Robert S. Lovett

{{Short description|American lawyer and railroad executive}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}} {{Infobox person | name = Robert S. Lovett | image = R.S. Lovett LCCN2014683883 (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Robert Scott Lovett | birth_date = {{birth date|1860|6|22}} | birth_place = [[San Jacinto County, Texas|San Jacinto, Texas]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1932|6|19|1860|6|22}} | death_place = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S. | resting_place = [[Locust Valley Cemetery]], [[Locust Valley, New York]], U.S. | other_names = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | employer = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = {{marriage|Lavinia Chilton Abercrombie|1890|1928|reason=died}} | children = [[Robert A. Lovett]] | relatives = [[Leonard A. Abercrombie]] (father-in-law) | signature = }} '''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]] and a Director of both [[55 Wall Street|The National City Bank of New York]] and [[Western Union]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=THtVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA797 Directory] ''Directory of Directors in the City of New York'', Audit Company, New York, 1915. pages 797 and 845. Retrieved February 22, 2018.</ref>

==Biography== ===Early life=== Robert Scott Lovett was born in [[San Jacinto County, Texas|San Jacinto, Texas]].<ref name="death">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96824820/robert-s-lovett-railway-head-dies-20/ |title=Robert S. Lovett, Railway Head, Dies |date=1932-06-20 |newspaper=[[Washington Evening Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2022-03-03}}{{Open access}}</ref> 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.{{citation needed |date=March 2022}} He attended [[Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center|Houston High School]].<ref name="death"/> Lovett studied law privately and was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]] in 1882.<ref name="death"/>

===Career=== Lovett served as counsel for the Houston East & West Texas Railroad from 1884 to 1889. He then served as council for [[Texas and Pacific Railway]] from 1891 to 1903.<ref name="death"/>

From 1904 to 1909 Robert S. Lovett was general counsel, and after 1909 president, of the [[E. H. Harriman]] 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 Railroad|Southern Pacific]] and [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] [[mergers and acquisitions|merger]] in 1913. In 1914 he accepted directorships in the [[New York Central Railroad|New York Central]] and [[New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad|Nickel Plate]] railroads. Consequently, the Lovett family settled into a "Gold Coast" mansion at [[Locust Valley, New York]].{{citation needed |date=January 2024}} During [[World War I]], he served as commissioner of the priorities committee of the [[War Industries Board]]. He resigned the role in 1918 and was succeeded by [[Edwin B. Parker]]. He then joined the Railroad Administration as director of capital expenditures.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/americanindustry00unit/page/48/mode/2up |title=American Industry in the War: A Report of the War Industries Board |author=[[Bernard Baruch]] |year=1921 |page=48 |via=[[Archive.org]] |access-date=2024-01-15}}{{Open access}}</ref> He became president of the Union Pacific in 1919 and served in that role until his appointment as chairman of the board of directors on March 1, 1920.<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-rites-for-lovett-railroa/161551773/ |title=Rites for Lovett, Railroad Magnate, Set for Tuesday |date=1932-06-20 |newspaper=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=13 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2024-12-25}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==Personal life== On October 29, 1890, Lovett married Lavinia Chilton Abercrombie,<ref name="obit"/>{{citation needed |date=December 2024 |reason=middle name}} daughter of lawyer and Texas state senator [[Leonard A. Abercrombie]], granddaughter of Justice [[William Parish Chilton]].{{citation needed |date=March 2022}} His wife died in 1928.<ref name="death"/> Their only child was noted politician [[Robert A. Lovett]].<ref name="death"/> He lived in Candelight.{{citation needed |date=September 2025}}

Lovett died on July 19, 1932, at the Medical Center in [[Manhattan]].<ref name="obit"/>

== Legacy == {{libship honor|name=Robert S. Lovett|type=his}}

==See also== * [[List of railroad executives]]

== References == {{Reflist}} {{Refbegin}} * 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 [N.C.]: University of North Carolina Press, 2000. {{Refend}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert Scott Lovett |sopt=t}}

{{start box}} {{succession box| before=''vacant''| title=Chairman of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific Company]] Executive Committee| years=1909 – 1913| after=[[Julius Kruttschnitt]]| }} {{succession box| before=[[E. H. Harriman]]| title=President of [[Union Pacific Railroad]]| years=1910 – 1911| after=[[A. L. Mohler]]| }} {{end box}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovett, Robert Scott}} [[Category:1860 births]] [[Category:1932 deaths]] [[Category:People from Walker County, Texas]] [[Category:American lawyers]] [[Category:20th-century American business executives in rail transportation]] [[Category:Union Pacific Railroad people]] [[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad]]