Albert Bond Lambert (December 6, 1875 – November 12, 1946) was an American

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who competed in the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

and in the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

. He was also a prominent

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

aviator and benefactor of aviation.

Early life

He was son of Jordan W. Lambert, founder of Lambert Pharmaceutical Company which made

Listerine Listerine is an American brand of antiseptic mouthwash that is promoted with the slogan "Kills Microorganism, germs that cause bad breath", Named after Joseph Lister, who pioneered antiseptic surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland, L ...

. He initially studied at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and became president of the family business in 1896. He became chairman in 1923 and stepped down in 1926 when it was acquired by another firm.

Golf

At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Lambert finished eighth in the individual event. Four years later he was part of the American team which won the silver medal, making Lambert the only golfer to have competed in both Olympic golf tournaments. He finished 12th in this competition. In the individual competition he finished eighth in the qualification and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the match play.

Aviation

Albert Bond Lambert lifted by a kite at the Forest Park airfield

In 1906 he became interested in aviation and took ballooning lessons. In 1907 he was one of the founders of the Aero Club of St. Louis. (The Club used "military" titles; hence Lambert's title "Major.") He attended the Smith Academy at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

In 1909, Lambert met the Wright Brothers, and purchased his first airplane from them. He took flying lessons from Orville Wright, and in 1911 became the first St. Louis resident to hold a pilot's license. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served in the Aviation Section of the

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

, as an instructor in ballooning and parachuting. One of Lambert's first flight instructors was Orville Wright. In 1926, a young

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

visited this home while looking for financial support for his proposed transatlantic flight. Lambert offered financial support to Lindbergh and encouraged others to do the same. In return for this financial support, Lindbergh's plane was named ''

The Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlanti ...

''. Furthermore, St. Louis' Lambert Airport was later named after Albert Bond Lambert. In 1925, for $68,000, Lambert purchased Kinloch Field of

Kinloch, Missouri Kinloch is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 298 as of the 2010 census. The oldest African-American community to be incorporated in Missouri, Kinloch was home to a vibrant and flourishing black community for ...

, a field northwest of St. Louis, which had been used for

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

ascensions and the first international air meet. Lambert, at his own expense, developed the field with runways and hangars. In 1927 he was one of the St. Louis committee of backers of

's purchasing of his airplane ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' for his epoch-making transatlantic solo trip to Paris. Lindbergh was at the time a resident of St. Louis as well as an airmail pilot flying the mail between St. Louis and Chicago. The following year, 1928, Lambert sold the field to the city of St. Louis for $68,000, the same price he had paid for it before making improvements.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport St. Louis Lambert International Airport is the primary commercial airport serving metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Commonly referred to as Lambert Field or simply Lambert, it is the largest and busiest airport in the state o ...

thus became one of the first municipal airports in the nation.

Family

Lambert was married to Myrtle McGrew, daughter of the George F. McGrews of St. Louis. They had a daughter, Myrtle and sons, Albert Bond Lambert Jr., Don L. Lambert and George Lea Lambert. George, a pilot instructor, died in an airplane accident on July 29, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Residence

2 Hortense Place was the Lamberts' home in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. The Albert Bond Lambert House is a red-brick and symmetrical mansion which has a two-story portico with columns. The nearly 12,000 square foot Neoclassical-style home was designed by noted architect George W. Hellmuth and was built between 1902 and 1903. It has 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. Before construction, its cost was estimated to be $45,000 (). This home was constructed just before the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

. The King of Sweden also visited this house with the fireplace in the solarium apparently being a gift from the king.

References

External links

*
Albert Bond Lambert
at earlyaviators.com
History of St. Louis Lambert International AirportLambert and Orville Wright sitting aboard a Wright A-B transitional aircraft c.1910original version Corbis
Wayback Machine archived) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Albert Bond American male golfers Golfers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Golfers at the 1904 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in golf Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics Golfers from St. Louis American aviators American police chiefs Members of the Early Birds of Aviation Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery 1875 births 1946 deaths