Frank Rushmore Watson

Frank Rushmore Watson (1859–1940) was a Philadelphia architect specializing in church architecture. He graduated from Central High School, Philadelphia, in 1877. Watson entered the office of Edwin Forrest Durang, an eminent architect concentrating on Roman Catholic church projects during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Watson spent five years with Durang before establishing his own independent firm in 1882 or 1883. While not limiting his practice to Roman Catholic projects, Watson still became well known for his church designs. So successful was he that he opened a branch office in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1898. In 1901 or 1902, when Samuel Huckel returned to Philadelphia, a partnership between the two was established under the name Watson & Huckel. Huckel's experience with Benjamin D. Price, another architect known for his church designs, as well as his experience with Edward Hazelhurst in the firm of Hazelhurst & Huckel stood the new partnership in good stead; and the office prospered until Huckel's death in 1917. Watson then continued practicing independently until 1922, when he was joined by the younger architects, George E. Edkins, and William Heyl Thompson. At the outset, this firm was one of association, but soon the name became Watson, Edkins & Thompson. When Edkins moved to Oaklyn, New Jersey in 1936, Watson & Thompson continued in practice until Watson's death in 1940.[1]

Frank Rushmore Watson
Born
Frank Rushmore Watson

28 February 1859 (1859-02-28)
Frankford, Philadelphia, U.S.
Died29 October 1940 (1940-10-30) (aged 81)
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Alma materCentral High School (Philadelphia)
OccupationArchitect
SpouseFanny Foulkrod

Watson joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1901, served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter in 1927, and was made a Fellow in 1930. He also held memberships in the Historical Society of Frankford, the Medieval Academy of America, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Union League. He was given an honorary doctor of Fine Arts degree from Muhlenberg College. He also served as a delegate to the Pan American Congress of Architects meetings in South America in 1923 and 1927 and as a technical advisor to the Philadelphia Housing Association from 1929 to 1932.[2] In 1929 he was made an honorary member of the Mexican Society of Architects. When the Architects Building Corporation was established to oversee the design and construction of that dedicated highrise, Watson was elected president of the corporation.[3]

Personal life and family

He was born on 28 February 1859 in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia to Samuel and Ann Brous Watson.[4] As an adult, in 1885, he was baptized at St. Mark's Church, Frankford, Philadelphia.[5] He died on 29 October at Chestnut Hill Hospital, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and is buried next to his first wife at Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadelphia, graveyard in the Foulkrod plot.[6][7]

Frank Rushmore Watson was married two times, fathering one daughter.

  • Fanny Foulkrod, daughter of Thomas S. and Elizabeth Kenworthy Foulkrod, on 18 February 1890 at St. Mark's Church, Frankford, Philadelphia.[8] Fanny died on 26 January 1896 in Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was buried next to her husband and parents at Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadelphia, graveyard.[9][10]

[11]

  • Rebecca Sharpless Delany. Rebecca was born on 17 April 1861 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, to Theodore M. and Margaret Wilen Sharpless Delany. Rebecca married, first, Joseph Harrison Collins.[12] She married Frank Rushmore Watson on 1 February 1900 at St. Mark's Church, Frankford.[13]

His daughter with Rebecca was:

  • Margaret "Peggy" m. Commander William Shipley Taylor on 12 Jun 1926 at St. Peter's Church, Germantown, Philadelphia.[14]

Projects

Baptist
  • Tabernacle Baptist Church, Philadelphia[15]

Episcopal
  • St. Mark's Church, Frankford, Philadelphia
  • St. Mark's Church, Frankford, Philadelphia, Parish Hall[16]
  • Christ and St. Luke Church, Norfolk, Virginia
  • Church of St. Simeon, Memorial to Bishop Stevens, Philadelphia
  • Church of the Covenant, Philadelphia
  • Church of the Resurrection, Philadelphia
  • L'Emmanuello Italian Mission, Philadelphia
  • Cathedral Church of Christ, Roxborough, Philadelphia[17]
  • St.Stephen's Church, Richmond, Virginia
  • St. Augustine's Church (Episcopal), Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Grace Church Chapel (Episcopal), Petersburg, Virginia
  • Grace Church (Episcopal), Brunswick, Maryland
  • Nevil Memorial Church of St. George, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
  • St. Paul's Church, Lock Haven, PA[18]

Lutheran

Methodist
  • Centenary Methodist Church, Camden, New Jersey[21]

Presbyterian
  • First Presbyterian Church of Germantown, Philadelphia (renovations 1888-1892)[22]
  • Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, Swarthmore, PA, Sunday School Building[23]

Reformed Episcopal
  • St. Luke's Reformed Episcopal Church, Frankford, Philadelphia

Roman Catholic
  • St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia
  • Our Lady of Rosary Church, Philadelphia
  • St. Anthony of Padua Church, Philadelphia
  • St. Anthony of Padua Church, Philadelphia, School (additions and alterations)[24]
  • St. Anthony of Padua Church, Philadelphia, Rectory[25]
  • St. Anthony of Padua Church, Philadelphia, Parish House[26]
  • St. Leo's Church, Tacony, Philadelphia
  • Church of Epiphany Church, Philadelphia
  • Church of the Epiphany Church, Philadelphia, School[27]
  • Church of St. John the Evangelist, Philadelphia (reconstruction post-fire 1899)[28]
  • St. Philip Neri Roman Church, Philadelphia (renovations 1897-1899)[29]
  • St. Philip Neri Roman Church, Philadelphia, Rectory[30]
  • Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Philadelphia
  • St. John the Baptist Church, Manayunk, Philadelphia, Parish Hall[31]
  • Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Philadelphia, Convent[32]
  • St. Agatha's Church, Philadelphia, Rectory[33]
  • St. Peter's Cathedral, Parochial School, Wilmington, DE[34]

Public buildings

Private residences
  • 554 North 18th Street, Philadelphia
  • 1527 Spruce Street, Philadelphia[42]
  • 8750 Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia
  • 3935 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia (alterations and additions)[43]
  • 1706 Ludlow Street, Philadelphia[44]
  • 1317 North Broad Street, Philadelphia[45]
  • 1319 North Broad Street, Philadelphia[46]
  • 704 North 18th Street, Philadelphia (extensive renovations)[47]

References
  1. "F. R. Watson Dies, Church Architect". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. 31 October 1940.
  2. "Off For Pan-American Conference". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. 25 August 1923.
  3. "F. R. Watson Dies, Church Architect". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. 31 October 1940.
  4. "Death Certificate of Mr. Frank Watson". Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Certificate of Death No. 98440. 30 October 1940.
  5. "Baptism of Frank Rushmore Watson". Parish Records of St. Mark's Church, Frankford. Philadelphia. 03 April 1885.
  6. "F. R. Watson Dies, Church Architect". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. 31 October 1940.
  7. Cemetery Records of Trinity Church, Oxford. Philadelphia. Plot 202.
  8. "Marriage of Frank Rushmore Watson and Fanny Foulkrod". Parish Records of St. Mark's Church, Frankford. Philadelphia. 18 February 1890.
  9. "Death Certificate of Fannie F. Watson". City of Philadelphia Certificate of Death No. 15440.
  10. Cemetery Records of Trinity Church, Oxford. Philadelphia. Plot 202.
  11. Fannie F. Watson, 26 Jan 1896; citing p 58, Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 1,011,824.
  12. Anderson, Bart (1968). The Sharples-Sharpless family. West Chester, PA. p. 254.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. Anderson, Bart (1968). The Sharples-Sharpless family. West Chester, Pennsylvania. p. 400.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. "In a Social Way". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. 26 April 1926.
  15. "Corner-Stone of New Church". The Philadelphia Times: 02. 7 May 1896.
  16. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 11. 21 February 1896.
  17. "Bishop Celebrant of First Service". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 02. 2 November 1934.
  18. "Episcopal Church to be of Gothic Type". The Express: 12. 20 August 1936.
  19. "Architect of Two Local Churches Dies in Chestnut Hill". Morning Call: 5. 1 November 1940.
  20. "Architect of Two Local Churches Dies in Chestnut Hill". Morning Call: 5. 1 November 1940.
  21. "A Handsome House of Worship". Morning Post: 1. 21 September 1891.
  22. Moss, Roger W. (2004). Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 268, 270–271.
  23. "Out-of-town Church and Convent Work Designed by Frank R. Watson". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 7. 20 May 1902.
  24. "Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Times: 10. 15 February 1902.
  25. "Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 14. 3 April 1902.
  26. "In the Real Estate Field". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 10. 14 April 1902.
  27. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 11. 21 February 1896.
  28. Moss, Roger W. (2004). Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 136, 139. ISBN 0812237927.
  29. Moss, Roger W. (2004). Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 98, 101. ISBN 0812237927.
  30. "To Construct Catholic Rectory". The Philadelphia Times: 10. 9 June 1902.
  31. "Latest News in Real Estate". The Philadelphia Times: 11. 14 June 1901.
  32. "Latest News in Real Estate". The Philadelphia Times: 7. 18 April 1902.
  33. "The World of Reality". The Philadelphia Times: 05. 14 August 1891.
  34. "New St. Peter's School Dedicated". News Journal: 02. 1 February 1926.
  35. Railroad Gazette. Railroad gazette. 1 January 1908.
  36. Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Station. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0471143895.
  37. "Cumberland". Courthouse History: New Jersey. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  38. "Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Times: 10. 26 October 1901.
  39. "Another Big Building". The Philadelphia Times: 09. 19 December 1891.
  40. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 09. 16 April 1901.
  41. "Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Times: 13. 18 October 1901.
  42. "Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Times: 11. 10 December 1901.
  43. "In the Real Estate Field". The Philadelphia Times: 11. 6 June 1902.
  44. "The Latest News in Real Estate". The Philadelphia Times: 07. 4 June 1902.
  45. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 11. 21 February 1896.
  46. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 11. 21 February 1896.
  47. "The Latest in Real Estate News". The Philadelphia Inquirer: 13. 1 August 1901.
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