Edwin Wolf (March 11, 1855 – December 16, 1934) was a Jewish-American manufacturer and banker from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Life

Wolf was born on March 11, 1855, in

Uhrichsville, Ohio Uhrichsville( ) is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,272 at the 2020 census. Claymont City School District is the public school district of Uhrichsville and Dennison, Ohio. The twin cities is a nickname us ...

, the son of Elias Wolf and Amelia Mayer. His father was a German immigrant from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He moved with his family to Philadelphia when he was one. Wolf attended public school, after which he began working in his father's manufacturing business. He succeeded his father to the business when the latter retired in 1877. A year later, he went to Europe for three months for health reasons. In 1882, he and his four younger brothers established a printing business. The business developed into a paper box manufacturing concern, and then an envelope and paper manufacturing business under the name Wolf Bros. He later manufactured hosiery knitting machines. He was also treasurer of the Standard Machine Co., a director of the Betzwood Film Co., and a member of the banking and brokerage firm Wolf Brothers & Co. from 1900 until his death. Wolf was elected to the Board of Public Education of Philadelphia in 1901. There, he installed a new accounting system that was still in use by 1943. He was elected president of the Board in 1917, the first Jew to hold that position, and he retired from the Board in 1920. In 1902, he was elected president of the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

. It was under his presidency that the

Jewish Publication Society of America Version The Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) was the first Bible translation published by the Jewish Publication Society of America and the first translation of the Tanakh into English by a committee ...

of the Bible was published. He was also a board member of the

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the ...

, a governor of the

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Fairmount, Philadelphia, Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the r ...

and

Dropsie College Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...

, and a member of the Ohio Society, the Manufacturers Club, and the Mercantile Club. He attended Congregation Rodeph Shalom. In 1882, Wolf married Miriam Fleisher. Their children were Blanche (wife of Isidore Kohn) and Morris. Morris was a lawyer who served as Assistant District Attorney of Philadelphia, State Deputy Attorney General, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Morris' son was librarian Edwin Wolf II. Wolf died at his daughter's home from an intestinal ailment on December 16, 1934. His funeral was held at his home and was officiated by Rabbi

Louis Wolsey Louis Wolsey (January 8, 1877 – March 4, 1953) was an American Reform rabbi. Life Wolsey was born on January 8, 1877, in Midland, Michigan, the son of William Wolsey and Frances Krueger. Wolsey attended grammar school in Clare, Michigan, an ...

. The Jewish Publication Society president Jacob Solis-Cohen,

Cyrus Adler Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar. Early years Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...

, and

Horace Stern Horace Stern (August 7, 1878 – April 15, 1969) was the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1 November 1952 to 29 December 1956. He became chief justice after serving on the court from 6 January 1936. Biography Stern was ...

attended the funeral. He was buried in Mount Sinai Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Edwin 1855 births 1934 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent People from Uhrichsville, Ohio Businesspeople from Philadelphia 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives American manufacturing businesspeople Jewish American bankers American bankers 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews American Reform Jews Jews from Pennsylvania