PALMER, WILLIAM PENDLETON (17 June 1861-17 Dec. 1927), steel industrialist who worked from apprentice to president of American Steel & Wire Co. (1899-1927), and president of the WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY (1913-27), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., to James Stewart and Eleanor Pendelton Mason Palmer. He graduated from high school in 1878, and entered the steel industry as an apprentice with Lewis, Oliver & Phillips. In 1881 he went to work for Carnegie, Phipps & Co., becoming company secretary in 1887 and general sales agent in 1888. He was appointed assistant to the president of Carnegie Steel Co. in 1894, and in 1896 became 2d vice-president of Illinois Steel Co. He became general manager and president of American Steel & Wire, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corp. in Cleveland, in 1899, serving until 1927. He also was president of American's subsidiaries, NEWBURGH & SOUTH SHORE RAILROAD and Trenton Iron Co., and a director of Cleveland Trust Co., H. C. Frick Coke Co., and the Bank of Commerce. Palmer was elected president of the WRHS in 1913, serving until 1927. During his tenure, the society acquired the Wm. Palmer Collection, an extensive collection of books, manuscripts, and photographs relating to the American CIVIL WAR which he had amassed. Palmer married Mary Boleyn Adams in 1898 and had 2 children, Jane and William, Jr. Palmer is buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
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