John George Brill (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Johann Georg Brill'') (

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, May 31, 1817 – September 22, 1888) was a co-founder of

J. G. Brill and Company The J. G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for nearl ...

, which, at its height, was the largest manufacturer of

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

s and

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

cars in the United States. In 1847, at the age of 30, he emigrated with his wife and two children from Germany to

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 ...

. For twenty years, he worked for Murphy and Allison. In 1868, with his son George Martin Brill, he founded the firm J. G. Brill & Son, which, in 1887, became J. G. Brill and Company.

Death and interment

Brill died from heart failure at the age of 71 in

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia County is the most populous of the List of counties in Pennsylvania, 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 United State ...

on September 22, 1888, and was buried on September 25 at the

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is in size, and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in nearby Philadelphia. ...

in Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania."Return of a Death in the City of Philadelphia: Physicians Certificate and Undertaker's Certificate in Relation to the Deceased." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

References

External links

J. G. Brill and the Brill Brothers
– article in the Powelton History Blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Brill, John George 1817 births 1888 deaths Engineers from Kassel People from the Electorate of Hesse Businesspeople from Philadelphia German railway mechanical engineers American railroad mechanical engineers American railway entrepreneurs Engineers from Pennsylvania 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery