Bill Yawkey

William Hoover Yawkey (August 22, 1875 – March 5, 1919) was an American business executive in the lumber and mining industries.[1] He was the sole owner of the Detroit Tigers of the American League from 1903 through 1908, and majority owner from 1908 to 1919.[2]

Bill Yawkey
Born(1875-08-22)August 22, 1875
Bay City, Michigan
DiedMarch 5, 1919(1919-03-05) (aged 43)
Augusta, Georgia
Occupation
FamilyTom Yawkey, nephew

Biography

Yawkey was the son of wealthy Michigan lumber tycoon William Clyman Yawkey.[3] The elder Yawkey agreed to buy the Tigers from Samuel F. Angus in 1903, but died before the deal closed.[2] Frank Navin, then the Tigers' bookkeeper and vice president, persuaded the younger Yawkey to complete the deal.[4]

Yawkey took little interest in the Tigers, leaving day-to-day control in Navin's hands.[2] In 1908, Yawkey sold almost half of the club's stock to Navin, making Navin essentially a full partner.[2] Following Yawkey's death, additional stock was sold to Navin, raising his stake in the Tigers to 50 percent.[2]

Yawkey died in Augusta, Georgia, in 1919 from the Spanish flu. He was interred in a family lot in Brattleboro, Vermont.[5][lower-alpha 1] Upon Yawkey's death, he left his $40 million estate to his nephew and adoptive son, Tom Yawkey,[6] who later bought the Boston Red Sox.

A boathouse that Yawkey had constructed in 1917 in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[7]

Main article: William H. Yawkey Boathouse

A cousin, Cyrus C. Yawkey, owned a lumber business and was a politician in Wisconsin.[8]

Notes
  1. Online photos at Find a Grave suggest that he has been re-interred within a Yawkey mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York).

References
  1. "Draft Registration Care". Selective Service System. September 1918. Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via fold3.com.
  2. Frank Navin at the SABR Baseball Biography Project, by Marc Okkonen and David Jones, Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  3. "Passing of a Pioneer". Detroit Free Press. November 24, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. Purdy, Dennis (2006). The Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. New York City: Workman. ISBN 0-7611-3943-5.
  5. "Body Brought to Brattleboro". St. Albans Messenger. St. Albans, Vermont. March 15, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved September 22, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "Millions in Sight for a Youth of 14". The Boston Globe. March 7, 1919. p. 9. Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  7. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". National Park Service. November 20, 2009. p. 8:4. Retrieved September 22, 2020 – via NPS.gov.
  8. "W. H. Yawkey Dead". Wausau Daily Herald. March 6, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved September 22, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
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