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William Winder Laird

Birth
Brookeville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Death
21 Nov 1927 (aged 49)
Georgetown, Georgetown County, South Carolina, USA
Burial
Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware, USA Add to Map
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He came to Wilmington, Delaware in 1901 as a cashier with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, but by 1903 he entered the newly-formed Wilmington Trust Company. He rose fast within the bank’s hierarchy, winding up as Vice President, a position he held for many years. His real strength was in investing, though, and in 1913 he formed his own firm, Laird and Company. Soon the management of the firm became burdensome, so he brought in to replace himself as president his talented friend L. Scott Townshend. When three years later Scott Townshend suddenly sickened and died, Winder asked George Bissel and Holliday Meeds to take the reins. The expanded firm, Laird, Bissell and Meeds, became one of the outstanding brokerage firms in the mid-Atlantic region. It soon had an office in New York, and Winder spend much of each week there. In addition, he was a Director of several other businesses and banks in Philadelphia and Wilmington. He was very active in civic affairs.
He died as a result of a hunting accident. He was out hunting duck in the marshes at the Kinloch Gun Club, in Georgetown, South Carolina, where he went yearly from his home in Delaware to relax with friends and relatives. A friend accidentally shot a hole in the bottom of the boat they were using, and the boat sank before they could get back to shore. As a result of the exposure to the icy November water, he caught pneumonia and died five days later, the day he had planned to return home.
He came to Wilmington, Delaware in 1901 as a cashier with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, but by 1903 he entered the newly-formed Wilmington Trust Company. He rose fast within the bank’s hierarchy, winding up as Vice President, a position he held for many years. His real strength was in investing, though, and in 1913 he formed his own firm, Laird and Company. Soon the management of the firm became burdensome, so he brought in to replace himself as president his talented friend L. Scott Townshend. When three years later Scott Townshend suddenly sickened and died, Winder asked George Bissel and Holliday Meeds to take the reins. The expanded firm, Laird, Bissell and Meeds, became one of the outstanding brokerage firms in the mid-Atlantic region. It soon had an office in New York, and Winder spend much of each week there. In addition, he was a Director of several other businesses and banks in Philadelphia and Wilmington. He was very active in civic affairs.
He died as a result of a hunting accident. He was out hunting duck in the marshes at the Kinloch Gun Club, in Georgetown, South Carolina, where he went yearly from his home in Delaware to relax with friends and relatives. A friend accidentally shot a hole in the bottom of the boat they were using, and the boat sank before they could get back to shore. As a result of the exposure to the icy November water, he caught pneumonia and died five days later, the day he had planned to return home.

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