Robert Scott Lovett (June 22, 1860 – June 19, 1932) was an American lawyer and railroad executive. He was president and chairman of the board of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and a Director of both The National City Bank of New York and

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

.Directory
''Directory of Directors in the City of New York'', Audit Company, New York, 1915. pages 797 and 845. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

Biography

Early life

Robert Scott Lovett was born in San Jacinto, Texas. He was the son of William Lovett and Susan Hardy Lovett. His mother died in 1861 when Robert was only one year old; he was raised by Sarah Elizabeth "Sally" Hood Lovett, his father's second wife. He attended Houston High School. Lovett studied law privately and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in 1882.

Career

Lovett served as counsel for the Houston East & West Texas Railroad from 1884 to 1889. He then served as council for the Texas the Pacific from 1891 to 1903. From 1904 to 1909 Robert S. Lovett was general counsel, and after 1909 president, of the

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergyman ...

system of railroads—the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. In the wake of the Northern Securities Case he was compelled to dissolve the Southern Pacific and

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

in 1913. In 1914 he accepted directorships in the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

and Nickel Plate railroads. Consequently, the Lovett family settled into a "Gold Coast" mansion at

Locust Valley, New York Locust Valley is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 3,406 at the 2010 census. History The rolling h ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he filled important positions in the management of railroads, and was chosen president (1919) and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

(1920) of the Union Pacific System.

Personal life

In 1890, Lovett married Lavinia Chilton Abercrombie, daughter of lawyer and Texas state senator Leonard A. Abercrombie, granddaughter of Justice

William Parish Chilton William Parish Chilton (August 10, 1810 – January 20, 1871) was an American politician and author who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. Early life Called Will Chilton, he ...

. His wife died in 1928. Their only child was noted politician

Robert A. Lovett Robert Abercrombie Lovett (September 14, 1895May 7, 1986) was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, having been promoted to this position from Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from 1951 t ...

. Lovett died on July 19, 1932, at the Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Legacy

References

* Bryant, Keith L., Jr., Editor. ''Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Twentieth Century.'' New York: Facts on File, 1990. * Frey, Robert L., Editor. ''Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Nineteenth Century.'' New York: Facts on File, 1988. * Klein, Maury. ''The Life and Legend of E.H. Harriman.'' Chapel Hill .C. University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

External links

* 1860 births 1932 deaths People from Walker County, Texas American lawyers 20th-century American railroad executives Union Pacific Railroad people Southern Pacific Railroad {{US-rail-bio-stub