Anthony J. Drexel, financier and founder of Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University), died in 1893. Following his death, his estate was managed by a group of trustees for over half a century. In accordance with Drexel’s will, the estate set up trusts for a number of Drexel’s descendants.

Anthony J. Drexel’s daughter Emilie Taylor Drexel Biddle (1851-1883) married Edward Biddle III, and trusts were set up for their sons: Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle (1874-1948), Livingstone Ludlow Biddle (1872-1959) and Edward Craig Biddle (1879-1947).

Anthony J. Drexel’s daughter Frances “Fannie” Katherine Drexel Paul (1852-1892) married James William Paul Jr. (1851-1908), and trusts were set up for the Pauls’ children: Ellen Drexel Paul (1880-1964), Anthony Joseph “A.J.” Drexel Paul (1885-1958), and Mary Astor Paul (1889-1950). A.J. Drexel Paul would serve on the Drexel Institute’s Board of Trustees from 1908 until 1958, and the A.J. Drexel Paul Award was established in 1961 in his memory for service to Alma Mater.

Mary Astor Paul (1889-1950) married Charles Alexander Munn Jr. (1885-1981), and trusts were set up for their children (Anthony J. Drexel’s great-grandchildren): Charles A. Munn Jr. (1894-1948?); Mary Munn (1915-2013), who became the Countess of Bessborough; and Frances Drexel Munn Baker (1917-2012).

Mary and Charles Munn moved to France in 1925, and they divorced in 1930. Mary remarried four years later and became the wife of Mr. Jacques Allez. During World War II she played an important role in the French Resistance movement. She used the code name “Pauline," the name of her deceased daughter. President Harry S. Truman presented Mme. Allez the American Medal of Freedom for services to U.S. troops during the conflict, and the French government made her a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Mary Munn (1915-2013) married Frederick Edward Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon, in 1948. Lord Duncannon was a diplomat at the British embassy in Paris. When his father died in 1956, Lord Duncannon succeeded him as the 10th Earl of Bessborough, and his wife became the Countess of Bessborough. She supported Drexel University and its art gallery. She and her husband also discovered the last standing residence of Benjamin Franklin in London, and restoring the residence became her life’s work. The Benjamin Franklin House museum opened to the public on Jan. 17, 2006, Franklin’s 300th birthday.

Sources:

Drexel Alumni. “Honors and Awards.” Drexel University, no date. http://drexel.edu/alumni/about/awards/

“Mrs. Allez is Dead’ Heroine in War, 61. New York Times, 30 July 1950.

“John R. Drexel III, 87; headed family of powerful bankers.” Boston Globe, 24 April 2007. http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/04/24/john_r_drexel_iii_87_headed_family_of_powerful_bankers/

"Paid Notice: Deaths Baker, Frances Munn." New York Times, 3 May 2012. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06EFDD1F3AF930A35756C0A9649D8B63

"Countess of Bessborough, 98, dies." Palm Beach Daily News, 18 April 2013. http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/national/countess-bessborough-dies/GB69kgoikqwyiT7XYzuk5L/

"From the Collection: Portrait of Frances Katherine Drexel." Drexel University, 3 November 2011. http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2011/November/From-the-Collection/

"'Box Hill' The Estate of A. J. Drexel Paul Esq., Radnor, Pennsylvania." The Country House (blog), 3 May 2015. http://halfpuddinghalfsauce.blogspot.com/2015/05/box-hill-estate-of-j-drexel-paul-esq.html

Mayhew, Augustus C. "House of Munn: The Palm Beach Story." David Patrick Columbia New York Social Diary, 24 November 2006. http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/legacy/socialdiary/2006/11_24_06/socialdiary11_24_06.php