History of the Olmsted Family
 

          George Welsh Olmsted was born in 1874, in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, to Fannie Frances and Samuel Ashbel Olmsted, the first sawmill owner in Elk County.  In 1901, George Olmsted, and six others, bought the J.G. Curtis Leather Company in Ludlow, PA.  He served as secretary of the tannery for the remainder of his life.
      On June 17,1904, he married Iva Catherine Groves, daughter of Mary Angeline Pendleton and the Reverend Anthony Groves.  Miss Groves was a graduate of Clarion State Teacher’s College.  Their first child, Robert, was born in 1908 and his sister, Elizabeth (Betty), in 1912.
 
      Mr. Olmsted’s interest in the power industry led to his purchase of three small electric companies in New York and quickly expanded as he organized the Long Island Lighting Company. Through some 50 purchases and mergers, the company grew rapidly over the next 20 years and eventually furnished electricity and gas to almost all of Long Island east of the New York City line.
 
     During his lifetime, George W. Olmsted, served as trustee of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, and was a trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Kane.  He was deeply involved in the Boy Scout movement. He developed the Boy Scout camp, Camp Olmsted, located north of Warren, Pennsylvania, and later became chairman of the National Camping Committee.  At one time there were thought to be more Eagle Scouts per capita in Ludlow than anywhere else.  George Olmsted died in 1940.
 
      Iva Catherine Olmsted, was an avid gardener and oversaw the care of the landscaped grounds and gardens.  At one time, the Olmsteds employed up to 14 full-time gardeners.  She was an active, lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and facilitated the building and remodeling of the parsonages in her father’s former parishes.  Mrs. Olmsted lived on the estate until 1960 when she moved to a nursing home in the Chicago area.  She and her daughter, Elizabeth, began the process of turning the estate over to the United Methodist Church before she died in 1970.
 
     Robert Groves Olmsted, graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, received his bachelor of arts degree from Yale and his masters in business administration from Harvard.  Robert served as vice president of business and finance for Columbia University and as president of Adelphi University.  He remained interested in the work of Olmsted Manor Retreat Center until he died in 2003.

       Elizabeth Olmsted Wakefield, graduated from Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts and attended Vassar College.  She was an expert equestrienne and held annual horse shows at Wildcat Park in Ludlow.  Elizabeth was married in September of 1933, in a ceremony held on the grounds of Olmsted Manor, to an Olympic skater, Lyman Wakefield.  Elizabeth died in 1971.