Dean Witter (1887 - 1969)

Businessman. He was the founder of the investment company that bears his name. It was started by him, Jean and Guy Witter in San Francisco in 1924, and dealt in municipal and corporate debt obligations. In 1929, he opened an office in New York, as well as becoming a member firm of the New York […]

Jacob Snow Winslow (1827 - 1902)

Businessman. Founded the J.S. Winslow Company, a firm that came to be the largest sailing vessels fleet in the  Atlantic Ocean. (bio by: Russ Dodge)  Family links:  Spouses:  Philena Morton Winslow (1832 – 1877)*  Melvina Wilder Clark Winslow (1858 – 1944)* *Calculated relationship

Julius Winkelmeyer (1816 - 1867)

Founder of the Winkelmeyer brewery. Winkelmeyer was born in Germany & emigrated to St. Louis in the late 1830’s. He became acquainted with Frederick Stifel, a small brewer & formed a partnership with him. Winkelmeyer was in charge of the commercial side of the business & Stifel ran the brewing side. By 1847 they build […]

John C. Wingate (1851 - 1924)

Community pillar of Pleasant Run, Indiana. In his honor, the citizens renamed the village “Wingate” in his honor.

Oliver Fisher Winchester (1810 - 1880)

Businessman. He is best remembered for the manufacturing and marketing the Winchester repeating rifle, which gained the reputation as “the gun that won the West.” He began his business career as a clothing manufacturer in New York City, New York and New Haven, Connecticut. During this period he discovered that a division of Smith & […]

Verne Hedges Winchell (1915 - 2002)

Verne Winchell was the founder of Winchell’s Doughnuts in 1948. He later sold the business to Denny’s Restaurants and lead a successful life breeding horses. (bio by: Joe Walker)  Family links:  Parents:  Verne Winchell (1887 – 1963)  Marie Augusta Stautz Winchell (1890 – 1950)  Siblings:  Verne Hedges Winchell (1915 – 2002)  Robert William Winchell (1923 […]

Winfield Scott Stratton (1848 - 1902)

Gold mining magnate.  Family links:  Parents:  Myron S. Stratton (1812 – 1886)  Mary Halstead Stratton (1820 – 1865)  Siblings:  Frank Myron Stratton*  Charles Stratton*  Diantha Jane Stratton (1838 – 1865)*  Anna Augusta Stratton Chamberlain (1846 – 1894)*  Winfield Scott Stratton (1848 – 1902)  Louella Stratton (1856 – ____)*  Jesse Eliza Stratton (1858 – ____)*  Ada […]

Robert Jay Strasser (1947 - 1993)

Business Executive. President and CEO of Adidas America. He was also a Nike executive who negotiated factory and sports marketing contracts. He signed Michael Jordan to Nike. In Mr. Strasser’s words: “The way ahead is clear. Be honest about the battlefield. Throw out the old rules that don’t make sense. Get out of the comfort […]

Robert A. Stranahan (1886 - 1962)

Founder of Champion Spark Plug. In 1910, Mr. Stranahan moved his struggling spark plug business from Boston, Massachusetts to Toledo, Ohio. Champion Spark Plug later went onto become a multi-million dollar company. Mr. Stranahan is also credited with adopting the “red bow tie” symbol of Champion Spark Plug that is still recognized today. (bio by: […]

Russell Stover (1888 - 1954)

It was in Omaha that a fellow approached Stover with a chocolate-covered ice cream bar idea. Stover produced and sold it for a year. After the first mad surge for the novelty, sales dropped off and the Stovers bailed out with $25,000. This novelty was the Eskimo Pie. The Stover’s moved to Denver where they […]

Clara Mae Lewis Stover (1882 - 1975)

It was in Omaha that a fellow approached Stover with a chocolate-covered ice cream bar idea. Stover produced and sold it for a year. After the first mad surge for the novelty, sales dropped off and the Stovers bailed out with $25,000. This novelty was the Eskimo Pie. The Stover’s moved to Denver where they […]

Jessie Mae McIntyre Stovall McIntosh (1909 - 1974)

Founder of McIntosh Nursing Home, Inc. Largest Africian-American employer in Muskogee, Oklahoma. (1957 to 1991) Soprano vocalist of the “Song Birds” along with sister, Myrtle Easter Adeline McInyre-Josey, they were known all over the state of Oklahoma and Kansas City, Ks area for their Gospel/Blues singing. Myrtle is listed in Who’s Who’s Kansas City Blues […]

Vernon Bigelow Stouffer (1901 - 1974)

Business Magnate.  After graduating from Wharton School of Business in 1923, Stouffer and his father Abraham opened a restaurant called Stouffer’s Lunch located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  They went public in 1929 and founded the Stouffer Corporation, a national chain of restaurants, motor inns, and food service operations.  Vernon Stouffer later expanded his company to […]

Robert Todd Storz (1924 - 1964)

Radio Pioneer. Robert Todd Storz is commonly credited with inventing the Top 40 Radio format during the mid 1950s while he worked KOWH, an Omaha radio station. The story goes that while sitting in a bar near his station, he noticed that the patrons kept playing the same popular songs over and over on the […]

Frank Storrs (1863 - 1939)

Published Theater programs and built movie theaters.  Family links:  Parents:  Nathan Strauss (1831 – 1905)  Siblings:  Rosa Strauss Hirschheimer (1859 – 1943)*  Frank Storrs (1863 – 1939)  Yetta Strauss Newbury (1869 – 1958)* *Calculated relationship

Herbert Stuart Stone (1970 - 1915)

Publisher and Partner in Stone & Kimball. (bio by: Sparky99)  Note: died on the Lusitania

Alexander Turney Stewart (1803 - 1876)

Business Magnate.  Born in Lisburn,  Ireland,  he emigrated to New York in 1823. In 1825 he opened a dry goods store,  A. T. Stewart & Company;  by the 1860s it had grown into the largest retail store in the world.  He also had international branches of his company and owned several mills and factories. During […]

Harry Mosley Stevens (1857 - 1934)

Businessman. Inventor of hot dog in a roll.  A food concessionaire for sports and other events, he introduced it at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.  Family links:  Spouse:  Mary Wragg Stevens (1857 – 1941)* *Calculated relationship

John Batterson Stetson (1830 - 1906)

Businessman. He learned the hat trade from his father. After his father’s death he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and worked for a brick manufacturer. When the factory and business were ruined by floods, Stetson headed west to Colorado to find his fortune in gold. His hat making skills proved useful as he used the […]

Ross Shaw Sterling, Sr (1875 - 1949)

Texas Governor, Businessman. A farmer until 1896, he owned several businesses during his lifetime. He donated his home in LaPorte, Texas to the Houston Optimist Club in memory of his son, Ross, Sterling, Jr. who passed away in 1924. The home became a boys camp. Sour Lake, Texas was the site of his feed store […]

Jan Stenbeck (1942 - 2002)

Business Magnate. A Harvard Business School graduate, he was chairman of the board for Kinnevik, a leading Swedish combine in IT, telecom and media. Tele2, TV3, Radio Rix and Metro International, were some of the companies that helped him building an empire estimated to more than 10 billion dollars. He was a self-willing, highly efficient […]

William Steinway (1835 - 1896)

Businessman. The son of Steinway Pianos Company found Henry E. Steinway, he oversaw the expansion and growth of the company. Spouse: Regina Roos, divorced 1876.  Spouse 2: Elizabeth C. Ranft 1853 – 1893.  Family links:  Parents:  Henry Englehard Steinway (1797 – 1871)  Children:  George Augustus Steinway (1865 – 1898)*  Paula Theodora Steinway Von Bernuth (1866 […]

Henry Ziegler Steinway (1915 - 2008)

Piano Manufacturer, Businessman. He was the great-grandson of Heinrich Engelhard Steinway, who established the Steinway Company as the leading piano manufacturer in America in 1853. In 1942, he became a factory manager at his family’s company and was president of Steinway & Sons in 1955. He served in that role for more than 20 years […]

Henry Englehard Steinway (1797 - 1871)

Businessman, Manufacturer. He started Steinway and Sons Piano Company. (bio by: Find A Grave)  Family links:  Spouse:  Julianne Thiemer Steinway (1804 – 1877)*  Children:  Dorette Johanna Dorothee Juliane Steinway Ziegler (____ – 1900)*  Charles G. Steinway (1829 – 1865)*  Henry E. Steinway (1830 – 1865)*  William Steinway (1835 – 1896)*  Albert Steinway (1840 – 1877)* […]

Dawn Steel (1946 - 1997)

Motion Picture Mogul. Born in the Bronx, New York, daughter of Nat, a zipper salesman and Lillian, a businesswoman, who was the family’s sole support after Nat suffered a nervous breakdown. Steel got her start working for ‘Penthouse’ magazine as a merchandising director. Her creations included designer toilet paper which included images imprinted on the […]

Ellsworth Milton Statler (1863 - 1928)

Hotel Pioneer. At the age of 13, he obtained a job as belle boy at the McLure House Hotel, Virginia, starting a life long interest in the hotel business. With experience, he worked his way up applying methods to develop ideas to improve hotel service, efficiency and business. Through the McLure House, he turned an […]

Philip A. Starck (1860 - 1922)

Piano Manufacturer.  Philip Adam Starck established the P. A. Starck Piano Company with headquarters located in Chicago, Illinois.   He loved music and became interested in the inner workings of the piano early in his life. His story is one of the true rags to riches stories with him starting as an errand boy in […]

Leland Stanford (1824 - 1893)

19th Century politician and railroad tycoon. Best known as the founder of Stanford University.  Leland Stanford was born into affluent circumstances in 1824 near Albany, New York. He attended school until adolescence before being tutored at home in his teens. In his later teens he attended Clinton Liberal Institute and Cazenovia Seminary in New York […]

Edward Robinson Squibb (1819 - 1900)

Businessman. He founded Squibb Pharmaceuticals, which is today Bristol-Myers Squibb. He served as a Surgeon in the United States Navy from 1847 to 1857.  Family links:  Parents:  James Robinson Squibb (1796 – 1852)  Catherine Harrison Bonsal Squibb (1798 – 1833)  Spouse:  Caroline Lownds Cook Squibb (1833 – 1905)*  Children:  Edward Hamilton Squibb (1853 – 1929)* […]

David Robert Sprüngli-Baud (1970 - 1970)

Confectioner. Son of Rudolf Sprüngli-Ammann and grandson of David Sprüngli of the Swiss Sprüngli chocolate dynasty. He inherited the Confiserie Sprüngli with shop and tea-room from his father in 1892 and successfully presided over it until 1924, when he turned it over to his son, Herman Sprüngli. Today, Confiserie Sprüngli has 19 branches in Switzerland […]