He “arrived in Philadelphia in 1717 with nearly no money; at the time of his death in 1752, his wealth outstripped that of the contemporary elite more than threefold...an immigrant’s path to achieving the American Dream.
His brother, John (born Johannes Wüster) (1708–1789) emigrated to Philadelphia in 1727 and settled in the Germantown district.
John was registered under a variant of the surname, “Wister.” To this day there exists two spellings of the family name.
[8] He left the Palatinate in 1717, forgoing his father's hereditary title and position to seek out a new life across the Atlantic Ocean.
[11] In 1739, Wistar established a furnace in southern New Jersey and began manufacturing window panes, bottles, and chemical apparatuses.