1. Early years

2. Business life

3. Marriage and Issue

4. Family Estate

5. References

Early years

George Lauder was the son of George Lauder, Sr.. and Seaton Morrison. His father, a local shop owner on the high street, also known for his commitment to Scottish nationalism, egalitarian democracy, and the Chartism cause. He was a keen radical for the time, championing the preservation of human and public rights which led to the Reform Acts of 1836. Very well read, Lauder Sr. was instrumental in the upbringing of his only son George, as well as his nephew Andrew Carnegie.^[3]

Lauder Jr. and Carnegie were two years apart in age and best friends as a result of their shared experiences. They affectionately referred to one another as "Dod" and "Naig" (respectively),^[4] due to their mutual inability to full say each other's names as young children. After Andrew and his family left for America, George stayed in Scotland where he would go on to graduate from Glasgow University with a degree in mechanical engineering while studying under Lord Kelvin.^[3]

Business life

Carnegie wrote to Lauder, who had never ceased to be his closest confidant and advisor, to inquire about a term used in a new contract for the steel for use in the new Eads Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri. The term unknown to Carnegie was 'the modulus of elasticity' of Elastic modulus. Lauder, an academic, answered swiftly and capably which provoked Carnegie to ask Lauder to join him in America as a partner in the Carnegie Steel Corporation. Lauder accepted, and joined Carnegie and the other partners in Pittsburgh.

Lauder brought a new dynamic to the business with his formal education, and expertise in, mechanical engineering. Surprisingly, this was both rare and unique among the partners of the business, which included Carnegie, Carnegie's brother (and also Lauder's cousin) Thomas M. Carnegie, Henry Phipps, Jr., and Henry Clay Frick -- most of whom had learned business as they went and none of whom had technical training of any kind.

After joining the syndicate, Lauder brought several new developments to the steel industry in America. Included was the process for washing and coking dross from coal mines, which resulted in a significant increase to the overall value of the business and became industry-standard world-wide in the production of steel.^[3]

Lauder would also go on to lead the development of the use of steel in armor and armaments, which had been a business Carnegie balked at entering until President Benjamin Harrison personally appealed to him by provoking patriotism. Lauder and Charles M. Schwab would spend significant time at the Krupp factory in Germany in 1886 before returning to build the massive armor plate mill at the Homestead Steel Works that would revolutionize warfare forever.^[1]

By the turn of the twentieth century, Lauder was a director of Carnegie Steel, ran both the coke and ore businesses, and was the company's second largest shareholder after Carnegie.^[1]. After over thirty years as a senior member of the syndicate, Lauder was seen as the "balance wheel" for his moderate and cautious counsel and the lone "brake" for his often impulsive cousin Carnegie. Partner Daniel Clemson referred to Lauder as a "father figure" to the rest of the company.

After the successful sale of Carnegie Steel Corporation to J.P. Morgan, leading to the formation of U.S. Steel in 1901, Lauder joined the board of directors of the new company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capitalization exceeding $1 Billion USD.

Marriage and Issue

George Lauder married Anna Maria Romeyn Varick. His wife, a member of old Dutch New York Society, was a descendant of both Joris Jansen Rapelje, the "Adam" of New York City and a member of the Council of Twelve Men, the first democratic institution in the United States, and Richard Varick, the first mayor of New York City.

They had three children together. They had two daughters including Harriet Lauder Greenway who married Dr. James C. Greenway, the founder of the Yale School of Public Health and purchased what would become the Lauder Greenway Estate in Greenwich where Lauder would reside from 1913 until his death in 1924. Their children included renowned ornithologist James Cowan Greenway, arts patron G. Lauder Greenway who lead the Metropolitan Opera Association, and pioneering pilot and CIA officer Gilbert C. Greenway. Their other daughter was Elizabeth Storm Lauder.

Their son, George Lauder Jr. was a world-renowned yachtsman whose yacht, the Endymion, held multiple records including the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing^[5]. His daughter Polly Lauder Tunney would later marry Gene Tunney in one of the most talked about marriages of the early 20th Century and their son, John V. Tunney, would go on to become a congressman and senator from California.

Family Estate

George Lauder lived out the last twenty years of his life at the Lauder Greenway Estate, now known as Copper Beech Farm, in Greenwich, CT. Still the largest private waterfront estate between New York City and Greenwich, it became the most expensive private residence in the United States in 2014 when it sold for $120 million.^[6]

References

• Manuel Vidal Fernández
• Manuel Vidrio
• Manuel Vieira de Albuquerque Touvar
• Manuel Vieira de Matos
• Manuel Villalobos
• Manuel Villar Jr.
• Manuel V. Pangilinan
• Manuel Vázquez Gallego
• Manuel Vázquez Hueso
• Manuel White
• Manuel Ycaza
• Manuel Y. Ferrer
• Manuel Yrigoyen Diez Canseco
• Manuel Zelaya Rosales
• Manuel Zeno Gandia
• Manuel Álvares
• Manuer
• Manueverability
• Manufacturability
• Manufactura de Pilar
• Manufacture de la Savonnerie
• Manufacture de Nast
• Manufactured fiber
• Manufactured gas plant
• Manufactured Gas Plant