Thomas Elmer Braniff (1883 - 1954)

Businessman. One of the nation’s leading insurance men. Chairman and president of Prudential Insurance. In 1927 he bought a second-hand airplane and co-founded Braniff Airlines, the first airline in the Southwest.  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas J Braniff (1846 – 1930)  Mary Casey Braniff (1852 – 1940)  Spouse:  Bess Thurman Braniff (1887 – 1954)*  Children:  Jeanne […]

Paul R. Braniff (1897 - 1954)

Businessman. Along with brother Thomas Braniff, he co-founded Braniff International  Airlines, serving as itsGeneral Manager until his death. (bio by: Russ Dodge)  Family links:  Children:  John Paul Braniff (1927 – 2013)* *Calculated relationship

James Buchanan “Diamond Jim” Brady (1856 - 1917)

Railroad Business Magnate. Son of John Brady (1810-1863), and Mary A, Brady (1824-1908). He gained employment in the rapidly expanding New York Central Railroad system rising to chief assistant for the Central’s general manager by the age of twenty-one.  In 1879, due to his thorough knowledge of the industry, and his acquaintance with officials of […]

Anthony Nicholas Brady (1841 - 1913)

Businessman. Brady was raised in Upstate New York. His first job was working in an Albany barber shop. Later, he owned a tea store that grew to include multiple branches. He invested heavily in the Albany Gas Light Company and soon owned many shares in larger New York City utility companies. He also acquired holdings […]

John M. Bradstreet (1815 - 1863)

Businessman. He founded the John M. Bradstreet financial company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1849 In 1933 it merged with Dunn and Company, forming what is now the Dun and Bradstreet Company.  Family links:  Parents:  Daniel Porter Bradstreet (1773 – 1833)  Lydia Yaman Bradstreet (1781 – 1852)  Children:  John M Bradstreet (____ – 1863)*  Henry Bradstreet […]

Milton Bradley (1836 - 1911)

Business Magnate. He is credited with launching the game industry in North America.  Born in Vienna, Maine in 1836, he decided to become a printer in his early teens, and set about learning the trade.  In 1860, he set up a print shop in Springfield, Massachusetts, and that year, printed a beardless likeness (lithograph) of […]

Charles Bradburn (1970 - 1970)

Merchant and leader in the organization and development of the Cleveland Public Schools.  Called the “Father of Cleveland Schools”.  He helped to establish Cleveland’s first public high school, Central High School, which opened in 1846. (bio by: Joyce)  Family links:  Spouse:  Eliza Stone Bradburn (1807 – 1865)*  Children:  Charles F Bradburn (1832 – 1857)*  Helen […]

Frank Vincent Brach (1890 - 1970)

Businessman. Along with his father, Emil, and brother, Edwin, he founded the E.J. Brach Candy Company in Chicago, Illinois. (bio by: George King)  Family links:  Parents:  Emil Julius Brach (1859 – 1947)  Catherine Cunningham Brach (1854 – 1924)  Spouse:  Helen Marie Vorhees Brach (1911 – 1984)*  Children:  Joyce Frances Brach-Lago Wartman (1924 – 2003)* *Calculated […]

Matthew James Boylen (1907 - 1970)

Prospector. Although never having completed grade school, he was awarded three honorary degrees including a Doctorate of Civil Law from the University of New Brunswick. He established Brunswick Mining and Smeltering Corporation and Advocate Mines. He was also a renowned thoroughbred raiser.  Family links:  Spouse:  Dorothy Pearson Boylen (1910 – 1986)*  Children:  James Anthony Boylen […]

John Porter Bowman (1816 - 1891)

Tanning Magnate. Born in Clarendon, Vermont, he began work as a tanner at age 15 and later owned a tannery in Cuttingsville.  In 1851 Bowman served in the Vermont House of Representatives and in 1852 he moved to Stony Creek, New York, where he became wealthy through ownership of another tannery.  His daughter Ella died […]

William J. “Bill” Bowerman (1911 - 1999)

Coach, Co-founder of Nike, Inc. Born in Portland and raised in Fossil, a town in eastern Oregon, and in Medford. He was a quarter-miler and a football blocking back at the University of Oregon and was accepted to medical school after graduating in 1934. Instead he became the track and football coach at Medford High […]

Francis Bouygues (1922 - 1993)

Architect and Television businessman. Founder of major construction business which bears his name, and also has extensive interests in television.

Aristide Boucicaut (1810 - 1877)

Businessman, creator of the shop “Le Bon Marché.”

Jabez Bostwick (1830 - 1892)

Businessman. He was one of the founders and original partner of Standard Oil Company, serving as  Secretary-Treasurer of the Standard Oil Trust. He died while trying to rescue horses from a stable fire on his estate.  Family links:  Spouse:  Helen C. Ford Bostwick (____ – 1920)  Children:  Frances Evelyn Bostwick Voronoff (____ – 1921)*  Albert […]

Robert Bosch (1861 - 1942)

Industrialist, Inventor. Founder of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest supplier of auto parts. Born near Ulm, he attended a technical school near his home and then apprenticed as a mechanic. He worked in this trade for a number of companies, including Edison. In 1896 he founded the company that eventually bore his name. The […]

Gail Borden, Jr (1801 - 1874)

Businessman, Philanthropist, Inventor. He envisioned food concentrates as a means of safeguarding the human food supply, and was the first to develop a commercial method of condensing milk. The dairy company founded by him (renamed Borden, Incorperated, in 1968) expanded and diversified to become a sizable corporation operating in many areas of business. In 1836 […]

Paul Bonwit (1862 - 1939)

Businessman. He founded the former department store Bonwitt Teller in New York City.  Family links:  Spouse:  Rebecca Woolf Bonwit (1869 – 1934)*  Children:  Harold Woolf Bonwit (1896 – 1950)*  Walter Bernard Bonwit (1901 – 1984)* *Calculated relationship

Charles Anson Bond, Sr (1873 - 1943)

Businessman, Columbus Mayor. Founder and Owner of Bond Clothing, recognized as one of the first chain stores catering to men.  Served as Mayor of Columbus, Ohio from 1908 to 1909. He was said to have made three fountunes during his lifetime and was the consumate salesperson.  His first wife, Blanche Leona Hull, died as a […]

George Boldt (1851 - 1916)

Businessman. As president of Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Company, he is the person most responsible for the modern American luxury hotel. He made the name synonymous with elegance.  Family links:  Spouse:  Louisa Augusta Kehrer Boldt (1860 – 1904)* *Calculated relationship

Hector Boiardi (1897 - 1985)

Businessman/Entrepreneur. A native of Piacenza, Italy, he was a world renowned chef known for his many Italian dishes. Known affectionately as ‘Chef Boyardee’ he founded his food franchise of products with his wife Helen. He became a food prodigy by age 11, in his native Italy, but later emigrated to New York City in 1915, […]

Helen Boehm (1920 - 2010)

Businesswoman. Called the “Princess of Porcelain”, she was co-founder of a Trenton, New Jersey, company producing high-end figurines which have been seen the world over. Born Elena Francesca Stephanie Franzolin, she was trained as a dressmaker and later as an optician. Married to veterinary assistant Edward Boehm in 1944, she joined with her husband in […]

Orison Blunt (1815 - 1879)

Inventor, Businessman. He went to sea at 14, made several voyages, and settled in New York City, New York. Within a few years he and a fellow gunsmith’s apprentice started their own business as firearms dealers, which made Blunt one of New York’s wealthiest men, enabling him to expand his interests to real estate, insurance […]

Nathan J. Blumberg (1894 - 1960)

Motion Picture Executive. Born in New York City, Blumberg was an adviser with the CBS Broadcast group when Universal Pictures owner Carl Laemmle hired him to head the studio’s management and finance departments in the mid-1930s. With his leadership and guidance for production manager Cliff Work, he made Universal Pictures a first run market with […]

Joseph Bernard Bloomingdale (1842 - 1904)

Businessman. He founded the Bloomingdale’s Department Store chain.  Family links:  Parents:  Benjamin Bloomingdale (1813 – 1896)  Hannah Weil Bloomingdale (1813 – 1876)  Spouse:  Clara Koffman Bloomingdale (1852 – 1943)  Children:  Rosalie Bloomindale Sperry (1876 – 1957)*  Siblings:  Fannie Bloomingdale Myers (1838 – 1897)*  Lyman Gustave Bloomingdale (1841 – 1905)*  Joseph Bernard Bloomingdale (1842 – 1904) […]

Neville Blond (1896 - 1970)

British industrialist. Blond was the first chairman of the English Stage Company (1955) and largely responsible for the rebirth the following year of London’s Royal Court Theatre. He was in charge of the financial management of the Royal Court and remained chairman of the English Stage Company until his death.

Meyer Blinder (1921 - 2004)

Businessman. The son of a Brooklyn candy store owner from Kiev, Russia, he was cofounder of Blinder Robinson and Company, a now defunct penny stock brokerage firm. After returning from military service during World War II where he earned a Purple Heart in Normandy, France, he started a photo-supply business and later joined his brother […]

Alden Joseph “The Colonel” Blethen (1845 - 1915)

Newspaper Publisher. Born in Knox, Waldo County, Maine, he began his career as a school teacher and attorney. He received his formal education from Wesleyan Seminary and College in 1868, and a Masters degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1872. From 1869 to 1873 he served as principal of the Abbott family school […]

Valentine Blatz (1826 - 1894)

Businessman, Beer Magnate. Valentin Blatz, born to Casper Blatz, a brewer, in Miltenberg am Main, Bavaria, Germany, attended municipal schools until age 14 when he began an apprenticeship in his father’s brewery. He began in 1844, to acquire additional experience at breweries in Augusburg, Wurzburg and Munich until 1848 when he emigrated from Bavaria to […]

Bill Blass (1922 - 2002)

Designer. Born William Ralph Blass in Fort Wayne, Indiana to a part-time dressmaker and a traveling hardware salesman. Blass’s father committed suicide when Blass was five. At 15, Blass began selling sketches of evening gowns for $25 each to a New York manufacturer. At 17 he left home to attend fashion school in New York. […]

Walter Blair (1830 - 1888)

Western Entrepreneur. Born in Vermont, he was a dairy farmer who came to California, during the gold rush in 1850. Un-successful with his gold endeavors, he bought over six hundred acres in the Piedmont hills area. There he built a hotel, amusement park, dairy farm and a rock quarry near the town. He also created […]