{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Cameron Sproul | image = SPROUL, WILLIAM C. GOVERNOR LCCN2016860405 Crop.jpg | caption = Portrait by [[Harris & Ewing]] {{circa}} 1919–1923 | order = 27th | office = Governor of Pennsylvania | lieutenant = [[Edward E. Beidleman|Edward Beidleman]] | term_start = January 21, 1919 | term_end = January 16, 1923 | predecessor = [[Martin Grove Brumbaugh|Martin Brumbaugh]] | successor = [[Gifford Pinchot]] | office1 = Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]]<br> from the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 9|9th district]] | term_start1 = 1897 | term_end1 = 1919 | predecessor1 = [[Jesse Matlack Baker]] | successor1 = [[Richard J. Baldwin]] | office2 = Chair of the [[National Governors Association]] | term_start2 = August 18, 1919 | term_end2 = December 14, 1922 | predecessor2 = [[Henry Justin Allen]] | successor2 = [[Channing H. Cox]] | birth_name = {{nowrap|William Cameron Sproul}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|9|16}} | birth_place = [[Colerain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Colerain Township]], Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1928|3|21|1870|9|16}} | death_place = [[Wallingford, Pennsylvania|Wallingford]], Pennsylvania, U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | education = [[Swarthmore College]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}} | signature = Signature of William Cameron Sproul (1870–1928).png | spouse = Emeline Wallace Roach (m.1892) | children = 2 }} '''William Cameron Sproul''' (September 16, 1870 – March 21, 1928) was an American politician from [[Pennsylvania]] who served as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] from 1897 to 1919<ref>{{cite web |title=William Cameron Sproul |url=http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/bioshistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5518&body=S |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref> and as the 27th [[governor of Pennsylvania]] from 1919 to 1923.<ref name=obit/> He also served as chair of the [[National Governors Association]] from 1919 to 1922.
==Early life and education== Sproul was born at [[John Douglass House]] to William Hall and Deborah Dickinson (Slokom) Sproul<ref name=NationalBank>{{cite book|last1=Ashmead|first1=Henry Graham|title=History of the Delaware County National Bank|date=1914|publisher=Press of the Chester Times|location=Chester, Pennsylvania|page=159|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLMpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA132|access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref> in [[Colerain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]], on September 16, 1870. The family relocated to [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], in 1883, and Sproul graduated from [[Chester High School (Chester, Pennsylvania)|Chester High School]] in 1887.<ref name=Ashmead>{{cite book|last1=Ashmead|first1=Henry Graham|title=History of the Delaware County National Bank|date=1914|publisher=Press of the Chester Times|location=Chester, Pennsylvania|page=159|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLMpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA132|access-date=1 March 2018}}</ref> He attended [[Swarthmore College]], was a member of the [[Phi Kappa Psi]] fraternity and graduated with honors in 1891.
==Business career== [[File:William Cameron Sproul circa 1903–1905.png|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Sproul {{circa}} 1903–1905]] After graduation, Sproul acquired an interest in the Franklin Printing Company of Philadelphia. Sproul later purchased a half interest in the Chester Times newspaper.<ref name=Ashmead/>
Sproul was employed in the field of newspaper publishing, and rose to the rank of president of the ''Chester Daily Times.''<ref name="Jordan">{{cite book|last1=Jordan|first1=John W.|title=A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Its People|date=1914|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|location=New York|pages=515–516|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofdelawar02jord#page/n5/mode/2up|access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref> Additionally, he made a substantial profit through investments in railroads and manufacturing interests.
In 1895, Sproul was elected a director of the First National Bank of Chester.
In 1898, he became vice president of the [[Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works]] but resigned a year later when he organized the Seaboard Steel Casting Company and served as president.
In 1900, he was elected president of the Chester Shipping Company. He was president of the [[Ohio Valley Electric Railway Company]], the [[Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad]] Company and of the General Refractories Company. He was director of the [[Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad]] Company, the Delaware County Trust and Title Insurance Company, the Commercial Trust Company of Philadelphia and the American Railways Company.<ref name=NationalBank/>
==Political career== [[File:Gov. W. C. Sproul and son Jack led the Union League in Peace Parade on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918 (12795375065).jpg|thumb|left|Willim Cameron Sproul and son Jack at an [[Armistice Day]] parade, November 11, 1918]] A prominent Republican, Sproul served in the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] for the [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 9|9th District]] from 1897 to 1919. At age 26, he was the youngest member of the senate and the youngest man to become senator from [[Delaware County, Pennsylvania|Delaware County]].<ref name=NationalBank/> In 1911, he drafted the landmark [[Sproul Road Bill]], which created the state highway system.
In [[Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1918|1918]], Sproul was elected as the [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|27th Governor of Pennsylvania]] and served until 1923. As governor, he focused on expanding funding for education, roadway construction, and veterans' services. He also spurred an effort to expand state forest land in order to replenish the state's woodlands after years of depletion by lumber companies.
Sproul was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]]. He was later offered the nomination for vice president on a ticket with [[Warren Harding]], but he declined. In 1926, Sproul chaired the bi-state committee that organized the construction of the [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] between Philadelphia and [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]].
During his political career, Sproul was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=William+C.+Sproul&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
==Personal life== [[File:Sproul Homestead.png|thumb|Sproul homestead in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]]] On January 21, 1892, Sproul married Emeline Wallace Roach, the daughter of shipbuilder [[John Roach (shipbuilder)|John Roach]].<ref name=phmc>{{cite web |title=Governor William Cameron Sproul |url=https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1876-1951/william-sproul.html |website=www.phmc.state.pa.us |access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref> They had two children, Dorothy Wallace Sproul (1892–1931) and John Roach Sproul (1894–1949), who married [[Henry D. Hatfield]]'s daughter, Hazel Bronson Hatfield.
Although Sproul was a millionaire, he died [[intestate]] on March 21, 1928.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=William C. Sproul, Ex-Governor, Dies. Former Pennsylvania Executive Succumbs at 57 After Illness of Several Months. Began Life As Farmer Boy. After College He Bought Interest in a Newspaper, but Later Took Up Financial Interests |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E13FA3559127A93C0AB1788D85F4C8285F9 |quote=William Cameron Sproul, former Governor of Pennsylvania, three times President of the Union League of Philadelphia and a nationally known figure in Republican politics, died at his home, Lapidea Manor, near Chester, shortly before 10 o'clock tonight .... |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=March 22, 1928 |access-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref> He is interred at the [[Chester Rural Cemetery]] in Chester, Pennsylvania.<ref name=phmc/>
==Legacy== [[File:Sproul Telescope.png|thumb|Telescope in the [[Sproul Observatory]] at [[Swarthmore College]]]] His birthplace is known as the [[John Douglass House]] and was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1990.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
The following are named in his honor: *Sproul Hall, a [[Penn State University]] residence hall built in 1966<ref>{{cite web |title=Sproul Hall |url=https://housing.psu.edu/sproul-hall |website=www.housing.psu.edu |access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref> *Governor Sproul Apartments in [[Broomall, Pennsylvania]] *Sproul Estates, a residential development in [[Wallingford, Pennsylvania]], built on the site of his former residence<ref>{{cite web |title=Wallingford PA Community Spotlight - Sproul Estates |url=https://www.wallingfordpahomes.com/blog/2011/02/sproul-estates-wallingford-pa-community-spotlight/ |website=www.wallingfordpahomes.com |access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref> *[[Sproul State Forest]] in [[Clinton County, Pennsylvania|Clinton]] and [[Centre County, Pennsylvania|Centre]] counties *Sproul Road, which parallels much of [[PA Route 320]] in between Wayne, Radnor and Marple *[[Sproul Observatory]] at Swarthmore College<ref name=NationalBank/>
==References== {{reflist}} *[http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/1879-1951/4284/william_cameron_sproul PHMC: William Cameron Sproul biography] *[http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/governors/sproul.asp Pennsylvania Governors Past to Present: Governor William Cameron Sproul]
{{Portal|Biography}}
==External links== {{commons category|William Cameron Sproul}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Cameron Sproul}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{succession box | title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Pennsylvania]] | before=[[Martin Grove Brumbaugh]] | after=[[Gifford Pinchot]] | years=[[1918 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election|1918]]}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Jesse Matlack Baker]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[Pennsylvania Senate]] [[Pennsylvania Senate, District 9|9th District]]|years=1897–1919}} {{s-aft|after=[[Richard J. Baldwin]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Martin Grove Brumbaugh|Martin Brumbaugh]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of governors of Pennsylvania|Governor of Pennsylvania]]|years=1919–1923}} {{s-aft|after=[[Gifford Pinchot]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Henry Justin Allen]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[National Governors Association]]|years=1919–1922}} {{s-aft|after=[[Channing H. Cox]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania}} {{National Governors Association chairs}} {{United States presidential election, 1920}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sproul, William Cameron}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1928 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Chester Rural Cemetery]] [[Category:Chester High School alumni]] [[Category:Republican Party governors of Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators]] [[Category:Politicians from Delaware County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Politicians from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Quakers from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Swarthmore College alumni]] [[Category:Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election]] [[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly]]