Fred G. Meyer (1886 - 1978)

Supermarket magnate. Born Frederick Grubmeyer, he traveled west and settled in Portland, Oregon, in 1909. There he founded the Java Coffee Company, which was renamed Mission Coffee Company in 1915. In 1922 he founded a grocery store bearing his name; 11 years later, pioneering the concept of “one-stop shopping,” he expanded his store to the […]

George Mesta (1970 - 1925)

Business Entrepreneur. He created the world’s most versatile machinery works at his mile-long plant in West Homestead. Mesta Machine Co. was for a generation the world’s largest machine shop under one roof, manufacturing rolling equipment and other heavy machinery for steel mills around the country.  Family links:  Spouse:  Perle Reid Skirvin Mesta (1882 – 1975)* […]

Orville D. Merillat (1916 - 1999)

Businessman-Philanthropist Served in US Coast Guard during WWII; married Ruth Muller on January 19, 1941; founder, and former President and CEO of Merillat Industries, Inc.; employer of over 3,000 people with more than eleven factories across the United States; recipient of the Michigan Small Business Person of the Year in 1977; co-recipient with Ruth of […]

Chief Two Moon Meridas (1888 - 1933)

Business Figure. Born born Chico Colon Meridan, he became famous and wealthy in the early part of the 20th century by selling herbal medicines, some of which were claimed to be a “cure all”. He claimed to be of Sioux Native American birth, but that claim was never proven.

Alex Mentry (1847 - 1900)

Oilman, Folk Figure. Born Charles Alexander Mentrier in France in 1846, Alex Mentry came to the Newhall, California area in 1873 to make his fortune. An experienced oil driller in Pennsylvania, Mentry soon landed a job digging wells in the Santa Clarita Valley, north of what would become Los Angeles. In 1875 he formed a […]

William Gerhard Mennen (1884 - 1968)

Businessman. The son of Mennen Company founder Gerhard Mennen, he took control of the business in 1912 and built it into a giant corporation. Today it is part of the Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Gerhard Heinrich Mennen (1856 - 1902)

Businessman. He founded of the Mennen Company of Newark, New Jersey in 1878, and built it into a successful manufacturer of talcum, shaving cream and deodorant.

Jean-Antoine Brutus Menier (1795 - 1853)

Entrepreneur.  Founder of the Menier dynasty of chocolate makers.  Born in Germain-de-Bourgeuil,  France,  he was a largely self-schooled (and unlicensed) pharmacist who in 1816 set up shop selling medicinal products in Paris.  Much of his success derived from his use of chocolate to coat bitter-tasting pills.  In the late 1830s he began marketing solid bars […]

Émile-Justin Menier (1826 - 1881)

Entrepreneur,  Politician.  The son of business magnate Jean-Antoine Menier.  He built Menier Chocolate into France’s largest chocolate manufacturer,  a position it held for nearly a century.   Born in Paris,  he was trained as a pharmacist and also studied economics and law.  He took over the family’s pharmaceutical and chocolate-making establishments after his father suffered […]

Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841 - 1880)

Chemist, Industrialist. Co-founder of the German chemical company AGFA. The second son of composer Felix Mendelssohn, he was born in Leipzig, Germany. After his father’s death in 1847 he was raised in Berlin by an uncle, the banker Paul Mendelssohn. He earned a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Heidelberg (1863) and did pioneering […]

Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1776 - 1835)

Financier. The son of German-Jewish philospher Moses Mendelssohn and father of composers Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. Born in Berlin, he showed an early interest in cultural life, co-founding the Jewish liberal society Gesellschaft der Freunde (1792) and becoming an active member of the Berlin Singakademie (1793). During that time his brother Joseph founded the Berlin […]

Joseph Mendelssohn (1770 - 1848)

Banker. Founder of Mendelssohn & Co., one of Europe’s preeminent financial institutions for over a century. Mendelssohn was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of German-Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Unlike four of his five siblings, who converted to Christianity, Joseph remained faithful to Judaism his whole life. With aid from wealthy family connections he started […]

Frederick Mellinger (1913 - 1990)

Businessman. He was the founder of the world-famous lingerie store “Frederick’s of Hollywood”. He began his career during the depression when he worked for a mail-order company that sold ladies underwear. He suggested to his bosses that they sell black lingerie instead of the traditional white lingerie, but he was promptly fired for making such […]

Julius L. Meier (1874 - 1937)

Julius L Meier was born in Portland, Oregon on Dec 31, 1874 to German immigrants. His father (Aaron Meier) was one of the founders of the Meier and Frank Department stores. Julius Meier practiced law, and worked in the family business. He served as Governor of Oregon from 1931 – 1935, and declined offers of […]

Paula Kent Meehan (1931 - 2014)

Businesswoman. A minor actress in her youth, she is remembered instead for her line of ladies’ hair care products. Born Paula Jane Baer, she was raised within the entertainment milieu, was a childhood friend of Debbie Reynolds, and had early show business ambitions, but by 15 she had dropped-out of school, married, and had a […]

Joseph Medill (1823 - 1899)

Newspaper Publisher, Chicago Mayor. The founder of the Chicago “Tribune” newspaper, he was one of the most powerful and controversial figures in 19th century America. Originally a lawyer and newspaper publisher in Ohio, he became part-owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune in 1855. A staunch conservative, he was one of the founders of the […]

John McLoughlin (1784 - 1857)

“The Father of Oregon”. Superintendant of Hudson’s Bay Company, Columbia District (1824- 1846).  Family links:  Spouse:  Marguerite Wadin McLoughlin (1775 – 1860)*  Children:  Joseph McLoughlin (1809 – 1848)*  John McLoughlin (1812 – 1842)*  Marie Eloisa McLoughlin Harvey (1817 – 1884)*  David McLoughlin (1821 – 1903)* *Calculated relationship

Robert McLean (1891 - 1980)

Newspaper Publisher. Published the Philadelphia Bulletin, and served as President of the Associated Press from 1938 to 1957.

Robert Samuel “Sam” McLaughlin (1871 - 1972)

Businessman, Philanthropist. A native of Oshawa, Ontario, he is best known as the founder of the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907, the first major automobile manufacturer in Canada. He began working with his father at the family business of McLaughlin Carriage Works in 1887, and gradually with the help of Buick personality William C. […]

Edward J. McKeever (1859 - 1925)

President and part owner of the Ebbets/McKeever Exhibition Company and Vice President  and part owner of the Brooklyn National Baseball Club (parent company of the Brooklyn Superbas ( later becoming the Brooklyn Dodgers) was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 19, 1859. Gained his fortune in the contracting and building business from 1886 through 1899 […]

Donald McKay (1810 - 1880)

Businessman. In 1844 he founded a shipyard in Boston that produced many of the United States’ largest and most famous clipper ships. One of the ships he built, the SS Flying Cloud, sailed from New York City to San Francisco (going around South America’s Cape Horn) in a then-record 89 days. During the Civil War […]

John Avery McIlhenny (1867 - 1942)

Businessman, Soldier, Politician. He was the son of Tabasco brand pepper sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny and after his father’s death in 1890, he oversaw the business operations with his mother. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he joined the First Volunteer Cavalry of the United States Army, the celebrated Rough Riders on May 19, […]

William G McGowan (1927 - 1992)

Founder and Chairman of MCI Communications Corporation. After founding MCI in 1968, McGowan fought a legendary uphill battle to gain access to the local telephone network controlled by AT&T, culminating in an antitrust lawsuit and the breakup of the Bell System in 1984. Among his many philanthropic endeavors, he founded the William G. McGowan School […]

James S. McDonnell, Jr (1899 - 1980)

Chairman and CEO of McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft.  Family links:  Spouses:  Mary Elizabeth Finney Mc Donnell (1905 – 1949)*  Priscilla Brush McDonnell (1914 – 2009)* *Calculated relationship

Richard James McDonald (1909 - 1998)

Businessman. Along with his brother Maurice “Mac” McDonald, he founded the fast food restaurant chain “McDonald’s.”  Family links:  Spouse:  Dorothy E. Jones McDonald (1909 – 1999)* *Calculated relationship

Maurice James “Mac” McDonald (1902 - 1971)

Business Person. A founder of McDonald’s, the largest fast food service in the world. He founded McDonald’s with his brother Richard “Dick” McDonald in San Bernardino, California on May 15, 1940.

Eugene McDermott (1899 - 1973)

Scientist, Businessman. He was a pioneering geophysicist, and was the founder of Texas Instruments, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology.

John Fremont “Grandpa” McCullough (1871 - 1963)

Entrepreneur. After attending college in Oswego, New York, he moved to Davenport, Iowa in 1911, then went into the dairy business in nearby Green River, Illinois. In 1938, he and his son Bradley developed a formula for soft-serve ice cream. They tested their new product at the ice cream retail shop of one of their […]

John G. McCrory (1860 - 1923)

Businessman. He was the founder of the McCrory Five and Ten Cent store chain. Born in East Wheatfield Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, he moved with his family to Cumberland County while still a boy. He returned to Johnstown, Pennsylvania at age 18 and began working in retail stores. Four years later, at age 22, he […]

Phocion McCreery (1817 - 1861)

Son of Dr. Charles McCreery & Ann Crow (Wayman Crow’s sister, Phocion was in the wholesale dry good business with his uncle Wayman Crow at Crow McCreery & Company. Phocion was an original member of the corporation of Washington University in St. Louis. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)  Family links:  Spouse:  Mary Jane Hynes McCreery (1827 […]