Lorillard S. Spencer
Spencer circa 1918
Born
Lorillard Suydam Spencer

(1883-07-04)July 4, 1883
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedJune 9, 1939(1939-06-09) (aged 55)
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
TitlePresident of Atlantic Aircraft
Spouses
Mary Ridgeley Sands
​
​
(m. 1905; div. 1922)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1922)​
    Children
    • Lorillard Suydam Spencer Jr.
    • Stephen Wolcott Spencer
    • William Hurlbut Force Spencer
    Parents
    Military career
    AllegianceUnited States
    Service/branchUnited States Army
    Years of service1918
    RankMajor (also Colonel in the New York Militia)
    Battles/warsWorld War I Battle of Champagne-Argonne

    Lorillard Suydam Spencer Sr. (July 4, 1883 - June 9, 1939) was president of Atlantic Aircraft and was prominent in Newport, Rhode Island society.[1] He served as the military secretary to Charles Seymour Whitman, the New York Governor.[2]

    Biography

    Lorillard S. Spencer by Mary Helen Carlisle

    He was born on July 4, 1883, in Manhattan, New York City to Lorillard Spencer and Caroline Suydam Berryman, a granddaughter of Stephen Whitney of New York. Caroline would later become a missionary in the Philippines.[3][4][5]

    On December 16, 1910, he was elected as the temporary chairman of the New York City Council of the Boy Scouts of America.[6]

    During World War I, he was the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the African American 15th New York Infantry which was inducted into Federal service as the 369th Infantry Regiment (nicknamed "The Harlem Hellfighters"). In September 1918, during the Battle of Champagne-Argonne, he was stuck six times by German machine gun fire. Severely wounded, he was sent home to recover.[7] For his bravery, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour. The latter was presented to him in July 1919 by Ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand.[8] When the men of the 3rd Battalion returned home after the war, he was there to greet them, his fractured leg still in a sling.[9]

    He became president of the Witteman Aircraft Corporation in 1921 and the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation in 1923.[10]

    He died on June 10, 1939, at his cottage, Chasteullux, in Newport, Rhode Island.[1][11]

    Personal life

    He married his first wife, Mary Ridgeley Sands, on September 19, 1905, at Trinity Church in Manhattan, New York City.[12] They divorced in March 1922.[13] They had one son together, Lorillard Suydam Spencer Jr., on June 11, 1906.[14]

    He married Katherine Emmons Force on December 6, 1922.[13] They had two sons, Stephen Wolcott Spencer on April 22, 1925, and William Hurlbut Force Spencer on June 13, 1927.[15]

    Legacy

    Lorillard S. Spencer by Arthur Jule Goodman

    The earliest Filipino Boy Scout troop recorded in history was named after him due to the monetary support provided by his mother, who was an American charity worker in Sulu, Philippines.[16] The Lorillard Spencer Trophy serves as the perpetual award to a local Boy Scout council in the Philippines obtaining the highest record of advancement and membership for the year. The trophy is inscribed as "The Lorillard Spencer Trophy Presented by His Mother in Loving Memory of a Loyal Scouter".[16]

    Military awards

    References

    1. 1 2 United Press (June 12, 1939). "Lorillard Spencer Dead". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-10-19. Lorillard Spencer, 56, former executive in several airplane companies and prominent in Newport society died at his home Friday after a long illness ...
    2. ↑ Edgar L. Murlin (1916). The New York Red Book. J.B. Lyon Company, Albany, New York.
    3. ↑ "Mrs. Lorillard Spencer To Run Mission In Jolo". The New York Times. December 5, 1913. Retrieved 2010-10-19. Mrs Lorillard Spencer, Noted New York matron in company with an Episcopal deaconess will instruct the savage tribesmen of the Philippines in Christianity ...
    4. ↑ "Mrs. Lorillard Spencer, Wealthy Widow, Goes To Philippine Islands to be Missionary". The New York Times. December 5, 1913. Retrieved 2012-11-26. ... In the conversion of the Mohammedan populace of Jolo to Christianity..... Mrs. Lorillard Spencer was at the time of her marriage in 1882 one of the most beautiful women in America.....
    5. ↑ "Mrs. L. Spencer Dies In Home At Newport". The New York Times. April 7, 1948. Retrieved 2010-10-19. Mrs. Caroline S. Berryman Spencer, widow of Lorillard Spencer, who was prominent in New York and Newport society and was editor of the Illustrated American.....
    6. ↑ "The Boy Scouts Like Knights of Old". New York Times. December 17, 1910. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
    7. ↑ "Hayward Tells of Negros' Heroism". The Sun. New York. December 4, 1918. p. 14. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
    8. ↑ "Major Spencer Decorated With French Legion of Honor". New York Tribune. New York. July 15, 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
    9. ↑ "Gallant '15th' Fighters Come Home with Crosses". New York Tribune. New York. February 10, 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
    10. ↑ "Lorillard Spencer, Aviation Pioneer". Brooklyn Eagle. 10 June 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
    11. ↑ "Lorillard Spencer Is Dead. Prominent In Society and Clubs Here and in Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. March 15, 1912. Retrieved 2011-01-30. Lorillard Spencer, prominent in New York society, died yesterday from Bright's disease at his home, 7 East Eighty-sixth Street. He had been ill since Feb. 28. ...
    12. ↑ "Popular Society Beauty who will be Bride of Spencer Lorillard". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. September 19, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
    13. 1 2 "Miss Katherine Force To Wed Major Spencer. Their Marriage to Take Place Tomorrow at the Home of Her Sister, Mrs. William K. Dick". The New York Times. December 5, 1922. Retrieved 2012-11-26. Although the engagement of Miss Katherine B. Force, daughter of Mrs. William H. Force, to Major Lorillard Spencer has never been formally announced, it has been rumored for some time, and their wedding will take place tomorrow at the home of Mrs. William K. Dick, 7 East Eighty-fourth Street. Mrs. Dick, who was formerly Mrs. John Jacob Astor, is Miss Force's sister.
    14. ↑ "Miss Force Weds Lorillard Spencer. Daughter of Mrs. Wm. H. Force Married in Home of Her Sister, Mrs. Wm. K. Dick". The New York Times. December 6, 1922.
    15. ↑ "Stephen W. Spencer". July 29, 2010. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 2012-11-26. Born in New York, NY, on April 22, 1925, he was the son of the late Katherine (nee Force) and Lorillard Spencer. His father was a highly decorated World War I veteran.....
    16. 1 2 Boy Scouts of the Philippines (1996). Diamond Jubilee Yearbook. Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines.
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