George Walker Weld
Encyclopedia
William Fletcher Weld
William Fletcher Weld was a shipping magnate during the "Golden Age of Sail". He later invested in railroads and real estate. Weld multiplied his family's fortune into a huge legacy for his descendants and the public.-Early life:...
and member of the Weld Family
Weld family
The Weld family is an extended family of Boston Brahmins most remembered for the philanthropy of its members. The Welds have many connections to Harvard University, the Golden Age of Sail, the Far East , the history of Massachusetts, and American history in general.William Weld, former Governor of...
of Boston, was a founding member of the Boston Athletic Association
Boston Athletic Association
The Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit, organized sports association for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It hosts such events as the world-renowned Boston Marathon....
(organizers of today's Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
) and the financier of the Weld Boathouse
Weld Boathouse
Weld Boathouse is a Harvard-owned building on the bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is named after George Walker Weld, who bequeathed the funds for its construction.-History:...
, a landmark on the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
.
Early life
Weld was athletic as a student at Harvard College and for some years afterward. He was also mischievous. His younger cousin Stephen Minot Weld Jr. described how George came to his room one right with a plan to"...screw in one of the tutors, named Pearce. The plan was to take a hinge and screw one part to the bottom and the other to the sill of the door, so that in the morning...[Pearce] would find himself locked in and unable to attend prayers, and so could not mark us for our absence."
Pearce heard the Welds and their friend Osborne and chased them down the stairs. At the bottom, the Welds hid under the stairs while Pearce chased Osborne out into a heavy snowfall.
"Osborne plunged into a snow-drift and stuck there, and Pearce jumped on him. They had a row and a good deal of scuffling, and in it Pearce, who wore a red wig, lost it. It got lost in the snow and was never found until the next spring."
Osborne was expelled and got his degree many years later, but George's quick wit in swinging beneath the stairs saved the Welds from discipline.
Maritime sport
As a wealthy bachelor, Weld belonged to several Boston clubs as well as the New York Yacht ClubNew York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
. Weld was part of the syndicate that built the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
defender Puritan
Puritan (yacht)
Puritan was the 1885 America's Cup defender.-Design:She was built at the George Lawley & Son yard in Boston, Massachusetts and launched May 26, 1885....
and often invited friends to cruise on his 80-foot steel schooner, Chanticleer-- considered one of the finest steam yachts in the United States.
Illness
When Weld was about age forty he was afflicted with an unknown malady, possibly a neurological disorder, which left him partially paralyzed. A newspaper from his time notes "The illness of George Walker Weld has assumed a sad form and he has been carried to the Somerville insane asylumMcLean Hospital
McLean Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and ground-breaking neuroscience research...
."
However, no other evidence from that time suggests that Weld suffered from mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. Indeed, 19th century psychiatric diagnosis was notoriously inconsistent and inaccurate by modern standards. Weld seems to have faced his handicap with courage and dignity, and continued to attend Harvard athletic events in a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
or carriage until his death at age 64.
Weld Boathouse
George Walker Weld created two boathouses at Harvard. The first was built in 1889. The second was built to replace it in 1906 with funds that Weld bequeathed for that purpose. It is this famous CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
landmark, perhaps best viewed from Boston looking across the Charles
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
, whose centennial was celebrated in 2006.
Next to the boathouse is the Anderson Memorial Bridge
Anderson Memorial Bridge
Anderson Memorial Bridge connects Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, and Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site of the Great Bridge built in 1662, the first structure to span the Charles River...
built in 1913 by Weld's niece Isabel Weld Perkins
Isabel Weld Perkins
Isabel Weld Perkins , mostly known as Isabel Anderson or Mrs. Larz Anderson after her marriage, was a Boston-area heiress and author who left a legacy to the public that includes a park and two museums. She is interred in the St...
and her husband Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson III was a wealthy American businessman and diplomat who briefly served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan ....
.