Daniel Scott Lamont was born on February 9, 1851, in Cortlandville, New York, to John and Elizabeth Lamont. His father was a grocer who owned $3,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Cortlandville, and by 1870, he was working as a clerk in his father’s store.

 

He supported the Democratic Party, and he served as a clerk for the Democratic State Central Committee in 1872. He was chief clerk of the New York state department from 1875 until 1882, and he edited the Albany Argus newspaper. He married Juliet Kinney, and they had four children: Elizabeth, Julia, Frances, and Katherine.

 

In 1883, he joined Governor Grover Cleveland’s staff as a military secretary. He served as Secretary of War from 1893 until 1897, during Cleveland’s second term as president. After leaving office, he became vice president of the Northern Pacific Railway Company. He held that position from 1898 until 1904. He died of heart failure in Millbrook, New York, on July 23, 1905.

 

Image: Daniel S. Lamont (courtesy Wikicommons)

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