Dan W. Evins (1935 - 2012)

Businessman. Founder of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant chain. The Tennessee native while working in his family’s petroleum business envisioned the possibilities of an easier way to meet the needs of people who traveled by roadways. He drew from his memories while a youth, when it was commonplace to patronize a country […]

David Cannon Evans (1924 - 1998)

Computer Engineer. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he is known as a the pioneer of computer imagery. He graduated from the University of Utah with a doctorate degree in physics and worked at the Bendix Aviation Electronics Company. As project manager, he developed a personal computer in 1955, which ran on an interpretive operating […]

Bob Evans (1918 - 2007)

Restaurateur. Born Robert Evans in Sugar Ridge, Ohio,  he moved to Gallipolis, Ohio in the early 1940’s and bought a restaurant named the Malt Shop. After being inducted into the army, he sold the Malt Shop to a friend. In 1945, after serving in World War II, he worked for a family owned packing company. […]

Ahmet Ertegün (1923 - 2006)

Music Impresario. He was a co-founder of Atlantic Records and through this record label he helped define American music by popularizing the earthy Rhythm & Blues of Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin and the British rock of the Rolling Stones. A Turkish ambassador’s son, he initially began collecting records as a hobby […]

Greene Erskine (1797 - 1888)

Erskine made a fortune in the import/export business.  Named after Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Green, (his mother’s second cousin), Green moved to New York City in 1831 & founded Knickerbocker magazine.  He later returned to St. Louis & was a successful grocer on Laclede’s Landing. (bio by: Connie Nisinger)

Albert Russel Erskine (1871 - 1933)

Industrialist. As president of the Studebaker Corporation from 1915 to 1933, he literally guided the Studebaker company from the “horse and buggy” days into the position of a major player in modern auto production. The 1927 Studebaker Erskine Roadster Model 50J with rumble seat was named for him. Only six are known to exist worldwide […]

Abraham Lincoln Erlanger (1860 - 1930)

Theatrical Producer.

Estrid Ericson (1894 - 1981)

Founder of world famous interior design company Svenskt Tenn. The company was founded in 1924 and reached international recognition for new, modern design. Initially the company produced art objects in pewter, but came to pioneer the interior design business. In the early 1930s she established a cooperation with famed Austrian architect and designer, Josef Frank, […]

Gunnar Engellau (1907 - 1988)

Businessman. Succeeded co-founder Assar Gabrielsson as Vice-President for Volvo in 1956. Under his leadership the company developed into a world-wide business, and he entered Volvo into the United States market.  (bio by: Peter Robsahm)

Primus Emerson (1970 - 1877)

Primus Emerson brought boat building to the Carondolet area of St. Louis in 1853. He and two St. Louis businessmen bought riverfront property near the mouth of the River des Peres. There they opened the Carondelet Marine Railway & Dock Company. The venture cost $150,000 & included Emerson’s own patented marine railway. The marine railway […]

Joseph Ellicott (1760 - 1826)

Surveyor, Land Agent. Founder of Batavia, New York and Buffalo, New York. Trained as a surveyor by his brother, United States Surveyor-General Andrew Ellicott, he was also the brother of Congressman Benjamin Ellicott. Joseph and Benjamin helped Andrew complete the survey of Washington D.C. In 1797, he was hired by a group of six Dutch […]

Sir John Reeves Ellerman (1862 - 1933)

Secretive millionaire, whose fortune was made from shipping and a wide variety of investments from brewing to newspapers. Believed to have been the richest man in England at his death. (bio by: David Conway) Cause of death: stroke

William Lukens Elkins (1832 - 1903)

Financier. He was a partner in the giant Standard Oil company. He sold his portion and heavily invested in  railways and natural gas, and his efforts helped build up the infrastructure in a number of major US cities. (bio by: Russ Dodge)  Family links:  Spouse:  Maria Louise Broomall Elkins (1832 – 1910)*  Children:  George W. […]

Henry Gassaway Davis (1823 - 1916)

US Congressman, Businessman. Although he would ultimately become a great capitalist he had a rather humble start in life. He was educated in public schools but became fatherless and went to work at a young age. Davis became a plantation superintendent. He then became employed with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a brakeman, conductor, […]

Arthur Vining Davis (1867 - 1962)

Industrialist, Philanthropist. Born in Sharon, Massachusetts, he graduated from Amherst College, in 1888 and moved to Pittsburgh, to take a job in the modern aluminum industry. He soon helped set up the Pittsburgh Reduction Company and became general manager of the firm in the 1890s. Knowing the importance of aluminum, he became president of the […]

William A. Davidson (1870 - 1937)

Businessman. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, along with his family, he was a co-founder of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Corporation. As a symbol of America’s inventiveness, rugged individualism and pioneering spirit, Harley-Davidson became one of the world’s largest and most widely recognized motorcycle manufacturers. To date, Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, […]

Arthur Davidson (1881 - 1950)

Businessman. He was one of the four original founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Served as Secretary-General Sales Manager. (bio by: Rick)  Family links:  Parents:  William C Davidson (1846 – 1923)  Margaret Davidson (1843 – 1933)  Spouse:  Clara B. Davidson (1883 – 1950)  Children:  Margaret Davidson Nelson (1911 – 2004)*  Arthur Harley Davidson (1914 – […]

William Dargan (1799 - 1867)

Irealnd’s first railway pinoeer. Worked under Telford in England and built the first Irish line, from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire, in 1831. Sponsored the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, following which the Irish National Gallery was built in his honour. Declined a knighthood from Queen Victoria. Business difficulties made him virtually bankrupt at the time he […]

Sir Edward Darcy (1970 - 1612)

Landowner.Knight of Dartford, Kent. Third son of Sir Arthur Darcy and Mary Carew. Grandson of Sir Thomas Darcy and Dowasbel Tempest. Edward attended Trinity College at Cambridge in 1561, then from Stamford, Yorkshire. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in November of 1561. Edward married Elizabeth Astley, the daughter of Thomas Astley of Writtle […]

Charles Anderson Dana (1819 - 1897)

Newspaper publisher. As a reporter for the New York Tribune he gained nationwide fame in the 1840s when he filed widely reprinted stories from Europe on several revolutionary movements. From 1849 to 1862 he was Managing Editor, resigning over personality conflicts with Editor Horace Greeley. Dana was then hired by the War Department to investigate […]

Marcus Daly (1841 - 1900)

Business Tycoon. He is remembered as one of the three “Copper Kings” of Butte, Montana, the others being William Andrews Clark and F. Augustus Heinze. Born in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland he emigrated to the US in 1856, arriving in New York City, New York. He then moved west, finding work in the mines of […]

Henry Curtner (1830 - 1917)

Businessman. He arrived in California on October 20, 1852 with $20.00 in his pocket and worked for farms wages. Later he bought land in Centerville and quickly began to achieve his status as a millionaire, vast land owner and one of The Valley’s greatest philanthropists. A successful land owner, in 1868 he purchased Rancho Tularcitos […]

John Bacon Curtis (1827 - 1897)

Businessman and Inventor. He began manufacturing chewing gum out of sap from spruce trees in 1848, and became wealthy after  it became popular with the public. (bio by: Russ Dodge)

Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (1850 - 1933)

Newspaper Publisher. He founded in 1883 the magazine that became “The Ladies Home Journal”. He owned several daily newspapers in his lifetime, included in the New York Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and founded the Curtis Publishing Company.  Family links:  Parents:  Cyrus Libby Curtis (1822 – 1885)  Spouses:  Louisa Knapp Curtis (1851 – 1910)  Kate […]

John Curr (1970 - 1970)

Business magnate. Co-founder of Sibley, Lindsay & Curr, for over a hundred years one of the most successful department stores in the U.S. Sibley’s was eventually bought out by Kaufmanns in the late 20th century.  (bio by: Mount Hope NY)

Sir Samuel Cunard (1788 - 1865)

Canadian pioneer of regular transatlantic steam navigation. The son of a United Empire Loyalist, he became a leading businessman of Nova Scotia and engaged in banking, lumbering, shipping, and shipbuilding enterprises. His fleet at one time numbered some 40 vessels. He was interested in the development of steam navigation and owned shares in the Royal […]

Joseph Stephen “J.S.” Cullinan (1860 - 1937)

Founder of Texaco. Joseph Cullinan was born December 31, 1860 near Sharon, Pennsylvania. He started working in the oil fields of Pennsylvania at the age of fourteen, learning all aspects of the industry from the ground up. In 1882 he began work with a company offshoot of Standard Oil and worked there as a manager […]

Sophie Cubbison (1890 - 1982)

Businesswoman. Long before women became regulars in the corporate world, Mrs. Cubbison — Sophie Huchting Cubbison — parlayed her knack for baking and her home economics degree into a successful company that still bears her name. “Mrs. Cubbison’s” pre-packaged stuffing and dressing mixes are a fixture in grocery stores throughout the western United States. Cubbison, […]

Wayman Crow (1808 - 1885)

Crow began an apprenticeship in a dry goods business at the age of 12. When the company expanded years later, Wayman was given control & interest in a new branch. After moving to St. Louis, Crow established a wholesale dry goods business known as Crow, Hargadine & Company. He was president of the Chamber of […]

Edmund Crosse (1804 - 1862)

Entrepreneur. Co-founder of Crosse & Blackwell. He met Thomas Blackwell in 1819 when they were apprentices at the same firm, West and Wyatt, which produced pickles, sauces and condiments. They bought out their employer in 1829 and renamed the company after themselves, expanding their line of goods by purchasing new recipes from top chefs. Two […]