SKETCH OF DR. WILLIAM PEPPER. 841 



in 1896, passed an ordinance giving over to the trustees of the 

 Commercial Museum sixteen acres of land for the erection 1 of suit- 

 able buildings. When all the plans are carried out the city will 

 have unrivaled facilities for the study of civilization, past and 

 present. 



One of the most enduring monuments to Dr. Pepper's zeal 

 and generosity is the Free Library of Philadelphia. In 1889 his 

 uncle, George S. Pepper, bequeathed the sum of one hundred and 

 fifty thousand dollars " to the trustees of such Free Library which 

 may be established in the city of Philadelphia." From the be- 

 ginning Dr. Pepper took a warm interest in the Free Library 

 movement. It was under his leadership that the library was or- 

 ganized, and he was made the first president of its board of trus- 

 tees. Speaking of his activity in this direction, the librarian, Mr. 

 John Thomson, said : " No detail was too small for his personal 

 attention. No plan for its future growth was too large for his 

 ambitious hope of both public and private support. The remark- 

 able and rapid increase in the circulation of the Free Library, the 

 multiplication of its branches, the organization of all its depart- 

 ments on a broad and generous plan, his success in enlisting a large 

 number of able fellow-workers, his clear, plain statements to Coun- 

 cils and the city authorities, his activity in securing needed legis- 

 lation at Harrisburg, were some of the results of that intelligent 

 energy which enabled him to do so much and to do it so well." 

 The bequest of the Pepper family has been supplemented by ample 

 appropriations by the City Councils, and the Free Library is now 

 one of the most important institutions in Philadelphia. The library 

 at present has twelve flourishing branches, while the combined 

 circulation of the system for the year 1898 was 1,738,950 

 volumes. 



Dr. Pepper was also connected with many scientific bodies. 

 He was Vice-President of the American Philosophical Society, and 

 President of the first Pan-American Medical Congress in 1893. 

 He was a Fellow of the College of Physicians; President of the 

 Philadelphia Pathological Society from 1873 to 1876; Director of 

 the Biological Section, Academy of Natural Sciences; President, 

 in 1886, of the American Climatological Association; President 

 of the Foulke and Long Institute for Orphan Girls; President of 

 the First Sanitary Convention of Pennsylvania; and in 1882 he 

 was a member of the Assay Commission of the United States Mint. 

 He received the degree of LL. D. from Lafayette College in 1881, 

 and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1893. 



In 1873 Dr. Pepper married Miss Frances Sargeant Perry, a 

 lineal descendant of Benjamin Franklin, and a granddaughter of 



