William Lukens Elkins

William Lukens Elkins (May 2, 1832 – November 7, 1903) was an American businessman and art collector. He began his working career as a grocer in Philadelphia and became a business tycoon with financial interests in oil, natural gas, and transportation. He was one of the first to convert oil to gasoline and became a founding partner and major shareholder of Standard Oil after selling his refining business to John D. Rockefeller. He partnered with Peter Widener to found the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and developed streetcar and railway systems throughout several major cities in the United States. He founded the United Gas Improvement Company and was a member of the board of directors of 24 companies. He was a collector of art and filled his Elkins Estate with over 132 paintings. The exact value of his estate at the time of death is unknown, though today it would likely be worth several billion dollars.

Early life Elkins was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on May 2, 1832, the seventh child and youngest son to George Elkins and Susanne (née Howell) Elkins. His father was a pioneer in paper manufacturing in the United States.

In 1840, his family returned to Philadelphia, where William continued his education in the local schools. His family was a prominent family in colonial-era Philadelphia, with roots from England.

Career He started his business career working as a clerk at a grocery store in Philadelphia. He entered the lumber business but did not have success. In 1852, he entered the produce business in New York and had modest success. In 1853, he returned to Philadelphia and formed a partnership with Peter Sayboldt to found the produce company Sayboldt & Elkins.

Elkins recognized the potential for the usages of oil being pumped from the oilfields of Northwestern Pennsylvania and became a pioneer in the refining of crude oil. In Philadelphia he founded Monument Oil Works that built a primitive oil refinery which he constantly modernized and expanded into other locations. Elkins founded the United Gas Improvement Company which implemented gas works in Philadelphia and 60 U.S. cities. He was a member of the board of directors of 24 companies. Elkins held sizeable financial positions in American Tobacco Company and International Mercantile Marine Co. Both mansions were designed by Horace Trumbauer.

Elkins was an art collector and instituted a $5,000 prize for "the most meritorious" painting exhibited by an American artist at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1900, he published a catalogue of his personal art collections which contained 132 paintings.

Descendants Through his son George, he was the grandfather of four grandchildren. They included Stella Elkins, who married George F. Tyler and founded the Stella Elkins Tyler School of Art. Another granddaughter, Louise Elkins, married Wharton Sinkler, a descendant of the William Penn and Wharton families. A grandson, William McIntire Elkins, was a book collector whose collection of early Americana is held at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Through his son William, he was the grandfather of two grandchildren: Felton Broomall Elkins, a playwright and artist, and Marie Louise Broomall Elkins, who married three times and was a Broadway producer.