Burton J. Westcott

Educated at DePauw University and Swarthmore College, Burton Westcott proved a capable executive and eventually rose to become treasurer of the Hoosier Drill Company.

The Westcott Carriage Company continued in Richmond as a separate corporation, while the Springfield firm began to manufacture luxury touring cars, which enjoyed a brief popularity in this country after World War I.

Few automobiles of this time tended to rival the Westcott touring car in its splendor and appointments, as a full-page advertisement in the October 9, 1920, Saturday Evening Post touted.

A staunch Republican, he had admirers from both political parties, and there was general agreement that he helped to curb fairly widespread corruption in the city's administrative affairs, thereby placing Springfield on a firm financial foundation.

The Westcott Motor Car Company was placed in receivership in January 1925, and was sold at auction to a syndicate of local Springfield businessmen in April of that year.