Randolph Apperson Hearst (1915 - 2000)

He was chairman of the Hearst Corporation from 1973 to 1996. He was the last surviving son of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and the father of Patty Hearst. (bio by: Cynthia Price)  Family links:  Parents:  William Randolph Hearst (1863 – 1951)  Millicent Veronica Willson Hearst (1882 – 1974)  Spouse:  Catherine Wood Campbell Hearst (1917 […]

George Hearst (1820 - 1891)

Mining Tycoon, US Senator. Father of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.  Family links:  Parents:  William George Hearst (1776 – 1844)  Spouse:  Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst (1842 – 1919)  Children:  William Randolph Hearst (1863 – 1951)* *Calculated relationship

Charles Melville Hays (1856 - 1912)

Disaster Victim. Died in the sinking of the “RMS Titanic” on April 14-15, 1912. He was President of Canada’s Grand Trunk Railway.  Family links:  Spouse:  Clara Jennings Gregg Hays (1859 – 1955)*  Children:  Orian Hays Hickson (1884 – 1979)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Titanic sinking Inscription:The inscription on the back of the monument at the […]

Samuel Hawken (1792 - 1884)

Gunsmith. Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, he moved west to establish a gunsmithy in Xenia, Ohio. Sometime after 1821, Hawken’s wife died and he relocated to St. Louis where his elder brother, Jacob, and his partner also worked as gunsmiths. Hawken set up his own independent shop and would not form a partnership with his brother […]

Henry Osborne Havemeyer (1847 - 1907)

Businessman. A wealthy sugar magnate, his art collection was the largest single donation to the Metropolitan museum of art in New York City.  Family links:  Spouse:  Louisine Waldron Elder Havemeyer (1855 – 1929)*  Children:  Adaline Havemeyer Frelinghuysen (1884 – 1963)*  Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888 – 1960)* *Calculated relationship

Peter Hauptmann (1970 - 1904)

Well-known St. Louis tobacconist & founder of the Peter Hauptmann & Company. After coming to the United States from his native Germany, Mr. Hauptmann worked for various wholesale firms. He then started the firm of Peter Hauptmann & Co. He purchased the steamer City of Alma, & acting in the capacity of her captain, traded […]

Kintaro Hattori (1860 - 1934)

Businessman and clockmaker. In 1881, he established K. Hattori & Co., Ltd., the predecessor of what became the Seiko Corporation. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

William Hope “Coin” Harvey (1861 - 1936)

Businessman. Known as “Coin” Harvey, he was an influential businessman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He built a resort in northwestern Arkansas near the town of Rogers and called it Monte Ne. He funded a railroad spur from Rogers to the resort, and in later years, as automobile use grew and railroad […]

George Huntington Hartford (1833 - 1917)

Businessman, Retail Grocery Magnate. He was the owner of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (commonly known as A&P) from 1878 until his death. Born on a farm in Augusta, Maine, his parents operated a boarding house and livery stable. With little formal education, he relocated to Boston, Massachusetts and worked as a clerk […]

Edward Henry Harriman (1848 - 1909)

Railroad Tycoon. After working in a brokerage house from the age of 14, he bought his own seat on the new York Stock Exchange in his early twenties. He married, Mary Averell, the daughter of the president of the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad and began to build his railroad empire. He passed his shares […]

William Fisk Harrah (1911 - 1978)

Founder of Harrah’s Casino Hotels. Having been fascinated with cars in his childhood and teens, he studied mechanical engineering at UCLA until the stock-market crash of 1929. He then worked at his family’s business, where a Bingo-like game was played. At age 20 he bought the business. It prospered under his leadership, but he eventually […]

Joseph Wesley Harper (1801 - 1870)

Publisher. Along with his brothers James, Fletcher and John, he founded Harper and Brothers Publishing, which is today Harper Collins, the 5th largest publisher in the world.  Family links:  Children:  Elizabeth Harper Landon (1829 – 1888)* *Calculated relationship

John Harper (1797 - 1875)

Publisher. Along with his brothers James, Fletcher and Joseph, he founded Harper and Brothers Publishing, which is today Harper Collins, the 5th largest publisher in the world.  Family links:  Children:  John Wesley Harper (1831 – 1915)* *Calculated relationship

James Harper (1795 - 1869)

New York City Mayor, Businessman. Along with his brothers Joseph, Fletcher and John, he founded Harper and Brothers Publishing, which is today Harper Collins, the 5th largest publisher in the world. He served a single term as Mayor of New York City from 1844 to 1845.  Family links:  Children:  Philip Jacob Arcularius Harper (1824 – […]

Fletcher Harper (1806 - 1877)

Publisher. Along with his brothers James, Joseph and John, he founded Harper and Brothers Publishing, which is today Harper Collins, the 5th largest publisher in the world.  Family links:  Spouse:  Jane Freelove Harper (____ – 1895)  Children:  Joseph Wesley Harper (1827 – 1886)* *Calculated relationship

William Sylvester Harley (1880 - 1943)

Businessman. One of the four original founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Served as Chief Engineer and Treasurer. (bio by: Rick)  Family links:  Parents:  William Harley (1835 – 1916)  Mary Harley (1842 – 1915)  Spouse:  Anna Caroline Jachthuber Harley (1882 – 1954)*  Children:  William J. Harley (1912 – 1971)*  John Edward Harley (1915 – 1976)* […]

Frank Hardart, Sr (1850 - 1918)

Businessman. In 1858, his family emigrated from Bavaria to New Orleans, where, at 13, he learned the French-drip method of brewing coffee while working at a lunch counter. In 1886, Hardart answered an advertisement for a restaurant partner placed by Philadelphian  Joseph V. Horn and became his partner. Hardart’s introduction of French-drip coffee is generally […]

Nathan Handwerker (1892 - 1974)

Entrepreneur. Founder of fast food chain Nathan’s Famous which started in Coney Island, New York. (bio by: BKGenie)  Family links:  Spouse:  Ida Greenwald Handwerker (1897 – 1976)  Children:  Leah Handwerker Sternshein (1920 – 1998)*  Murray Handwerker (1921 – 2011)* *Calculated relationship

Ruth Mosko Handler (1916 - 2002)

Businesswoman, Inventor. She is remembered for her role in creating and marketing the Barbie doll. Born Ruth Marianna Mosko in Denver, Colorado, the youngest of 10 children, her Jewish parents immigrated to the US from Poland prior to 1910. After marrying her high school boyfriend, Elliot Handler, they moved to Los Angeles, California in 1938 […]

Laurens Hammond (1895 - 1973)

Engineer, Businessman, Music Innovator. He was the founder and president of Hammond Organ Company. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Cornwell University, he is known for being the inventor of homonymous electromechanical organ. The realization of this portable instrument was the result of his idea of introducing the people to the pleasure of making music, […]

Erle Palmar Halliburton (1891 - 1957)

Businessman. He established the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in Oklahoma in 1919, a business that would become known as the Halliburton Company after 1960. He also designed the aluminum suitcases which are now manufactured by Zero Halliburton. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957. (bio by: Jeff Janssen)  Family […]

Joyce Clyde Hall (1891 - 1982)

Business Magnate. Born in David City, Nebraska, son of George Nelson Hall and Nancy Dudley Houston Hall. He was named Joyce after a Methodist Minister that visited their town. His family was very poor, and he worked odd jobs, mostly involving sales, from age 8 on to supplement the meager income of his father. When […]

John Hall (1970 - 1836)

Engineer and Pioneer of Tinned Iron Food Canning. He was the son of a millwright, and served an apprenticeship at the Portal family’s paper mill in Laverstoke in Hampshire, England. In 1784 he travelled to Dartford in Kent to find work. He was given a one year contract to repair the paper mill of T. […]

Francis C. Hall (1908 - 1999)

Businessman. He started a radio and electronics store in Orange County, California, which started selling guitars and amps after World War II. His company became Rickenbacker Guitar after buying out stock from Adolph Rickenbacker. His success helped Leo Fender, the leading distributor for Fender guitars. Rock music groups such as the The Beatles, The Byrds, […]

Walter Newman Haldeman (1821 - 1902)

Newspaper Founder, Publisher, Editor. Haldeman started a newspaper career in 1840 working as a clerk for the “Louisville Journal”, where he remained three years. He then opened a bookstore and supplies business until one of his customers the “Louisville Dime” defaulted on its credit and he took over the paper and eventually changed the name […]

Najeeb Halaby (1915 - 2003)

Aviation Executive.  A graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School, Najeeb Halaby was deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Eisenhower administration, head of the Federal Aviation Administration from 1961 to 1965, and chief executive of Pan American World Airways from 1969 to 1972.  He was widely lauded for desegregating air terminals and insisting […]

William “Billy” Haines (1900 - 1973)

Actor. He was a popular motion picture star of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the top box-office draw of 1930. After refusing to pretend to be “straight” for his studio bosses, his acting career was finished. His second talent was in design, and he built a successful career as the interior designer to the […]

Arthur Tyson Hagen (1852 - 1917)

Industrialist, Business Magnate. Founder of the American Laundry Machine Company and inventor of numerous commercial laundromat machines and processes.  (bio by: Mount Hope NY)  Family links:  Parents:  Oliver Hagen (1821 – 1893)  Spouse:  Emma Jane Chapman Hagen (1854 – 1943)  Children:  Roscoe Arthur Hagen (1880 – 1930)*  Siblings:  Arthur Tyson Hagen (1852 – 1917)  Benjamin […]

Horace Hagedorn (1915 - 2005)

Businessman. Born in Manhattan, he was an advertising executive who found a niche product in 1950 and turned the blue-crystal plant fertilizer, Miracle-Gro, a staple of American gardens, into the world’s top-selling plant food. His first full-page advertisement for Miracle-Gro in the New York Herald Tribune generated $22,000 in orders within three days. “Miracle-Gro All-Purpose […]

Charles Frederick Gunther (1837 - 1920)

Businessman. He was a confectionery manufacturing magnate who created the “Cracker Jacks” confection, and is credited with introducing caramel to the American populace. A native of Germany, he founded a candy business in Chicago, Illinois that was completely destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire. He rebuilt the business with an even larger candy factory, which […]