Portrait study of William Thomas Tonner
Date
Date unknownMedium
Oil on canvasCredit Line
Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015Dimensions
35 x 26 in.Description & Inscriptions
[verso label 1 of 2 in red ink]: Violet Oakley / Wm. Thom. Tonner / of Torresdale / oil on canvas / one of two / OP65a; [verso label 2 of 2 in black ink]: 132 [in triangle]
William Thomas Tonner (1878-1948) was owner and operator of a successful hosiery mill in Lansdale, PA. In 1908 he married Florence Foerderer and around 1915 the couple moved into the mansion at Glen-Foerd, an 18th-century estate in Torresdale purchased by his in-laws in 1895. Located along the Delaware River in the far northeast section of Philadelphia, Torresdale offered a scenic community for country estates. Like other successful businessmen of the day, Tonner established a “gentlemen’s farm,” located across from the estate in 1919. It became known for its Ayrshire cattle, winning numerous awards for the animals’ milk output. Tonner was a member of the Union League, the Philadelphia Club, the Philadelphia Country Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club and the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, in Philadelphia. His wife was a noted patron of the arts. They had two daughters and a son. Glen Foerd Farms no longer exists. The eighteen-acre estate, however, still does and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only remaining riverfront estate in Philadelphia open to the public.
William Thomas Tonner (1878-1948) was owner and operator of a successful hosiery mill in Lansdale, PA. In 1908 he married Florence Foerderer and around 1915 the couple moved into the mansion at Glen-Foerd, an 18th-century estate in Torresdale purchased by his in-laws in 1895. Located along the Delaware River in the far northeast section of Philadelphia, Torresdale offered a scenic community for country estates. Like other successful businessmen of the day, Tonner established a “gentlemen’s farm,” located across from the estate in 1919. It became known for its Ayrshire cattle, winning numerous awards for the animals’ milk output. Tonner was a member of the Union League, the Philadelphia Club, the Philadelphia Country Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club and the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, in Philadelphia. His wife was a noted patron of the arts. They had two daughters and a son. Glen Foerd Farms no longer exists. The eighteen-acre estate, however, still does and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only remaining riverfront estate in Philadelphia open to the public.
