William Lawrence Saunders
{{short description|American mining engineer (1856–1931)}}
{{For|the North Carolina Secretary of State|William L. Saunders}}
{{Infobox person | name =William Lawrence Saunders | image =File:William Lawrence Saunders in 1916 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption =Saunders in 1916 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|11|1}} | birth_place =Columbus, Georgia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1931|6|25|1856|11|1}} | death_place =Tenerife, Canary Islands | death_cause = || known_for =Chairman of the board of Ingersoll Rand | education = | occupation = | spouse =Bertha Louise Gaston | partner = | children =Louise Saunders Perkins
Jean Saunders Lancaster | parents =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.{{cite news |author=F. W. Iredell |title=William Lawrence Saunders |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moXOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA191|newspaper=Cassier's magazine |year=1907 |access-date=2015-03-19 }}
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.
He married Bertha Louise Gaston on August 3, 1886, in Kingston, Rhode Island. They had two daughters, Louise Saunders Perkins and Jean Saunders Lancaster.{{cite news |title=Saunders' Millions Left To Daughters. Will of North Plainfield Inventor Includes Gift to William and Mary College |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/02/25/archives/saunders-millions-left-to-daughters-will-of-north-plainfield.html|newspaper=New York Times |date=February 25, 1932 |access-date=2015-03-18 }}
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.
He resided in North Plainfield, New Jersey. He died on June 25, 1931, in Tenerife on the Canary Islands.{{cite news |title=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 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/06/26/archives/wl-saunders-dies-in-canary-islands-chairman-of-the-ingersollrand.html|newspaper=New York Times |date=June 26, 1931 |access-date=2015-03-18 }} He was buried in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Saunders was the first president of the New Jersey Men's League for Women's Suffrage.{{Cite journal|last=Dodyk|first=Delight Wing|date=May 1997|title=Education and Agitation: The Woman Suffrage Movement in New Jersey|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304363653|journal=ProQuest Dissertations Publishing|pages=308–309|id={{ProQuest| }} }}
He also served as the 1915 president of AIME (American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers). and deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
References
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External links
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- {{Find a Grave|118093463}}
- [http://www.smenet.org/awards/viewAward.cfm?category=5&typeId=41 William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal]
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Category:Naval Consulting Board
Category:Ingersoll Rand people
Category:Members of the Men's League
Category:Suffragists from New Jersey
The Saunders Gold Medal, established in 1927, recognizes distinguished achievement in mining other than coal. This award is administered by AIME Member Society, SME. <#AIMEHQ.org>