William Lawrence Scott was born on July 2, 1828, in Washington, D.C., to Mary Ann Lewis (died 1879) and Colonel Robert Scott (U.S. Army) (1798–1835),[2] of Virginia, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, who was detailed to the nation's capital at the time of his son's birth.[3] Scott's Father died when he was only about seven years old. His elder brother, Robert Wainright Scott (1827–1866),[4] was educated at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, served with distinction in the U.S. Civil War, and died while commander of the USS Saginaw at Acapulco, Mexico, on January 5, 1866.[3][5]
His paternal grandfather was Gustavus Scott (1753–1800), a colonial lawyer and public official from Maryland who was appointed by President Washington the first Commissioner of Public Buildings for the City of Washington.[3] His maternal grandfather was Col. Henry Lewis of Virginia, a Judge.[2]
From 1840 to 1846, Scott served as a United States House of Representatives Page. After returning to Erie, Pennsylvania, with Charles Manning Reed, at the end of Reed's term in the U.S. Congress, he was employed as a shipping clerk at Reed's lakeside wharves for several years. He then spent some years traveling, working as a peddler, fisherman, and clerk until he was 23 years old.
Scott became a prosperous land owner, investor, and businessman engaged in shipping, coal mining, iron manufacturing, banking, and railroad construction through various partnerships and the firm of W. L. Scott & Co., which he established around 1871.[3] One trade at the New York Stock Exchange was said to have earned him $2 million. His fortune was estimated at $15 million. He served as president of a number of railroad companies, including the New York, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk Railroad and the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad.[3]
As the reportedly wealthiest member of the House of Representatives at the time, and a close friend of President Grover Cleveland,[1][10] Scott did a great deal of entertaining at Scott House, which overlooked Old Plantation Creek. Scott had a passion for race horses and his farm had facilities, including a one-mile (1.6 km) race track, to breed and winter 35 northern-owned race horses.[11]
Horse breeding
In June 1883, Scott bought the 2,650-acre (10.7 km2) Hollywood Farm on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia from the heirs of the late Governor Littleton Tazewell for $55,000. His purchase included the Tazewell house which became known as the Scott House after he renovated and enlarged it in 1886. Scott bought the land primarily to establish a terminus, a harbor and a town for the services of his railroad, the New York, Pennsylvania and Norfolk. Scott immediately deeded part of his 2,650-acre (10.7 km2) purchase to the railroad and the following year, in 1884, he laid out the Town of Cape Charles, Virginia, on 135 acres (0.55 km2).[12][13]
In 1853, he was married to Mary Matilda Tracy (d. 1898), eldest daughter of John A. Tracy, an attorney in Erie, and the sister of Frank F. Tracy, a prominent member of the New York Stock Exchange and one-time president of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.[3] Together, they had:[1]
Scott died from heart failure on September 19, 1891, in Newport, Rhode Island.[1] His body was buried at Erie Cemetery.[18] He was interred in a mausoleum designed by E.L. Pelton, an Erie architect, completed in 1889 at a cost of $40,000 (equivalent to $1,356,444 today).[19]
At the time of his death, his wealth was estimated at $15,000,000 (equivalent to $508,666,667 today)[1] to $25,000,000 (equivalent to $847,777,778 today).[20] In December 1891, the value of the estate was estimated at no more than $7,000,000 (equivalent to $237,377,778 today), all of which was left to his family.[21]
Through his second daughter, he was the grandfather of Matilda Thora Wainwright Strong (1882–1939), who married Reginald Ronalds (1865–1924), the son of Fanny Ronalds, on February 24, 1906. They divorced in 1910 and she was later married to Clyde B. Leasure from June 28, 1917, until December 23, 1921.[16]
.jpg)
