William B. Gower
William Bleckley Gower (1873 – August 30, 1937) was an English-American businessman and close associate of copper magnate William A. Clark.
Early life[edit]
Gower was born in England in 1873. He was the son of William Bleckley Gower and Agnes (née Innes) Gower.[1] Among his siblings were brothers Hugh Temple Gower and Edmund Innes Gower.[2] His maternal grandparents were Robert Innes and Margaret (née Clapperton) Innes. His aunt, Margaret Clapperton Innes, married Scottish merchant Henry Forest Alexander.[3] His father was a Cannon Street merchant who declared bankruptcy in July 1871 (together with Charles Arnold Bleckley),[4] but was discharged in 1873.[5]
He emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen.[1]
Career[edit]
For thirty-five years, he was associated in the copper business with William A. Clark, who became a U.S. Senator from Montana,[1] He was the general auditor and accountant for Senator Clark until his death in 1925.[6] Gower served as comptroller of the United Verde Copper Company,[7] of which Clark's son, Charles W. Clark, served as manager and chairman.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Gower was married to Helen Margaret Barrie (1875–1955) of Chicago.[8] In New York, they lived at 1060 Fifth Avenue. He was a member of the Knickerbocker Club, the Whist Club, and the Lake Placid Club in Lake Placid, New York.[1] Together, they were the parents of:
- Daisy Agnes Gower (1898–1981),[9] who married Richard Martin Holsten.[10] They divorced and she married Northrup Dawson.[11]
- William MacDonald Levenson Gower (1905–1976),[12] who married Huguette Clark, youngest daughter of Senator William A. Clark, in 1928.[13] They divorced in 1930 and he married Cornelia McGhee (née Baxter) Tevis McKee, a daughter of the Governor of Wyoming Territory George White Baxter, in 1932. Cornelia was the widow of Hugh Tevis and Andrew Hartupee McKee.
Gower died at Garden Cottage at Lake Placid Club on August 30, 1937, at age 63, from the effects of a heart attack suffered a week earlier.[1] He was buried at North Elba Cemetery in North Elba, New York,[14] and left an estate valued at $308,389 gross and $286,309 net.[2] His widow died at her home, 1001 Park Avenue, in 1955.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (31 August 1937). "WILLIAM B. GOWER, LEADER IN COPPER; Long an Associate of Late Senator Clark--Dies in Lake Placid at 63". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Estates Appraised". The New York Times. 24 February 1938. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Colston, James (1873). History of Dr. Boyd's Fourth High School Class, with Biographical Sketch of Dr. Boyd. Private Circulation. p. 47. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Bankrupts". The Economist. Economist Newspaper Limited. July 15, 1871. p. 858. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Orders of Discharge". The Law Times. Office of The Law Times: 210. 1873. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Accountants, American Institute of (1931). Year-book of the Institute of Accountants in the United States of America. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ New York Supreme Court | Appellate Division--First Department. United Verde Copper Company --against-- Irving Trust Company and I. M. C. INC. | Record on Appeal. New York: The Court Press. 1935. p. 236. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ a b "MRS. WILLIAM B. GOWER". The New York Times. 9 November 1955. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "DAWSON, Daisy Gower". The Miami Herald. 30 January 1981. p. 33. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Hoyt Ogden Perry, Jr. Marries Janet Holsten of New Canaan". The Bridgeport Telegram. 15 July 1951. p. 11. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "DAWSON. NORTHROP". The Miami News. 5 August 1981. p. 7. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Deaths". The New York Times. 25 December 1976. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Gower Honeymoon Spent at Del Monte". The San Francisco Examiner. 22 August 1928. p. 14. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "BURIAL RITES TODAY FOR WILLIAM B. GOWER". Evening Star. 31 August 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 10 February 2023.