J. Bertram Lippincott

Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - April 30, 1985

Deceased Name: BERTRAM LIPPINCOTT, PUBLISHER

Bertram Lippincott, 87, a noted publisher, author and yachtsman, died Sunday at his home in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

Born in Philadelphia on Nov. 18, 1897, he was the son of Joanna Wharton and Joshua Bertram Lippincott, from two of Philadelphia's major families. One grandfather, J.B. Lippincott, founded the publishing company that bore his name. The other, Joseph Wharton, was the founder of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Lippincot was educated at Episcopal Academy and at William Penn Charter School, and then his education was interrupted by World War I. He served with the Navy tanker fleet and with the American Friends Service Ambulance Corps.

When he returned, he won his degree at Princeton University and joined the publishing house.

During World War II, he served with the Coast Guard.

He worked as an editor for more than 30 years and rose to vice presidency of the company. He brought many authors to the reading public, including such figures as:

Mary O'Hara, author of My Friend Flicka; Baroness Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, now better known under the film's title, The Sound of Music; Zora Neale Hurston, Tell My Horse and Mules & Man; Betty MacDonald, The Egg and I; Eliza Vining, Windows for the Crown Prince.

As the years went by, he added his own name to his list of authors. In addition to short pieces, he was the author of two books, Indians, Privateers and High Society, an informational history of Rhode Island published by Lippincott in 1961, and the Jamestown Sampler, a history of Conanicut Island, published privately in 1980.

Farming was one of his major interests, one which he tended with love as well as labor. As a boy, he had spent his summers on the family farm at Bethayres. Crops and livestock became a way of life.

As he became a man, he found other fields. He made Meadow Farm in Penllyn a show place, and he gave his support to the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture.

He was equally fond of the sea. Saltwater sailing held his attention for years. From his summer home at Jamestown in Rhode Island, he cruised the bays and backwaters of New England. He raced in boats big and small and entered the race to Bermuda four times, always under the flag of the Conanicut Yacht Club, which he served as commodore.

His other interests included organizations working on behalf of the blind, literary associations such as the Franklin Inn of Philadelphia, and the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He served as president of the hospital for some years.

Mr. Lippincott was also active for many years in the Mayflower Society. He served a term as governor of the Pennsylvania Mayflower Society.

Surviving are his wife, Elsie Graham Hirst Lippincott; his sons, Bertram Jr. and Barton Hirst; his daughters, Elsie Chadwick and Joanna Wharton Sorlien, and 14 grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Green Street Meeting in Germantown. Burial will be in Jamestown, R.I. A memorial service will be held there this summer.

Copyright (c) 1985 The Philadelphia Inquirer

GEDCOM Note

Category:Princeton UniversityCategory:J.B. Lippincott and Company

Biography ==Bertram was born in 1897.<ref name=ssdi/><ref>"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJP-SCB8 : 16 March 2018), Bertram Lippincott, 1917; citing Passport Application, , source certificate #54747, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, Roll 367,NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).</ref> He is the son of Joshua Lippincott and Joanna Wharton.

He graduated from Princeton University.<ref name=obit>The Philadelphia Daily News, 1 May 1985, p. 58, col. 1. clipping.</ref>
He was the grandson of J.B. Lippincott, founder of J. B. Lippincott & Co.. Bertram was an editor for the publishing company for over thirty years, and wrote and published two books of his own. <ref name=obit/> He died in April 1985. <ref name=ssdi>"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JP86-5ZQ : 20 May 2014), Bertram Lippincott, Apr 1985; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).</ref>

Sources

<references />

• Colonial Families of the United States, page 369.*"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6Y2-WYZ : accessed 4 April 2020), Bertram Lippencott, Jr in household of J Bertram Lippencott, Philadelphia Ward 7, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing ED 160, sheet 2B, line 97, family 44, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1618; FHL microfilm 1,821,618.