Thomas Wilson was a southern American business

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and magnate. He was active from the early 1850s until his death in the early 20th century.

Early life and work

Wilson immigrated to the United States in the 1850s from Scotland, where he had been raised by his grandfather, a Scottish

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

. Although he came from an

aristocratic family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

, Wilson had little

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. He and his wife arrived in

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with less than one pound. He hired on as an apprentice boilermaker and rose quickly along the corporate ladder. By the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Wilson owned a chain of foundries. He and his family moved to Sumter, South Carolina and established a number of companies throughout the South. Wilson developed the Northwestern Railroad of South Carolinafront page, 3 July 1921 issue The Columbia Record newspaper and later served as head of the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

, the St. Charles Hotel and the First National Bank of Sumter, among others.

Later life, work, and death

By 1864 he had fathered several children, one of whom had died. He owned large swathes of land throughout the South; with especially large ones in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. His land holdings included all of what is now

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

, South Carolina. By the end of his life, he was the wealthiest person in South Carolina.

References

American manufacturing businesspeople American boilermakers Year of death missing Year of birth missing {{US-business-bio-stub