William Ridley Wills | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:William_Ridley_Wills,1925.jpg) William Ridley Wills in 1925 | |
| Born | September 19, 1871 Brownsville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | November 21, 1949 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Jessie Ely |
| Children | Jesse Ely Wills and Mamie Craig Wills |
| Relatives | William Ridley Wills (nephew) William Ridley Wills II (grandson) |
William Ridley Wills, (September 19, 1871 – November 21, 1949) was a founder of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company in Nashville in 1902. Born in west Tennessee, Wills came to Nashville in 1893 to serve as Tennessee's deputy commissioner of insurance.[1] There he met C.A. Craig and C. Runcie Clements and the three men formed the National Life and Accident Company after purchasing another insurance company which was being sold at auction.[2] The new company sold health and accident insurance policies to industrial workers, a large percentage of whom were African-American. The company grew and moved into a large stone building in downtown Nashville where, in 1925, it launched radio station WSM which won international fame in creating the broadcast the "Grand Ole Opry". Wills died of a stroke in 1949. His nephew (identically named) was poet and novelist William Ridley Wills, and his grandson is author and historian William Ridley Wills II.
- ^ Hayden, H.R., ed. (1897). The Annual Cyclopedia of Insurance in the United States, 1896–7. New York: Lockwood Press. p. 395. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- ^ "Wills' Funeral Will Be Today". Vol. 43, no. 195. The Nashville Tennessean. November 22, 1949. pp. 1–2. Retrieved April 25, 2020.