Joseph William Drexel (January 24, 1833 – March 25, 1888) was a banker, philanthropist, and book collector.

Drexel^{[lower-alpha 1]} was the son of Francis Martin Drexel (1792–1863) and Catherine Hookey (1795–1870). His siblings were Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893) and Francis Anthony Drexel (1824–1885). Through his brother Francis, he was the uncle of Saint Katharine Drexel (1858–1955).^[3] Joseph Willam Drexel was raised a Roman Catholic, but he joined the Episcopal Church later.^[4]

Drexel attended the Central High School in Philadelphia, and traveled through Spain, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Greece.^[3]

Joseph Drexel was a partner in the firm of Drexel, Morgan and Company, where his brother, Anthony, was senior partner. In 1876, tired of battling the brusque J. Pierpont Morgan, Joseph retired from the business and devoted his life to philanthropic and civic organizations.^[3]

He owned a 200-acre (0.81 km²) farm near New York City, where people without work were housed, clothed, fed, and taught agriculture until they could find a job. He owned a large tract of land in Maryland, which was developed into Klej Grange, a planned community, where the lots are sold to poor people at cost. About 7,000 acres (28 km²) in Michigan were bought for the same purpose.

He married Lucy Wharton (1841–1912), the daughter of Thomas Lloyd Wharton (1799–1869) and Sarah Ann Smith (b. 1800). Together, they had four children:^[11][12]

• Katherine Drexel (1866–1918), who married Dr. Charles Bingham Penrose (1862–1925),^[13][14] the brother of U.S. Senator Boies Penrose, Spencer Penrose, Richard A. F. Penrose, Jr. and the grandson of Charles B. Penrose, Solicitor of the United States Treasury, in 1892.^[15] They had two children.^[12]
• Lucy Wharton Drexel (1867–1944),^[16][17] who married Eric Bernard Dahlgren, Sr. (1866–1922), a son of John A. Dahlgren,^[18] and had eight children.^[12] They divorced in 1913.^[19][20][21]
• Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (1868–1944),^[22] who married John Vinton Dahlgren (1869–1899), another son of John A. Dahlgren, in 1889, with whom she had one son.^[12][23] After his death, she married New York Society leader Harry Lehr (1869–1929).^[24] After Lehr's death, she married John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866–1944) and thereafter was known as Lady Decies.^[25]
• Josephine Wharton Drexel (b. 1878), who married Dr. John Duncan Emmet (1857–1923), the son of prominent physician, Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet,^[26] in 1904.^[27][28] They divorced in 1914 and in 1915, she married Seton Henry (d. 1946),^[29] the son of Gen. Guy Vernor Henry and brother of Guy Henry, Jr.,^[20] with whom she had children.^[30][31][32]

Drexel died at his home, 103 Madison Avenue in New York City, on March 25, 1888.^[3] He had been suffering from Bright's Disease for a year and a half before then.^[3] He was buried in The Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[33][7]

• Drexel Collection