William Walker Scranton

William Walker Scranton (April 4, 1844 – December 3, 1916) was an American businessman based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He became president and manager of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company after his father's death in 1872. The company had been founded by his father's cousin George W. Scranton. Among his innovations, Scranton adopted the Bessemer process for his operations in 1876, greatly increasing production of steel ties with a new mill. Scranton founded the Scranton Steel Company, in 1891 consolidated as Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company. The steel company became the second largest in the nation. He later also managed the Scranton Gas and Water Company, developing a secure water supply outside the city by creating Lake Scranton.

William W. Scranton managed the Lackawanna works during and after the Scranton General Strike of 1877.

In 1902 Lackawanna Steel Company moved to a location south of Buffalo, New York on Lake Erie for access to new production of iron ore being shipped from Minnesota. The city of Lackawanna, New York was named after the company. Scranton stayed in his home city, working to develop companies and infrastructure.

Early life and education William Walker Scranton was born in 1844 in Augusta, Georgia, the oldest of six children of Joseph Hand Scranton of Connecticut and his second wife Cornelia Walker (February 22, 1823-February 22, 1895), "ten years his junior, and the youngest daughter and child of the late Judge William P. Walker of Lenox, Massachusetts." Joseph Scranton started in business in Augusta, moving his family in 1847 to Scranton, Pennsylvania. He had invested the year before in an ironworks started by two of his cousins, brothers George and Selden T. Scranton. J.H. Scranton's investment in their firm in 1846 saved the firm from bankruptcy. He later became president of Lackawanna Iron & Coal, serving until his death in 1872. They had one son, Worthington Scranton, who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on August 29, 1876. In 1876 Scranton built a new mill at the Lackawanna works for the Bessemer method. As a result, it "doubled capacity and quadrupled its output." The company became one of the top producers of steel in the United States.

Beginning in 1891, Scranton worked to develop Scranton Gas & Water, founded by his father in 1858. Although it had in the early decades taken water from the Lackawanna River, industrial pollution spoiled that source. To secure a supply of quality water outside the city, Scranton dammed Stafford Meadow Brook, creating what was commonly known as Lake Scranton. He had a road built around it and a building for overlook and recreation by the public. The reservoir held 2.5 billion gallons.

Scranton supported the Scranton Surface Protection Association, founded in 1913 to combat collapse of city streets and neighborhoods caused by underground mining, and force mining companies to compensate for losses. He contributed $10,000 to its efforts.

Death and legacy Scranton is interred in the family chapel at Dunmore Cemetery in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, where his father was also interred. His wake was attended by thousands, and his funeral by hundreds, including numerous employees from his businesses, friends and family, and dignitaries, inckuding former Vermont governor Edward Curtis Smith and his wife, who were close friends.

In 1928, his son Worthington Scranton sold the family business and became a substantial philanthropist to the city and state. William's grandson, William Warren Scranton, became a congressman from Pennsylvania and then was elected as governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1963 to 1967. He was then appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1976 to 1977. His grandson, William Worthington Scranton III served as the 26th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987.