Phineas Banning (1830 - 1885)

Financier. He was a major developer of the Los Angeles Harbor.  Family links:  Parents:  John Alford Banning (1790 – 1854)  Elizabeth Lowber Banning (1794 – 1861)  Spouses:  Rebecca Sanford Banning (1837 – 1868)  Mary Hollister Banning (1846 – 1919)  Children:  Bessie Banning (____ – 1866)*  Francenia Allibone Banning (1855 – 1857)*  John Griffin Banning (1856 […]

Peter Hood Ballantine (1831 - 1882)

Businessman. He founded the Ballantine Beer Breweries.  Family links:  Parents:  Peter Ballentine (1791 – 1883)  Julia Wilson Ballantine (1796 – 1868)  Spouse:  Isabella Linen Ballantine (1834 – 1911)*  Children:  Isabel Abbert Ballantine (1864 – 1946)*  George Alexander Ballantine (1866 – 1910)*  George Alexander Ballantine (1866 – 1910)*  Bessie S. Ballantine (1875 – 1876)*  Sarah Linen […]

Matthias William Baldwin (1795 - 1866)

Business Magnate, Inventor, Abolitionist. The son of a carriage maker, he was interested in mechanical things. At 16 he worked for a series of jewelers in Philadelphia. During that time he invented a process for gold plating jewelry. Later, he opened his own business. When the jewelry trade went into recession, he started a bookbinding […]

Loammi Baldwin (1745 - 1807)

Canal Engineer, Apple Magnate, Revolutionary War Figure. Born to James Baldwin and Ruth Richardson, Hon. Loammi Baldwin was successively Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel of Gerrish’s regment. He was present with the regiment on December 26, 1776, at Trenton, New Jersey with General Washington. He resigned his command about 1777 for ill health and returned to […]

Dwight Hamilton Baldwin (1821 - 1899)

Entrepreneur.  Founder of the Baldwin Piano Company. Born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, he moved to Ohio to attend the Oberlin College in Lorain County. Baldwin left before graduating to become a traveling music teacher. He married Emerine Summers Baldwin and relocated to the Cincinnati area in the 1850’s when she accepted a teaching job at […]

James Anthony Bailey (1847 - 1906)

Circus Showman. Along with Phineas T. Barnum, he helped found Barnum and Bailey Circus, which became known as “The Greatest Show On Earth”. In 1872, he partner with Philadelphian James E, Cooper to form “Cooper and Bailey’s Circus”, and toured the United States, Java, New Zealand and South America. In 1873 Cooper died and James […]

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)* […]

Elisha Spurr Babcock, Jr (1848 - 1922)

Real Estate Mogul. An important figure in the history of San Diego, California, he is best remembered for building the famous Hotel del Coronado (1888) to attract residential buyers to the area. Ten US Presidents and countless celebrities have stayed at this Victorian-style beachfront hotel, which remains the second-largest wooden structure in the country; in […]

Lyman S. Ayres (1824 - 1896)

Businessman. Founded L.S. Ayres.  Family links:  Spouse:  Maria Helen Murray Ayres (1837 – 1911)*  Children:  Frederic Murray Ayres (1872 – 1940)*  Katherine Ayres Smitheram (1880 – 1949)* *Calculated relationship

Decatur Axtell (1848 - 1922)

Businessman. Trained as a civil engineer, he worked on the construction of the first Union Pacific lines as a young man. In 1880, he became general manager of the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad, and, upon acquiring the James River and Kanawha Company, began constructing a rail line on the towpath of the old James River […]

Warren Edward Avis (1915 - 2007)

Business Magnate. In 1946 he opened the world’s first airport car rental location at Willow Run Airport, Detroit, with a grand total of three cars. He founded Avis Rent-a-Car with $10,000 of his own money and $75,000 borrowed against his name. He also introduced many innovative business practices, including national franchise licensing, corporate credit cars […]

Ray Stanton Avery (1907 - 1997)

Inventor, Business Magnate. In 1935 he invented a producted he called “Kum Kleen Pricer Stickers,” the first commercially self-adhesive labels. His invention led to the formation of Avery Dennison Corperation. The company now has 16,000 employees in 37 countries and sales in the billions each year.  Family links:  Parents:  Oliver Perry Avery (1871 – 1959) […]

Laurence William Austin (1922 - 1997)

Folk Figure. Born the son of Ethel Austin, Cecil B. DeMille’s tailor, and William Austin, a silent film actor. He apparently cultivated a mysterious mien, declining even to discuss his age in interviews. He acquired a theater specializing in silent films about 1990. He apparently delighted in his role as proprietor of Silent Movie, which […]

Addie Detroit Wood Atkinson (1841 - 1916)

Businesswoman. She owned and operated the Lexington Hotel in Richmond, which she purchased in 1889, and within ten years had saved enough money to build her own hotel. She built the Hotel Richmond, which became one of the most elegant and popular hotels in Richmond, on the western edge of Capitol Square in 1904, and […]

Vincent Astor (1891 - 1959)

Financier, Businessman, Philanthropist. The son of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, he entered Harvard University only to leave after the death of his father in the sinking of the “RMS Titanic”‘. He was the first Astor, in several generations, to take active control of the family investments, with interests in automobiles, shipping and air transportation, […]

John Jacob Astor, IV (1864 - 1970)

Businessman, Disaster Victim. A victim of the RMS Titanic sinking, he was the great-grandson of patriarch John Jacob Astor I, the grandson of “landlord of New York” William Backhouse Astor, and the son of THE Mrs. William Astor, nee Caroline Schermerhorn, legendary queen of New York’s elite “400.” He and his older cousin, William Waldorf […]

William “Tex” Henson (1924 - 2002)

Cartoon Animator. Henson became an animator after graduating from high school in Dallas, Texas, and moving to California. While in California he joined the Disney Studios. At Disney he was part of a team of animators who helped create such characters as, ‘Chip ‘n Dale. He later helped create Boris and Natasha and Rocky & […]

John Jacob Astor, III (1822 - 1890)

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General, Financier. Grandson of patriarch John Jacob Astor I and son of William Backhouse Astor. He devoted his life to philanthropy and civic affairs. He and his wife Charlotte provided funding for a host of charities, including the Children’s Aid Society, the Astor Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and […]

Glen Cooper Henshaw (1880 - 1946)

Acclaimed American artist. He worked primarily in pastel, doing many portraits and urban studies of the cities in which he lived — Indianapolis, Paris, Chicago, Balitmore, and especially New York.  From 1940 until his death he maintained a studio in Nashville, Indiana, where he spent his summers. (bio by: Henshaw Trust)

Wilhelm Hensel (1794 - 1861)

Court painter, husband of Fanny Hensel (qv). (bio by: David Conway)  Family links:  Spouse:  Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 – 1847)*  Children:  Felix Ludwig Sebastian Hensel (1830 – 1898)* *Calculated relationship

John Jacob Astor (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 […]

Robert Henri (1865 - 1929)

American Artist. He was a leading figure of the Ashcan School of American realism and an organizer of the group known as “The Eight,” a loose association of artists who protested the restrictive exhibition practices of the powerful, conservative National Academy of Design. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)  Family links:  Parents:  John Jackson Cozad (1830 – […]

William Henry Aspinwall (1807 - 1875)

Businessman. In 1832 William joined Howland & Aspinwall, a New York merchant firm founded by his cousins that specialized in trade with the Caribbean. He assumed control of the firm in 1835 and expanded trade to South America, China, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the East and West Indies. In 1840 his younger brother, John, began […]

Ernest Martin Hennings (1886 - 1956)

Artist. Painter of Western landscapes, Indian genre, figure compositions and portraits. (bio by: Laurie)  Family links:  Spouse:  Marie Hennings

Charles Edward Ashburner (1870 - 1932)

Pioneering City Manager. When he, a civil engineer, became “general manager” for Staunton, Virginia, he became the first city manager in the first city with a fully defined city manager system. He served as city manager of Staunton from 1908 to 1911, Springfield, Ohio in 1914, Norfolk, Virginia in 1918; and Stockton, California in 1923. […]

Helen West Heller (1970 - 1955)

Artist. Known for her oil painting, egg tempera, mosaic and especially her wood engraving.  (bio by: Laurie)  Family links:  Spouse:  Roger Paul Heller (1888 – 1975)* *Calculated relationship

Newton F “Newt” Heisley (1920 - 2009)

Flag Designer. Educated in the field of fine arts, he worked as a graphic artist in the advertising business in New York City. In 1971 he was chosen by Annin and Company, the largest flag manufacturer in the United States, to create and design a flag recognizing the United States service members missing in action […]

Mary Kay Ash (1918 - 2001)

Businesswoman. As a child took care of her father who had tuberculosis while her mother worked in a restaurant. In 1939 she started selling Stanley Home Products, working for them until 1952. On Sept 13, 1963 she launched Mary Kay Cosmetics on $5000.00. In 1968 Mary Kay, Inc. went public, and in 1969 she awarded […]

Annemarie Heinrich (1912 - 2005)

Photographer. Born in Germany, she migrated to Argentina at age 14. She played an important role in Argentine photography and is well recognized for her portraits of Eva Perón, Jorge Luis Borges and other Argentine personalities of the 20th Century. (bio by: 380W)

Sohaku Asada (1970 - 1970)

Physician and businessman. Asada, who was trained in Chinese medicine, served as a physician to the Imperial Court during the Meiji Restoration. He also was the founder of the Asada Candy business. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)