John R Drexel II was a member of the Drexel family who loved flying (and crashing) planes. He was the extremely irresponsible son of John R Sr and Alice Troth. He grew up a life of extreme excess and spent his summers in Newport.
He married Elizabeth Thompson and they had a son, John R Drexel III, also known as Johnny, in 1919. It was that year that his father bought him his first plane, valued at $5,000. Soon after his first flight in the plane, John crashed it into a river. No matter, his father bought him another, this one valued at $9,000. 2 months later, John rammed the plane into the boathouse of his family's Philadelphia estate. The next two planes he crashed onto the driveway of his Long Island estate. The fifth he slammed into the side of his Newport home, Cliff Walk. The sixth and seventh both were banged into his neighbor's houses in Philadelphia. The eighth had a faulty propeller and it snapped while he was in mid-air, which resulted in him crashing it into his wife's flower garden at their home in Philadelphia. His ninth and final plane he rammed into the ground in a valley outside of Paris, where he was visiting his mother. This resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down.
He died in 1957, with more than $50 million in his will. John had never really done anything in his life, and so his main source of income was the interest from his inheritance.
He married Elizabeth Thompson and they had a son, John R Drexel III, also known as Johnny, in 1919. It was that year that his father bought him his first plane, valued at $5,000. Soon after his first flight in the plane, John crashed it into a river. No matter, his father bought him another, this one valued at $9,000. 2 months later, John rammed the plane into the boathouse of his family's Philadelphia estate. The next two planes he crashed onto the driveway of his Long Island estate. The fifth he slammed into the side of his Newport home, Cliff Walk. The sixth and seventh both were banged into his neighbor's houses in Philadelphia. The eighth had a faulty propeller and it snapped while he was in mid-air, which resulted in him crashing it into his wife's flower garden at their home in Philadelphia. His ninth and final plane he rammed into the ground in a valley outside of Paris, where he was visiting his mother. This resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down.
He died in 1957, with more than $50 million in his will. John had never really done anything in his life, and so his main source of income was the interest from his inheritance.
John R Drexel II was a member of the Drexel family who loved flying (and crashing) planes. He was the extremely irresponsible son of John R Sr and Alice Troth. He grew up a life of extreme excess and spent his summers in Newport.
He married Elizabeth Thompson and they had a son, John R Drexel III, also known as Johnny, in 1919. It was that year that his father bought him his first plane, valued at $5,000. Soon after his first flight in the plane, John crashed it into a river. No matter, his father bought him another, this one valued at $9,000. 2 months later, John rammed the plane into the boathouse of his family's Philadelphia estate. The next two planes he crashed onto the driveway of his Long Island estate. The fifth he slammed into the side of his Newport home, Cliff Walk. The sixth and seventh both were banged into his neighbor's houses in Philadelphia. The eighth had a faulty propeller and it snapped while he was in mid-air, which resulted in him crashing it into his wife's flower garden at their home in Philadelphia. His ninth and final plane he rammed into the ground in a valley outside of Paris, where he was visiting his mother. This resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down.
He died in 1957, with more than $50 million in his will. John had never really done anything in his life, and so his main source of income was the interest from his inheritance.
He married Elizabeth Thompson and they had a son, John R Drexel III, also known as Johnny, in 1919. It was that year that his father bought him his first plane, valued at $5,000. Soon after his first flight in the plane, John crashed it into a river. No matter, his father bought him another, this one valued at $9,000. 2 months later, John rammed the plane into the boathouse of his family's Philadelphia estate. The next two planes he crashed onto the driveway of his Long Island estate. The fifth he slammed into the side of his Newport home, Cliff Walk. The sixth and seventh both were banged into his neighbor's houses in Philadelphia. The eighth had a faulty propeller and it snapped while he was in mid-air, which resulted in him crashing it into his wife's flower garden at their home in Philadelphia. His ninth and final plane he rammed into the ground in a valley outside of Paris, where he was visiting his mother. This resulted in him being paralyzed from the waist down.
He died in 1957, with more than $50 million in his will. John had never really done anything in his life, and so his main source of income was the interest from his inheritance.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
