Robert Laidlaw
Robert Laidlaw, who has long been numbered among the most prominent and influential residents of the Queen City, is now the general superintendent of the Cincinnati waterworks. His birth occurred in Innerleithen, Peebles shire, thirty miles south of Edinburgh, Scotland, March 22, 1849, his parents being Robert and Janet (Euman) Laidlaw, who spent their entire lives in that country. The father was born in 1822, while the mother's natal year was 1817. Robert Laidlaw, Sr., was a successful manager of woolen mills. To him and his wife were born seven children, as follows: Walter, who is now a resident of New York, going to the state from Cincinnati; Robert, of this review; Henry, living in Detroit; Isabella, who is the wife fo William Russell and resides at Elmwood Place, Cincinnati; Elizabeth, who gave her hand in marriage to James Campbell and lives in New Zealand; Helen, the widow of William Beveridge, also residing in New Zealand; and one who died in infancy.
Robert Laidlaw spent the first twenty-six years of his life in his native land and in 1875 crossed the Atlantic to the United States, locating in Cincinnati, where he has resided continuously since. He immediately secured a clerical position with a pumping machinery house and a year later was admitted to a partnership. In 1887 he organized the Laidlaw & Dunn Company for the manufacture of pumping and hydraulic machinery and was chosen president of the concern. In 1893 he reorganized the business by purchasing the Gordon Steam Pump Company of Hamilton, Ohio, being elected president of the newly organized establishment. He and his associates developed an extensive enterprise in Cincinnati, over seven hundred people being now employed in its conduct. A few years ago, however, Mr. Laidlaw disposed of his interest in the concern. He has always been prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Cincinnati and has been a large shipper for many years.
Mr. Laidlaw was one of the organizers of the National Association of Manufacturers in 1895, served as its treasurer for three years and as a member of its executive board for five years. He was likewise one of the organizers of the Manufacturers Club of Cincinnati in 1895 and has acted as it chief executive officer. He has been a director in the Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the Cincinnati commissioners to the Tennessee Centennial Exposition held in Nashville. Mr. Laidlaw was the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce representative of the Commercial Museums of Philadelphia, was elected to the membership of the Commercial Club some years ago and was likewise a member of the Queen City Club. He was a trustee of the Omaha Theological Seminary and is now a trustee of Lane Seminary and the University of Wooster and on the advisory board of Christ's Hospital.
On the 29th of December, 1871, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Mr. Laidlaw was united in marriage to Miss Bessie McDougall, a native of Edinburgh and a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Patton) McDougall. The father was a silk dyer. Thomas McDougall, a brother of Mrs. Laidlaw, was a prominent attorney of Cincinnati but is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Laidlaw, have crossed the Atlantic seventeen times but "always like to come back," being very fond of the United States. In July, 1899, they visited Norway to North Cape, which they consider the most beautiful trip they have ever enjoyed. Their residence is on Grand street, Walnut Hills.
Politically Mr. Laidlaw has always been an active republican. From 1896 until 1907 he was judge of elections in his precinct, while during the years 1908 and 1909 he was president of the board of public service. At the present time he is the general superintendent of the Cincinnati waterworks. He belongs to the Blaine Club and Stamina League and is an elder in the First Presbyterian church in Walnut Hills. At this point it would be almost tautological to enter into any series of statements as showing Mr. Laidlaw to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in this individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions but there are as dominating elements in this individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained for him the respect and confidence of men.
From Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, by Rev. Charles Frederic Goss, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1912