Among his innovations, Scranton adopted the Bessemer process for his operations in 1876, greatly increasing production of steel ties with a new mill.

[1]: 498 [2]: 214 In 1902 Lackawanna Steel Company moved to a location south of Buffalo, New York on Lake Erie for access to new production of iron ore being shipped from Minnesota.

He had invested the year before in an ironworks started by two of his cousins, brothers George and Selden T. Scranton.

[3] William was the oldest of six children, with two brothers and three sisters, all of whom were born after the family's move to Pennsylvania.

[5] He attended Scranton High, moving to Phillips Andover to complete preparation for college.

[5] Scranton's father Joseph became president of Lackawanna Iron & Coal after George's death in 1861.

William Scranton started working in the family business after his return from Yale, and took over its management after his father's death in 1872.

Although it had in the early decades taken water from the Lackawanna River, industrial pollution spoiled that source.

[6] In 1928, his son Worthington Scranton sold the family business and became a substantial philanthropist to the city and state.

[3] His grandson, William Worthington Scranton III served as the 26th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987.