Tulane, Paul, 1801-1887

Born near Princeton, N.J., the philanthropist Paul Tulane was the son of a French immigrant, Paul Tulane, and Maria Tulane. After working several years in a store in Princeton, Tulane took a lengthy tour of the southern U.S. with a cousin. It was during this sojourn that he developed a keen interest in New Orleans, La. In 1822, he established Paul Tulane and Co. in New Orleans, a retail and wholesale dry goods and clothing business. Later he invested in real estate in both New Orleans and New Jersey. He retired with a large fortune in 1857. Subsequently he gave liberally to charitable institutions and Presbyterian churches of Princeton and New Orleans. In 1882 he donated $363,000 to improve higher education in the city of New Orleans. Tulane's donation ultimately resulted in the renaming of the University of Louisiana (founded as the Medical College of Louisiana) as Tulane University in his honor.

Paul Tulane was born on May 6, 1801, of French parents, near Princeton, New Jersey. In 1822, he travelled to New Orleans to follow job opportunies, and conducted commercial business throughout the southern states. By 1827, he established the firm of Paul Tulane and Company in New Orleans, which engaged in retail and wholesale trade of dry goods and clothing. He amassed a fortune in commerce as well as investing in real estate in both Louisiana and New Jersey, anticipating the disruption of the Civil War. After residing in New Orleans for fifty one years, Paul Tulane retired from business, returning to Princeton, where he lived austerely until his death on March 27, 1887. He is remembered primarily for being a philanthropist, having given generously to a variety of religious, charitable, and educational organizations. The predominant recipient of his generosity was the University of Louisiana, founded in 1834 in New Orleans, which was later renamed Tulane University.