James Campbell (1970 - 1914)

Businessman. One of St. Louis’ wealthiest citizens when he died. During the Civil War, at the age of 14, he served as a messenger at Union General John C. Fremont’s headquarters. After the war, he worked as a surveyor for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, and began buying land ahead of the tracks. He later […]

George Cadbury (1839 - 1922)

Businessman, Social Reformer. Cocoa and chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist, son of a Quaker grocer, Cadbury worked for a time in Joseph Rowntree’s grocery store. They both became world-wide competitors as chocolate manufacturers. In 1861, together with his brother, Richard, he took over the family buisness and in 1878, acquired land for a new factory three […]

Ransom Reed Cable (1834 - 1909)

Businessman. Served as president of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company. His uncle, Philander Cable, was president of the Rock Island-Peoria Railroad. Ransom donated to Rock Island its waterworks pumping station. Philander’s son, Ben Cable, was a congressman from the Rock Island district for many years, after which time he spent some time […]

John Butterfield, Sr (1801 - 1869)

He was a self-taught youngster born on a farm during the era of new technology which saw the first steamboat and the electric telegraph. At 18, he decided that he wanted to be a stagecoach driver.  He saved his money which resulted in the startup of his own delivery business.  Hardwork found him owner of […]

Ovid Butler (1801 - 1881)

Education Pioneer, Abolitionist, Publisher. He was born in Augusta, New York but at the age of sixteen moved with his family to Indiana where he became a successful preacher, lawyer and publisher. An ardent opponent of slavery he established, in 1849, an Indianapolis newspaper called “The Free Soil Banner” which espoused his political views against […]

Asa Smith Bushnell (1834 - 1904)

Ohio Governor, Business Executive. Born in Rome, New York, he moved to Ohio with his parents in 1846 and settled near Cincinnati. He moved to Springfield, Ohio in 1852 and found employment at a dry goods store. During the Civil War, he helped to organize a company of volunteers for one hundred days service. The […]

August Anheuser “Gussie” Busch, Jr (1899 - 1989)

Businessman. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was the President and CEO head of the Anheuser Busch Brewery the largest brewery in the world, (1946-75). He succeeded his older brother Adolphus bush III as President and CEO and began using the Bud Clydesdale Horse Team as a company logo. He was an avid sportsman and […]

August Anheuser Busch, Sr (1865 - 1934)

Businessman, President of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. Born in St Louis, Missouri on December 29, 1865, August was the eldest son of Lilly (Anheuser) and Adolphus Busch. After completing his studies at Lyon Free School in St Louis, Missouri, he attended Morgan Park Military Institute in Chicago, Illinois and the Kemper School of Boonville, Missouri. He […]

Adolphus Busch (1839 - 1913)

Businessman, Co-founder of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. Adolphus Busch was the second of 22 children born to Barbara (Pfeifer) and Ulrich Busch in Kastel, Mainz, Grand Duchy of Hesse (now Germany). His father was a wealthy landowner and had business interests in the lumber, winery and brewing businesses. His father’s position and wealth assured that Adolphus […]

Leo Burnett (1891 - 1971)

Advertising Executive. He founded the highly successful Leo Burnett Advertising Company, which over time served giant corporate clients such as Proctor and Gamble, Philip Morris Company, Pillsbury, United Airlines, and General Motors, and created iconic advertising characters such as the “Marlboro Man”, and “Tony the Tiger”.  Family links:  Parents:  Noble I Burnett (1864 – 1928) […]

David Dunbar Buick (1854 - 1929)

Scottish-American inventor and automotive pioneer, best known for starting the car company that became the Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corporation (GM).  He was born David Dunbar Buick on September 17, 1854 at 26 Green Street, Arbroath, Scotland.  His father, Alexander Buick, a joiner, emigrated to America with his wife and son when David […]

John Richards Buchtel (1820 - 1892)

Businessman. Co-founder, along with Lewis Miller, of the Buckeye Mower and Reaper Works in Akron, Ohio. He sponsored the construction of Buchtel College in Akron which opened in 1872. The College burned to the ground on December 20, 1899. The street in front of the building was re-named Buchtel Ave. The name Buchtel dose not […]

William Harry Brown (1856 - 1921)

Businessman. He and his brothers organized the firm of Wm. H. Brown & Sons of Pittsburgh in 1876.  They were the largest shippers of coal on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  Mr. Brown’s private mausoleum, the Pyramid, was built in 1898-99. It is the only one of its type in Homewood Cemetery and has become […]

John Sidney Brown (1833 - 1913)

Businessman. President and founder of J. S. Brown & Bro. Mercantile Company. By 1899, it became the largest Mercantile Company in the western United States. He was a director in the South Park railroad, assisted in the building of the Denver Pacific Railroad, between Denver and Cheyenne, and was a promoter, director and vice-president of […]

Robert Howell Brooks (1937 - 2006)

Entrepreneur. He is best known as the chairman of Hooters Restaurants, who began his successful climb by selling salad dressings and other products made by Naturally Fresh Foods, a company that he founded in 1967. He also was known for his charity,  giving $2 million to Coastal Carolina University to build it’s football stadium, now […]

John Brinsmead (1970 - 1970)

Overtook Broadwood in 1900 as US’ largest piano manufacturer.  Family links:  Spouse:  Susan Ann Browne Brinsmead (1813 – 1907)*  Children:  John Brinsmead (1841 – 1863)*  Edgar William Brinsmead (1848 – 1907)*  Horace George Brinsmead (1854 – 1908)* *Calculated relationship

Theo Brinckwirth (1817 - 1866)

German-born Brinckwirth moved to the United States in 1846 & established a primitive brewery in Quincy, Illinois. After remaining there for three years he moved to St. Louis & bought was was then known as the Lafayette Brewery. A pioneer of the beer brewing industry in St. Louis, Brinckwirth conducted business at the brewery until […]

Louis Brinckwirth (1855 - 1911)

Mr. Brinckwirth learned the brewery business with his father Theodore, who had established the Lafayette Brewery in 1848. After working for two years for the Brinckwirth-Griesdieck-Nolker brewery in St. Louis, Missouri, he went to Milwaukee to get further information about the brewing business by working at the Blatz Brewery. After studying there & in Wheeling, […]

William A. Breyer (1970 - 1882)

Businessman. He founded the ice cream manufacturing company “Breyer’s Ice Cream”. He mixed “pure ingredients” and fresh fruit to make an ice cream that made Philadelphia famous. The family began wholesale production, and eventually opened retail ice cream shops. The Frankford ice cream merchant died of small pox. (bio by: rjschatz)  Family links:  Spouse:  Louisa […]

Adolf Bremer (1869 - 1939)

Businessman. Financier and president of Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company. The son-in-law of Jacob Schmidt and the father of Edward Bremer, who was a 1934 kidnap victim of the Barker-Karpis gang.  Family links:  Spouse:  Marie Schmidt Bremer (1852 – 1928)*  Children:  Marie B Bremer Reim (1903 – 2007)* *Calculated relationship

Thomas Elmer Braniff (1883 - 1954)

Businessman. One of the nation’s leading insurance men. Chairman and president of Prudential Insurance. In 1927 he bought a second-hand airplane and co-founded Braniff Airlines, the first airline in the Southwest.  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas J Braniff (1846 – 1930)  Mary Casey Braniff (1852 – 1940)  Spouse:  Bess Thurman Braniff (1887 – 1954)*  Children:  Jeanne […]

Paul Bonwit (1862 - 1939)

Businessman. He founded the former department store Bonwitt Teller in New York City.  Family links:  Spouse:  Rebecca Woolf Bonwit (1869 – 1934)*  Children:  Harold Woolf Bonwit (1896 – 1950)*  Walter Bernard Bonwit (1901 – 1984)* *Calculated relationship

John Paris “J.P.” Bickell (1884 - 1951)

Business Magnate, Canadian Sports Benefactor. Bickell was a popular Toronto, Ontario, businessman who had a great contribution to the benefit of professional hockey. Bickell had successful career in business thanks to the success of the teams of the Toronto St. Pats and the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as many other causes. Bickell who was […]

William Peter Bettendorf (1857 - 1910)

Inventor, Businessman. As president and co-founder of Bettendorf Axle Company, he invented the Bettendorf Truck, which revolutionized the railroad industry. Before that time, railroad trucks had been made from many smaller pieces. The Bettendorf Truck was cast from one piece of steel. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named for him and his brother, Joseph. […]

Lauren Gail Bessette (1964 - 1999)

Sister-in-law of socialite figure John F. Kennedy, Jr., she and her sister Carolyn were killed when the plane they were traveling in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.   The National Transportation Safety Board later determined that the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to maintain control during descent over water at […]

August “The Younger” Belmont (1853 - 1924)

Financier, Sportsman. The son of August Belmont, Sr. he was birthed into the wealth of the banking and international political scene that his father had constructed as a Prussian immigrant. An 1874 graduate of Harvard University, he is credited, through his love for sports and being a champion sprinter with inventing spiked track shoes.  Upon […]

August “The Elder” Belmont (1816 - 1890)

Financier. Born in Alzei, Rhensih, Prussia he started his banking career early by working at the entry level for the prominent House of Rothchilds at the tender age of fourteen, working his way up to positions in Frankfort and Naples then becoming their American representative in New York in 1837. His time in America proved […]

Jules Semon “J.S.” Bache (1861 - 1944)

Businessman. He began his career as a cashier in Leopold Cahn and Company in 1880. He later he headed the firm and changed the banking firm name to J.S. Bache and Company.  Family links:  Parents:  Elizabeth Van Praag Bache (1833 – 1913)  Siblings:  Henrietta Bache Kayser (1850 – 1943)*  Sarah Bache Thurnauer (1853 – 1884)* […]

John Jacob Astor, Sr (1763 - 1848)

Businessman, Merchant, Investor. He became the first multi-millionaire and creator of the first trust in the United States as a result of his fur business, the American Fur Company. Born Johann Jakob Astor in what is now known as Waldorf, in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, he began working as an assistant in his father’s […]

Elizabeth Arden (1878 - 1966)

Businesswoman. She is remembered for founding what is known as Elizabeth Arden, Incorporated, a US cosmetics empire. She was largely responsible for establishing makeup as proper and appropriate, even necessary, for a ladylike image, when before makeup had often been associated with lower classes and such professions as prostitution. Her products targeted middle-age and plain […]