Hiram Sibley (1807 - 1888)

Businessman. Founder of Western Union. He was a friend of Czar Alexander I of Russia and the then Secretary of State William H. Seward, and persuaded the former to sell Alaska to the United States with the help of a United States government check supplied by the latter.  Family links:  Parents:  Benjamin Sibley (1768 – […]

Sargent Shriver, Jr (1915 - 2011)

US Political Leader, Civic Activist.  Born Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., he graduated from Yale University in 1938 and Yale Law School in 1941.  An opponent of involvement in World War II, after the United States entered the conflict he served in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Hired by Joseph Kennedy […]

Bernard “Toots” Shor (1903 - 1977)

Restaurateur. He was the owner and colorful host of Toots Shor’s Restaurant, a New York City landmark for over 30 years. Born in Philadelphia, he moved to New York as a teenager during the Prohibition era and gained a reputation as a speakeasy bouncer, guardian, and manager. In 1940 he opened his own restaurant and […]

Samuel Shopsowitz (1919 - 1984)

Founder of Shopsy’s (the Toronto delicatessen).

Edwin J. Shoemaker (1907 - 1998)

Inventor of the La-Z-Boy Recliner.  Family links:  Spouse:  Ruth Marion Buck Shoemaker (1909 – 1991)* *Calculated relationship

Frederick Shivelbine (1970 - 1970)

Founder of the Shivelbine Music Store.

Edwin H. Shipstad (1907 - 1988)

Co-founded Shipstad and Johnsons Ice Follies.  Family links:  Spouse:  Lulu Anna Heim Shipstad (1907 – 1990)* *Calculated relationship

George Shima (1970 - 1926)

George Shima (1864–1926) was a Japanese American businessman in California who became the first Japanese American millionaire. At one point, he produced about 85% of the state’s potato crop, which earned him the nickname “The Potato King”. Born Ushijima Kinji (牛島謹爾?) in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan, he entered a preliminary course at the Tokyo Commercial School (now […]

Eiichi Shibusawa (1840 - 1931)

Multi-talented businessman. He developed several business  enterprises that established a groundwork for the future development of business and promoted the social welfare of Japan. Among his businesses were the Daiichi Kokuritsu Ginko Bank (now the Daiichi Kangyo Ginko Bank) and the Fukaya Brick Manufacturing Company. Shibusawa called for the “unity of morality and the economy,” […]

Henry Alden Sherwin (1842 - 1916)

Business Magnate. Founder of Sherwin-Williams paint company.  Family links:  Parents:  Alden Wheelock Sherwin (1816 – 1889)  Rachel Batchelder Sherwin (1818 – 1895)  Spouse:  Frances Mary Smith Sherwin (1843 – 1920)*  Children:  Belle Sherwin (1868 – 1955)*  Katherine Sherwin (1870 – 1873)*  William Alden Sherwin (1872 – 1897)*  Prudence Sherwin (1874 – 1938)* *Calculated relationship

Louis Michael Sherry (1856 - 1926)

Family Restauranteur and Chocolatier.He was married to Marie Bertha Grandjean Sherry.  Family links:  Spouse:  Marie Bertha Grandjean Sherry (1853 – 1941)* *Calculated relationship

John Graves Shedd (1850 - 1926)

Businessman, Philanthropist. He was the 2nd president and chairman of the board of Marshall Field & Company, an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois, that would become its largest store and the largest wholesale and dry goods company in the world at that time. Born on a farm in Alstead, New Hampshire, he received his […]

Greg Shaw (1949 - 2004)

Greg Shaw was born in San Francisco, California. He began writing about rock and roll music as a young teenager. His first zines were Tolkien-related, but among them was also a mimeographed sheet called Mojo Navigator (full title, “Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News”). Founded in 1966 by David Harris, with Shaw’s assistance, Mojo Navigator is […]

Clay L. Shaw (1913 - 1974)

New Orleans businessman, a co-founder of the N.O. Trade Mart, who was accused by District Attorney Jim Garrison of being one of the masterminds of the JFK assassination.  After a trial, Shaw was acquitted of conspiracy-related charges in March 1969.  His trial was featured prominently in Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” in which Shaw was portrayed by […]

Walter Benona Sharp (1870 - 1912)

Business Magnate. Born in Tennessee, his mother died when he was eight and his father moved his family to Texas. He and business partner Howard Hughes Sr. Devoloped the Hughes Drill Bit and co-founded The Sharp-Hughes Tool Company. After his death his wife became dusgruntled with the way Howard Hughes Sr. was running the company […]

Samuel W. Sessions (1826 - 1902)

Founded the Cleveland Nut Co., which became one of the nation’s leading fastener companies, Lamson & Sessions.  Their family monument was installed at Riverside Cemetery in 1877 for $10,000 and is a local tourist attraction. (bio by: Joyce)

Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr (1858 - 1947)

Businessman. American born, he founded the British department store “Selfridges”. His father owned a small dry-goods shop in Ripon, Wisconsin, but went away with the Union cavalry in the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, attaining rank of Major, and never returning to his family. In 1879, aged 21 he joined the retail firm of […]

Kenneth W. Self (1916 - 2003)

Business Magnate. A mechanic by trade, Kenneth Self started working in the maintenance shop of Consolidated Freightway’s Corporation in 1940. By 1947 CE founder Leland James promoted Ken Self to production manager in the Portland office. Design changes that Ken Self directed included the first 90 degree tilting cab, the first double trailer truck. A […]

Franklin Augustus “Frank” Seiberling (1859 - 1955)

Businessman. He founded Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in 1898 and The Seiberling Rubber Co. later on. Also known for his beautiful Akron estate “Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens”, which was built from 1912 to 1916 and is open to the public today.  Family links:  Parents:  John Frederick Seiberling (1834 – 1903)  Catherine Lucinda Miller […]

Miles Ainscough Seed (1843 - 1913)

Manufacturer. Born in Preston, England, Seed became interested in photography and studied the sciences and continued to do research in physics, astronomy and chemistry and to experiment particularly with different processes for making and developing photographic plates. Believing that better opportunities were to be found in American for applying the results of his experiments, he […]

Mary Wiseman See (1854 - 1939)

Candy Maker. Born Mary Wiseman on Howe Island in Ontario, Canada, she developed her chocolate candy recipes while helping run her husband’s hotel on nearby Tremont Island. Following her husband’s death in 1919, she moved with her son Charles to California and settled in Los Angeles. Inspired by his mother’s candy, Charles opened the first […]

Charles Alexander See (1882 - 1949)

Founder of See’s Famous Candies (Los Angeles). The candy boxes bear his mother’s picture. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  Charles Alexander See (1848 – 1919)  Mary Wiseman See (1854 – 1939)  Spouse:  Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885 – 1956)*  Children:  Laurance Alexander See (1912 – 1969)*  Margaret MacLean See Nunez (1913 – 1961)* […]

Richard Warren Sears (1863 - 1914)

Businessman. He was the founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company, one of the the world’s most successful department store chains. While working as a train station agent in Minnesota, he accepted delivery of a shipment of watches that had been refused by the intended recipient. He was able to sell the watches quickly at a […]

George John Seabury (1844 - 1909)

Scientist, Businessman. He served during the Civil War as a Private in Company C, 12th New York Volunteer Infantry. He founded the Seabury and Johnson Pharmaceutical Company in 1885, which initially manufactured medical plasters and surgical dressings.

Charles E. Scripps (1920 - 2007)

Media Mogul. He was known as the newspaperman’s newspaperman. He was the grandson of E.W. Scripps who founded in 1878, the newspaper that grew into the Cincinnati based media enterprise, The E.W. Scripps Company. As board chairman from 1953 to 1994, he presided over the company’s growth as a newspaper publisher into other forms of […]

George Whitfield Scranton (1811 - 1861)

Industrialist,  US Congressman. One of the preeminent metal manufacturers of the 19th Century.  Born in Madison,  Connecticut,  he left Lee’s Academy at age 17 and moved to New Jersey,  where he rose from humble teamster to wealthy merchant in little more than a decade.  In 1839 he and his brother Selden ventured into iron production […]

George Washington Scott (1829 - 1903)

Educator. He was the founder and main benefactor of the school that eventually became Agnes Scott College (first known as the Decatur Female Seminary in 1887). He was a Decatur industrialist who in 1890 donated land, equipment, the first building, and money for a permanent endowment to the school. In 1906 it was renamed in […]

Edward Irvin Scott (1846 - 1931)

Business Magnate. Founder and President of the Scott Paper Company. The company became the leading producer of bathroom tissue by 1890. Today, Scott Paper Company is part of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and the Scott products are available in virtually every city in the United States. (bio by: Mary Harrell-Sesniak)  Family links:  Spouse:  Sarah Frances Hoyt Scott […]

Clarence Scott (1848 - 1970)

Businessman. With his brothers Thomas Seymour Scott and Edward Irwin Scott, he formed a paper commission company. However, in the 1870s the economy was weak, forcing Clarence and Irwin to borrow $2,000 from Irvin’s in-laws, the Rev. Zerah T. and Sarah Maria Foote Hoyt in 879. They aded this to the original capital stock of […]

Ignaz Schwinn (1860 - 1948)

Bicycle Baron. He was born in Hardheim, Germany. As a teenager he began working for bicycle maker Heinrich Kleyer. His work impressed Kleyer and soon he was promoted to designer and manager of his factory. In 1891 he immigrated to Chicago, Illinois and four years later he, along with Adolph Arnold, founded Adolf-Schwinn and Company. […]