[1][2] He was born to Rebecca Krom (?-1905) and Harvey Smith Ladew I (?-1888) in Shokan, New York.

[3][4][5] He attended Columbia School of Mines in 1885 and left the program to join the family run Fayerweather & Ladew in Glen Cove, New York.

[9][10] Turned over to the United States Navy for the Spanish–American War in 1898, the yacht was renamed the USS Wasp and was used in the blockade of Cuba.

In 1909 the ship began a nine year long loan to the New York Naval Militia.

[12] The second Columbia, constructed in 1899 and delivered 1900, was designed for possible conversion to a naval auxiliary and modeled after the United States Coast Survey steamer Pathfinder that had been built in the same shipyard.