William Lawrence Saunders

For the North Carolina Secretary of State, see William L. Saunders.
William Lawrence Saunders

Saunders in 1916
Born November 1, 1856
Columbus, Georgia
Died June 25, 1931 (aged 74)
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Residence North Plainfield, New Jersey
Other names William L. Saunders
W. L. Saunders
Known for Chairman of the board of Ingersoll Rand
Spouse(s) Bertha Louise Gaston
Children Louise Saunders Perkins
Jean Saunders Lancaster
Parent(s) William Trebell Saunders
Eliza S. Morton

William Lawrence Saunders (November 1, 1856 - June 25, 1931) was a mining engineer who was chairman of the Naval Consulting Board during World War I. He was chairman of the board of Ingersoll Rand.[1][2]

Biography

He was born in 1856 to Reverend William Trebell Saunders and Eliza S. Morton in Columbus, Georgia. His family moved to Apalachicola, Florida where his father became the pastor of the Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church.[2]

He married Bertha Louise Gaston on August 3, 1886 in Kingston, Rhode Island. They had two daughters, Louise Saunders Perkins and Jean Saunders Lancaster.[3]

On March 24, 1904 he was made president of the Ingersoll Sergeant Drill Company after the death of William Russell Grace. In May 1905, the Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Company and the Rand Drill Company merged into Ingersoll Rand. He became the first president of the now combined Ingersoll Rand in 1906.[2]

He resided in North Plainfield, New Jersey. He died on June 25, 1931 in Tenerife on the Canary Islands.[1] He was buried in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "W. L. Saunders Dies In Canary Islands. Chairman of the Ingersoll-Rand Company Stricken at the Age of 74. Was Noted as Inventor. Wrote Much on Politics. Served on War Boards. A Close Friend of President Wilson. Descendant of Pioneers". New York Times. June 26, 1931. Retrieved 2015-03-18. William Lawrence Saunders of Plainfield, N.J., chairman of the board of directors of the Ingersoll-Rand Company, died yesterday morning in Tenerife, Canary Islands, according to word received here yesterday afternoon. ...
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 F. W. Iredell (1907). "William Lawrence Saunders". Cassier's magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-19. William Lawrence Saunders was born at Columbus, Georgia, November I, 1856. His boyhood was spent at Apalachicola, Florida, where his father, Rev. William Trebell Saunders, D. D., was rector of Trinity Protestant Episcopal church. ...
  3. "Saunders' Millions Left To Daughters. Will of North Plainfield Inventor Includes Gift to William and Mary College". New York Times. February 25, 1932. Retrieved 2015-03-18. The will of William Lawrence Saunders, inventor and war-time chairman of the Naval Consulting Board, leaves the bulk of his estate of several million dollars to his daughters, Mrs. Louise Saunders Perkins of New Canaan, Conn., and Mrs. Jean Saunders Lancaster of Hewlett, L.I., and their children. ...