William Henry Crocker (1861 - 1937)

Businessman Magnate. William Crocker founded and later became president of Crocker National Bank. When much of San Francisco was destroyed by the quake and fire of 1906, Crocker and his bank were major forces in financing reconstruction. Crocker was a University of California regent for nearly thirty years and funded the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory’s second […]

Edwin Bryant Crocker (1818 - 1875)

Lawyer, Businessman. Born in Jamesville, New York, Crocker graduated from the Rensselaer Institute in 1833 and briefly worked as a civil engineer before pursuing a career as a successful lawyer. Shortly after his marriage to Margaret Rhoades in 1852, he moved to California where he joined his younger brother, Charles, in Sacramento. A founding member […]

Charles “Chas” Crocker (1822 - 1888)

Nineteenth Century businessman and railroad baron.  Best known as the founder of the Central Pacific Railroad, Charles Crocker was born into a Troy, New York farm family in 1822. When he was fourteen, his family moved West to Iowa, where young Crocker struck out independently, doing farm, iron forge and sawmill work. Swept up in […]

Mabel L. Criss (1881 - 1978)

Founder (with her husband) of Mutual of Omaha Insurance Companies. They are buried together in their family mausoleum.  Family links:  Spouse:  Clair C. Criss (1879 – 1952)* *Calculated relationship

Clair C. Criss (1879 - 1952)

Doctor and founder (with his wife) of Mutual of Omaha Insurance Companies. They are buried together in their family mausoleum.  Family links:  Parents:  James Lewis Criss (1846 – 1918)  Sevilla M Wodell Criss (____ – 1924)  Spouse:  Mabel L. Criss (1881 – 1978)  Siblings:  Clair C. Criss (1879 – 1952)  Floyd Earl Criss (1881 – […]

Edward Creighton (1820 - 1874)

Edward Creighton was Nebraska’s wealthiest citizen in 1862. Founded Omaha’s First National Bank and was it’s first president. Through much of the 1860’s, he battled with members of The U.S. Congress to establish Omaha as the get the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad (after his death, Council Bluffs, Iowa was given that designation […]

John Cornelius Crean (1925 - 2007)

Philanthropist, Entrepreneur. Founded Fleetwood Enterprises manufactured housing company that became an industry leader and later becoming a large producer of recreational vehicles. His humor and limitless generosity was widely known and he often opened his Newport Beach home to host charity events. He also made large donations to the Crystal Cathedral, Hoag Hospital, the Orange […]

Charles Struckman Coyle (1908 - 1996)

Charles S. Coyle, a 50-year resident of University City, Missouri, grew up in the Central West End. He was a graduate of The Principia and the University of Wisconsin and worked in management at Ralston Purina Co. for 20 years. He left to found the Folkestone Press, which published books on local history and architecture. […]

John B. Cowle (1826 - 1914)

Owner of Globe Iron Works which became part of Cleveland Shipbuilding.  Treasurer of Cleveland Drydock Co.  Later affiliated with Universal Machine and Boiler Co.  Two ore freighters were named after him, one in 1902 (Sank,1909, Lake Superior), one in 1910 (renamed Harry L. Allen, sank, 1960’s). (bio by: Joyce)

Joshua Lionel Cowen (1887 - 1965)

Inventor, Toy Train Manufacturer, Businessman. Born Joshua Lionel Cohen, he was the co-founder of the Lionel Manufacturing Company along with Harry C. Grant. The company later known as the Lionel Corporation, became one of America’s greatest commercial and marketing successes of the mid 20th century, as a leader and producer of electric toy trains. Over […]

Comer Cottrell (1931 - 2014)

Entrepreneur. He was an American entrepreneur most notable for founding Pro-Line Corp., a business that created the Curly Kit, which brought the Jheri curl hairstyle to the masses and made it easy to achieve at home. He founded Pro-Line Corp. in 1970. It was originally based in Los Angeles. In 1979, he created the Curly […]

Ezra Cornell (1807 - 1874)

Businessman, Education Administrator, and Entrepreneur. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Born in Westchester Landing, New York to Quaker parents, his father was a potter. He was raised in DeRuyter, New York and worked as a carpenter, traveling throughout New York. In 1831 he […]

John W. Cornelius (1970 - 1916)

Mr. Cornelius built the first theater in St. Louis that was designed expressly for the production of moving pictures. In addition to the original Lyric Theater, he eventually also owned the West End Lyric Theater, the Lyric Skydome and the Royal Theater. He made a fortune in the motion picture business in St. Louis. (bio […]

Errett Lobban Cord (1894 - 1974)

Businessman, Industrialist, US Senator. Best known for his Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg family of automobiles. He was the man responsible for some of the most technologically advanced automobiles of the time. He began is automotive manufacturing career in 1924 when rescued the failing Auburn Automobile Company in Auburn, Indiana. He lowered vehicle prices and changed […]

Austin Corbin (1827 - 1896)

Businessman. Known as “Father of the Banking Industry”, his First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa was one of the first to open under the 1863 legislation which created the national bank system in the United States. Moving to New York City, New York, he financed the development of Coney Island. By 1882 he built the […]

Alvin C. Copeland (1944 - 2008)

Entrepreneur. At age 18, he sold his car to open a one-man doughnut shop and had ten successful years in the doughnut business. Inspired by Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, he used his doughnut profits to open the restaurant, Chicken on the Run in New Orleans, in 1971. He founded Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits in 1976, […]

Joseph M. “Joe” Coors, Sr (1917 - 2003)

Businessman. Brewery magnate and leading member of the Coors Brewing family and company founded by his grandfather. Worked at the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado, starting in 1946 as technical director, became Executive Vice President in 1975, President in 1977, and Chief Operating Officer from 1985-1987. Engaged in an intense conforation with labor over an […]

Gaston Chevrolet (1892 - 1920)

The youngest of three Swiss race car driver brothers, Gaston Chevrolet’s greatest moment came when he won the 1920 Indianapolis 500, driving a car designed by his oldest brother Louis. Tragically, he was killed in a racing accident at the Beverly Hills (CA) Speedway less than 6 months after his greatest triumph. (bio by: Warrick […]

Dave Chasen (1898 - 1973)

Restaurateur.  Founder of Chasen’s,  which in classic Hollywood fashion rose from humble beginnings to become the quintessential Beverly Hills restaurant.  Chasen was born in Odessa,  Ukraine,  and came to the US as a child. He started out as a vaudeville entertainer and from 1923 played the stooge to headlining comedian Joe Cook.  Cook went solo […]

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel (1883 - 1971)

Renowned Fashion Designer. Born a peasant and raised in an orphanage, she grew up with a gift of fashion and a keen awareness of social trends. Some of her most famous creations were worn by Jackie Kennedy. Coco Chanel died in 1971 at the age of 88. The House of Chanel still exists today. She […]

Otis Chandler (1927 - 2006)

Publisher. Known as a swashbuckling former publisher of the Los Angeles Times, he is credited with rescuing his family’s newspaper from mediocrity and establishing it as a nationally respected media voice. He was a California beach boy who, during his aggressive 20-year tenure as publisher of the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s and 1970s, […]

Harry Chandler (1864 - 1944)

Entrepreneur. In the early 1880s, he moved to California, where he worked outside as a fruit picker in the San Fernando Valley. From the fruit fields, he started a small delivery company that soon became responsible for delivering many of the city’s morning newspapers. He eventually bought a newspaper circulation route which got him hired […]

Albert Brown Chandler (1840 - 1923)

Corporate executive. During the Civil War Chandler worked as a War Department telegraph operator. He developed ciphers for transmitting secret communications, and was confidential telegrapher for President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.  After the war Chandler remained with the Army and was in charge of completing cables for operation of Transatlantic telegraph […]

Joseph Cattarinich (1881 - 1938)

Professional Hockey Pioneer, Team Owner. Born on the St. Lawrence River, near Quebec City, Quebec, in 1881, he played hockey from a very young age. He later played for the Montreal Nationals. He met a young man named Georges Vezina while playing with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1909-1910 season.  George wa an up and […]

Samuel Truett Cathy (1921 - 2014)

Businessman. He was the founder of the nationally franchised “Chick-fil-A” fast food restaurant. He began the chain in the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Hapeville in 1946 with a restaurant called the Dwarf Grill, named because of its small size. It was there that he, along with his brother and business partner, Ben, created the chicken […]

Don Casto (1898 - 1963)

Businessman. Born in Upper Arlington, Ohio, he is recognized as a pioneer in the shopping center industry. He began his career in real estate selling, then building single-family homes, which led to in town real estate properties and the upstart shopping center industry. After World War II, he worked to change the shopping patterns of […]

John Cassell (1817 - 1865)

Businessman. The son of a Manchester publican, he was apprenticed to a joiner. Self-educated, he moved to London in 1836 where he became involved in the Temperance Movement. In 1847 he established himself as a tea and coffee merchant and soon afterwards started a publishing buisness with the aim of providing good literature to the […]

Sir John Cass (1970 - 1718)

Merchant and philanthropist, founded a school which still exists, not far form the church where he is buried.

Hartwell Carver (1970 - 1875)

Railroad Pioneer. Born in Rhode Island, he attended Hamilton College in 1813 and was graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1816. He practiced medicine for 50 years, but was often away for extended periods. He traveled to Europe, England and studied medicine in those places. He became enamored with the railroads in those places and […]

Thomas Carvel (1906 - 1990)

Business Magnate. Founder of the Carvel Ice Cream business empire.  Family links:  Spouse:  Agnes S Carvel (1908 – 1998)* *Calculated relationship