Catalogue entry

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  • Emma Asplundh »
• Figure composition: 
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Emma Asplundh was the mother of the founders of the Asplundh Tree Expert Company, now one of the leading providers of vegetation management and utility infrastructure services in the United States.¹ Born on July 4, 1867, in Herisau, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland, she was the daughter of Arnold Steiger and Albertine, née Sneblye. In the early 1870s, her family emigrated to New York and later settled in Bryn Athyn. There, in 1887, she married Carl Hjalmer Asplundh, an immigrant from Stockholm. Tragically, Carl passed away prematurely in 1903, leaving Emma a widow with eight children to raise (fig. 1).
Emma Asplundh maintained a close relationship with John Pitcairn, father of Theodore Pitcairn and co-founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG), who regularly invited her to Sunday lunch after church services. According to accounts passed down by members of the Asplundh family, he also provided her with material support following the death of her husband, notably by commissioning her to undertake sewing work for the Pitcairn family and, apparently, by helping her deal with certain property and financial matters. An accomplished seamstress, Emma made, among other things, the wedding gown for Mildred Glenn Pitcairn, mother of Karen Pitcairn [PS 292], for her marriage in 1910. Other family accounts relate that she also became a surrogate mother to the young Theodore, who had lost his own mother at the age of five. Her second daughter, Alethe, a nurse, (fig. 1) cared for Theodore and Marijke Pitcairn's severely disabled son for several years. Emma Asplundh died in 1931.

1. Asplundh, Company History, accessed in July 2025.

The author gratefully acknowledges the information kindly provided by Lisa Parker-Adams, Director of History & Education, Cairnwood Estate, and Edwin Herder (Bryn Athyn).