William Bateman Leeds, Sr.

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William Bateman Leeds, Sr. started working for his father as a florist in Richmond, IN. He first married (1883) Jeanette Irene Gaar, a relative of the General Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. After quickly moving up the ranks of the railroad system, Leeds, along with J.H. Moore, W.H. Moore, and Daniel G. Reid, purchased a tin-plate plant in Richmond. This group of individuals became known as the "Big Four."

Leeds, became known as the "Tin Plate Magnate." The Big Four helped consolidate the tin-plate industry into a single corporation which they sold to the US Steel Corp. This was then invested into the Rock Island Railroad system.

Already successful on Wall Street and affiliated with the Pennsylvania railroad system, around December of 1901 he was elected President of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad. He remained involved with the Rock Island system until 1906 when he sold all of his stock in the system, removed himself as President, and retired from all Rock Island committees he was part of.

In 1900 W.B. Leeds divorced his first wife. She won a $1,000,000 settlement which is believed to be the largest in the US at that time. He immediately married Mrs. Nonnie May Worthington (nee Stewart), a recent divorcee herself. In 1906 W.B. Leeds and his second wife bought Rough Point, Frederick Vanderbilt's Newport, RI estate.

In 1907 and 1908 he suffered from a series of paralyzing strokes. He went to Paris on a couple of occasions to be "treated" for his condition. He passed away in Paris a day before returning from one of his rehabilitation trips.

Meanwhile, Leeds had been divorced from the wife of his earlier years – whose money was the nest egg of his huge fortune. She received a flat sum of $1,000,000. They had a son, Rudolph Gaar Leeds of Richmond – who by the way, received $1,000,000 by his father’s will.

Mrs. Leeds’ No. 2, the present Princess Anastasia, was Miss Nannie May Stewart, daughter of a wealthy Ohio banker. She was regarded as one of the prettiest girls in Cleveland when she was married to George H. Worthington. It was not long before the Worthington marital bark struck rough waters. Mrs. Worthington secured the divorce.

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