Ariovistus Pardee (November 19, 1810 – March 26, 1892) was an American engineer, coal baron, philanthropist, and director of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Pardee was born in Chatham, New York, to Ariovistus and Eliza (née Platt), and grew up in nearby Rensselaer County where his father owned a farm.

[1][2] Pardee was taught by his father while working on the farm and received some formal education in engineering from a schoolhouse in town run by the Presbyterian minister, Moses Hunter.

[3] In 1829, Pardee left New York to work as a rodman (or surveyor's assistant) on the construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal.

[1] He formed his own coal mining company with business partner John Gillingham Fell, who would later go on to become the president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

[7] Pardee diversified his interests following the success of anthracite mining and by 1888 was engaged in iron manufacture, operating blast furnaces in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Tennessee.

[8] With the onset of the Civil War, Lafayette College saw a drastic reduction in its student population and was nearing bankruptcy.

[11] That same day Pardee gave a gift of $20,000 (equivalent to $317,173 in 2023 dollars),[12] for the school's use, which was at the time the largest sum ever given to an educational institution in Pennsylvania.

They married in 1848[1] and had nine children: William, Israel, Anna, Barton, Frank, Bessie, Edith, Robert, and Gertrude.