Columbus O'Donnell

Christopher Columbus O'Donnell (October 1, 1792 – May 26, 1873) was an American businessman who served as president of Baltimore's Gas and Light Company.

Early life and education O'Donnell was born on October 1, 1792, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of prominent merchant, and slaveowner, Capt. John O'Donnell (1749–1805), and Sara Chew ( Elliott) O'Donnell (1766–1857). His father was born in Limerick, Ireland, and ran away to India, where he "amassed a substantial fortune from mercantile pursuits." He was educated at St. Mary's College.

In 1828, O'Donnell and others petitioned the Maryland State Senate to incorporate the Canton Company, "a real estate company that was to include at the outset the Canton plantation plus all the waterfront property from Fells Point to Lazaretto Point, a total of 3,000 acres."

Personal life Portrait of his daughter, Mrs. Adrian Iselin (née Eleanora O'Donnell) by John Singer Sargent in 1888 O'Donnell was married to Eleanora C. Pascault (1799–1870), a daughter of French-born merchant Louis Pascault, Marquis de Poleon. Among her siblings were sisters Henriette (wife of French Gen. Jean-Jacques Reubell, who came to Baltimore with Jérôme Bonaparte), and Josephine (wife of James Gallatin, eldest son of Ambassador and Secretary Albert Gallatin) Her brother, Louis Charles Pascault, was a Capt. in the Mexican War (who married Ann Goldsborough, a granddaughter of Continental Congressman Robert Goldsborough), Together, the O'Donnells were the parents of:

Emily O'Donnell (1818–1888), who married U.S. Representative and Mayor of Baltimore Solomon Hillen Jr. Eleanora O'Donnell (1821–1897), who married the New York financier Adrian Iselin. Charles Oliver O'Donnell (1823–1877), who married Hellen Sophia Carroll (1834–1886), a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton and sister to Gov. John Lee Carroll, in 1867. Josephine O'Donnell, who married Thomas Sim Lee, a grandson of Gov. Thomas Sim Lee, in 1843. Christopher Columbus O'Donnell Jr., who married Caroline Jenkins.

O'Donnell died on Mary 26, 1873, in Baltimore. In his will, he left his estate to his children and grandchildren, with specific bequests of $5,000 to the Maryland Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, $5,000 to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, and $5,000 to the Roman Catholic Asylum for Widows.

Descendants Through his son Charles, he was a grandfather of John Charles O'Donnell (1868–1914), who married Julia Edie (a granddaughter of U.S. Representative John Rufus Edie) and lived in Montreux, Switzerland.

Through his daughter Eleanora, he was a grandfather of Adrian Iselin Jr. (1846–1935), William Emil Iselin (1848–1937), Eleanora Iselin Kane (1849–1938), Columbus O'Donnell Iselin (1851–1933), Charles Oliver Iselin (1854–1932), Papal Countess Georgine Iselin (1857–1954), and Emilie Eleanora Iselin Beresford (1860–1916).