Benjamin Franklin Vandevort (1836-1882)
Benjamin F. Vandevort, Industrialist, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
He was born in Pittsburgh, where his father was one of the city's earliest and most prominent dentists. In 1864, he married Caroline Fahnestock and three years later became vice-president of the Fahnestock White Lead Company founded a few years previously by his father-in-law. The company prospered and by the time of his death in 1882, he was one of the original members of the Carnegie Steel Company. The home he called "Homewood" is better known as Clayton today, having been transformed from an 11-room Italianate villa into a 23-room chateau by the industrialist and art collector, Henry Clay Frick. Benjamin and Caroline were the parents of six children. After Benjamin died, his widow moved to Germantown, Philadelphia.
