenbaugh (1999). West Chester, PA. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-0865-1.
- "Items from Reports - Chester [County]". Pennsylvania School Journal. 38 (10). Pennsylvania State Education Association: 388. April 1890.