Charles W. West
CHARLES W. WEST, whose great benefaction for an Art Museum in Cincinnati is a lasting memorial of beauty and pleasure, was born in Montgomery county, Pa. In 1810 worked on a farm, until he was twenty-one years of age, and at thirty-one established himself in Cincinnati as a merchant and had great success.
In September, 1880, he offered to contribute $150,000 toward the erection of an art museum building, provided that an equal amount was raised by subscription: on the condition being fulfilled he gave twice as much as he had promised. The building was begun in 1882 and finished in 1885; but Mr. West did not live to see it finished, he dying the year before aged seventy-four years. His portrait in the museum is in seeming that of a genial gentleman, full of sociality and good fellowship, which indeed were his characteristics. His offer came as a grand surprise. On the opening of the Exposition of 1880, its President, Hon. Melville E. Ingalls, the famed railroad manager, read a letter later termed the “famous letter,” from Mr. West making his magnificent offer. When the Exposition closed “in glory” having been a great success financially and artistically, Mr. Ingalls gave a public dinner to his friends, whereupon fifty-three gentlemen obligated themselves to increase the fund for the Art Museum $1,000 each, in all $53,000. This assured success.
From Historical Collections of Ohio:by Henry Howe; Pub. 1888