Albert George Ralphs, Sr (1897 - 1973)

Supermarket chain executive. Albert Ralphs was the only son of George A. Ralphs, founder of the Los Angeles-based Ralphs Grocery Company, one of the nation’s oldest and largest grocery chains. George Ralphs died in 1914, leaving financial control of the business to 17-year-old Albert. After Albert returned from military service in France during World War […]

John Francis Queeny (1859 - 1933)

Business Magnate. After working as a buyer for Meyer Brothers Drug Company in St. Louis, Queeny established his own small chemical company in 1901 and began producing saccharin locally because no company in the United States produced it. He called his firm Monsanto. The firm expanded rapidly and John became the chairman of the board. […]

Edgar Monsanto Queeny (1897 - 1968)

Businessman. The son of John F. Queeny, the founder of the Monsanto Company, Edgar showed a flair for writing by starting the company’s first employee newspaper even before his father retired. He had many different ideas for the company and took it to new heights. Monsanto went public just before the stock market crash of […]

Bernard Quaritch (1819 - 1899)

Established the world’s largest antiquaarian book business.

William Procter (1801 - 1884)

Manufacturer. Co-Founder of the Procter and Gamble Company. A native of England, he was born in Herefordshire and educated at the Luckston School. Procter entered into business in 1818 and was connected with the clothing industry in London in the late 1820’s. In 1827, he became acquainted with William Hooper, who urged him to emigrate […]

William Cooper Procter (1862 - 1934)

Businessman. Born in Glendale, Ohio, he was the grandson of William Procter, the co-founder of the Procter and Gamble Soap Company. As manager of manufacture production, he was noted for creating a profit-sharing program for his employees, which was the first in America. He served as head of the company, (1907-30). He died at age […]

Sol Price (1916 - 2009)

Entrepreneur. He changed retail shopping by pioneering the first nationwide members-only discount warehouse stores. As a business lawyer in 1954, he founded the retail chain Fed-Mart in California, selling it to German investors in 1975. In 1976, with co-investors he started the first Price Club, which offered a varied selection of consumer goods and household […]

Bernard Pratte (1803 - 1866)

First St. Louis-born mayor (1844-1846). During his tenure, the Mississippi River levee was paved with cobblestones, gas street lights were installed & City Hospital was opened. He also served as President of the Bank of the State of Missouri & was a delegate to the Missouri State Constitutional Convention from St. Louis County in 1880. […]

Francis Ashbury Pratt (1827 - 1902)

Manufacturer, Businessman. A trained mechanical engineer, he was the co-founder of the Pratt and Whitney Company, which he began in 1860 with Amos Whitney as a machine tool manufacturer. It eventually evolved into the aircraft and aerospace manufacturing business it is know for today.  He is credited with being first to permit production of fine […]

Daniel Pratt (1799 - 1873)

Industrialist. In 1836 he bought land on the Autuaga Creek in Alabama where he built a cotton gin factory, cotton mill, grist mill, woolen mill, and a foundry. The area became known as Prattville. Pratt was one of the first people to develop Alabama’s coal and iron ore mines, and he helped establish the North […]

John Robert Powers (1892 - 1977)

Founded the Powers Modeling Agency. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Alice Burton Powers (1908 – 1972)* *Calculated relationship

Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887 - 1973)

American socialite, heir to the Post cereal fortune, and wealthiest woman in America. Marjorie Merriweather Post was a businesswoman, collector, museum founder, and philanthropist. She was the only child of C.W. Post, founder of the Post Cereal empire.  When Marjorie’s father died in 1914, she became head of the $20 million cereal company that would […]

Don Post (1902 - 1979)

Mask maker, prop fabricator. Celebrated as The Godfather Of Halloween, pioneer original creator of Over-The-Head Rubber masks, founder and namesake of Don Post Studios. His own curiosity prompted a backstage visit to examine Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily producing clown Paul Wenzel’s Popeye The Sailor Man full head mask, serving as Don Post’s inspiration […]

Dr Ferdinand Porsche (1875 - 1951)

Austrian/German Automotive Engineer. Founder of Porsche Motor Cars, creator of the world’s first hybrid vehicle (gasoline-electric) the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, and the ground-breaking Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK. He designed the 1923 Benz Tropfenwagen, which was the first race car with mid-engine, rear-wheel drive automobile. Known as the “Great engineer” he designed the German tanks Tiger I, Tiger […]

Ferdinand Anton Ernst “Ferry” Porsche (1909 - 1998)

Designer and Engineer. The Chief Executive Officer of Porsche cars until the family left management in 1972. He designed and created the Type 356, the company’s first production automobile, a sports car that was groundbreaking both in style and innovation. He led the Porsche company for over 30 years, along with garnering many racing championships […]

Generoso Paul Pope, Jr (1927 - 1988)

Publishing Mogul.  Founder of the National Enquirer. The son of businessman Generoso Pope,  he purchased the New York Enquirer,  a fading local newspaper,  for $75,000 in 1952.  Two years later he transformed it into a tabloid,  renamed it the National Enquirer,  and gave it coast to coast distribution. Known for his eccentric marketing schemes,  Pope […]

Generoso Pope, Sr (1891 - 1950)

Generoso Pope, Sr., was the owner and publisher of the newspaper IL Progresso Italo-Americano. Mr. Pope purchased IL Progresso in 1928 and built it into the largest Italian language newspaper in the United States. He died on April 28,1950. After Mr. Pope’s death his son GenerosoJr. became IL Progresso’s publisher. Generoso, Jr., who was also […]

Albert Augustus Pope (1843 - 1909)

Bicycle and Automobile Manufacturer. During the Civil War he served in the 35th Massachusetts Infantry, leaving with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel at war’s end. After the war he entered the manufacturing field. In 1877 he founded the Pope Manufacturing Company. The company made the popular Columbia Bicycle and was the largest manufacturer of […]

Carl Ray Pohlad (1915 - 2009)

Baseball Team Owner. He was a billionaire banker whose Minnesota Twins won two World Series titles during his nearly quarter-century as owner. Pohlad paid $38 million for the Twins in 1984. According to Forbes magazine’s 2006 rankings, Pohlad was the second-richest Minnesotan with a net worth of $2.8 billion. Still, his teams often had some […]

William Thomas Piper, Sr (1881 - 1970)

Aviation Pioneer. Often referred to as “the Henry Ford of Aviation”.  A 1903 graduate of Harvard University, he worked as a construction superintendent until 1914.  He served with the U.S. Army’s Corp of Engineers during WWI attaining the rank of Captain. He also worked the Pennsylvania Oil fields in the Bradford area after that time […]

Lydia Estes Pinkham (1819 - 1883)

Manufacturer of Home Remedy Medicine. Her motives were somewhat self-serving, but she is admired by many modern-day feminists for distributing information on women’s reproductive issues and is considered to be a crusader for women’s health issues in a time when women were ill-served by the medical profession. She was born Lydia Estes in Lynn, Massachusetts, […]

Paul L. Pink (1908 - 1996)

Businessman. He was the founder and proprietor of Pink’s Hot Dogs. He opened his business in 1939 with a cart on wheels on a corner lot. The business was later moved to a building that was erected on the spot. To this day they sell an estimated 1500 hot dogs a day and it is […]

Sergio Pininfarina (1926 - 2012)

Automobile Designer, Italian Senator. Pininfarina, whose very name is synonymous with exotic automobile design, was chairman of the company that his father founded in 1930. He obtained a degree in mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin in 1950 and assumed control of the design studios upon his fathers death. The company climbed to […]

Charles Alfred Pillsbury (1842 - 1899)

Businessman. Founder and namesake of the Pillsbury Company. A New Hampshire native, he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1863. In 1869 he moved to Minneapolis and established the C. A. Pillsbury Flour Company with the assistance of his uncle,  future Minnesota Governor John S. Pillsbury;  it eventually became one of the largest flour-milling enterprises in […]

Henry Clay Pierce (1970 - 1927)

Founder & President of Waters-Pierce Oil Company, Pierce was considered one of the four richest men in the country. Later the company became a subsidy of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. Pierce was found guilty of violating anti-trust laws through his relationship with Standard Oil & resulted in the state of Texas bringing its best-known suit […]

Frank Faucett Phillips (1873 - 1950)

Business Magnate. He and his brother L.E. Phillips founded Phillips Petroleum company in 1917. Today this company is one of the largest employers in the city of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. During the early 1920’s, Phillips Petroleum company began selling gasoline to the new airplane industry that was emerging in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita also became the location […]

Charles Pfizer (1824 - 1906)

Businessman. He co-Founded Pfizer Pharmaceuticals with his cousin Charles Erhart in 1849.  Family links:  Spouse:  Anna Hausch Pfizer (1840 – 1908)*  Children:  Ann Pfizer (____ – 1876)*  Gustavus Pfizer (1861 – 1944)*  Emile Pfizer (1866 – 1941)*  Alice Bachofen Pfizer Von Echt (1876 – 1959)* *Calculated relationship

Guido Pfister (1818 - 1889)

He established the famous Pfister hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He made a fortune in  tanning, and then turned his focus on building a hotel that would be at the heart of Milwaukee. His son Charles Pfister finished building the hotel which opened in 1893, and it is said that Guido haunts the halls,  making sure […]

Henry Petring (1826 - 1888)

Wholesale grocer in St. Louis for over 25 years with various partners before organizing the Henry Petring Grocery Company. He eventually began making a speciality of coffee & built up a mammoth trade in that commodity. He was also intrested in banking & was a director of several different banks in St. Louis. He became […]

Robert E. Petersen (1926 - 2007)

Entrepreneur. In 1948 he founded Hot Rod Magazine,  which was instrumental in the evolution of hot-rod auto culture. He went on to create the largest special interest publishing company in America. His consumer magazines included Motor Trend,  Car Craft,  Guns & Ammo,  Sport,     Motorcyclist,  Hunting,  Mountain Biker,  Photographic,  Teen,  and Sassy. When he […]