Nicholas Longworth is best remembered as the father of American
winemaking. Longworth popularized the Catawba grape and created a widespread,
if short-lived, enthusiasm for sparkling wines of the Ohio River Valley. He was also a
well-regarded attorney, a massively successful real estate investor, and a tireless
philanthropist who dedicated his enormous fortune to those whom he affectionately
called “the devil’s poor.”
When he was 19 years old, he moved west, eager to distance himself from the
shames and poverty of his youth. In 1804, he arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
began to study law. His mentor was Jacob Burnet, a leading figure in Ohio politics –
often called the “Father of Ohio’s Constitution” – and one of Cincinnati’s wealthiest …show more content…
By 1819, he retired from his legal practice; his properties
demanded his full attention. In 1850, Longworth paid more than $17,000 in taxes,
the second-highest tax bill in the nation. By one estimate, at the peak of his fortune,
Longworth’s net worth as a percentage of GDP places him among the 40 wealthiest
Americans of all time.
Longworth began making wine, employing armies of German immigrants and
introducing the first large-scale winemaking operation in the New World. When
sparkling variant was discovered by accident, wine enthusiasts from San Francisco
to Paris toasted the pink bubblies from Ohio. By the time of his death, Longworth’s
vineyards were producing 150,000 bottles annually.
The great bulk of Longworth’s wealth went to his idiosyncratic program of
philanthropy. Longworth, explained an 1863 obituary in Harper’s Weekly, “had
whimsical theory that those whom everybody will help were not entitled to any aid
from him, and that he would confine his donations to the worthless and wretched
vagabonds that everyone else turns away from.” These, he would explain, were “the
devil’s poor.” They were the beneficiaries of virtually all of his charitable
winemaking. Longworth popularized the Catawba grape and created a widespread,
if short-lived, enthusiasm for sparkling wines of the Ohio River Valley. He was also a
well-regarded attorney, a massively successful real estate investor, and a tireless
philanthropist who dedicated his enormous fortune to those whom he affectionately
called “the devil’s poor.”
When he was 19 years old, he moved west, eager to distance himself from the
shames and poverty of his youth. In 1804, he arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
began to study law. His mentor was Jacob Burnet, a leading figure in Ohio politics –
often called the “Father of Ohio’s Constitution” – and one of Cincinnati’s wealthiest …show more content…
By 1819, he retired from his legal practice; his properties
demanded his full attention. In 1850, Longworth paid more than $17,000 in taxes,
the second-highest tax bill in the nation. By one estimate, at the peak of his fortune,
Longworth’s net worth as a percentage of GDP places him among the 40 wealthiest
Americans of all time.
Longworth began making wine, employing armies of German immigrants and
introducing the first large-scale winemaking operation in the New World. When
sparkling variant was discovered by accident, wine enthusiasts from San Francisco
to Paris toasted the pink bubblies from Ohio. By the time of his death, Longworth’s
vineyards were producing 150,000 bottles annually.
The great bulk of Longworth’s wealth went to his idiosyncratic program of
philanthropy. Longworth, explained an 1863 obituary in Harper’s Weekly, “had
whimsical theory that those whom everybody will help were not entitled to any aid
from him, and that he would confine his donations to the worthless and wretched
vagabonds that everyone else turns away from.” These, he would explain, were “the
devil’s poor.” They were the beneficiaries of virtually all of his charitable