DIRECTORY

Industrialization began in the mid-18th century and later swept the world. Entrepreneurs formed companies with truly international outlooks, and mass production allowed more products to be sold to wider markets than ever before. For driven individuals, success could be far-reaching.

The highly educated daughter of a Pennsylvanian iron manufacturer, Rebecca Webb Pennock married Dr. Charles Lukens in 1813. She urged him to invest in the iron business, and they leased a local ironworks, borrowing heavily to convert it to manufacture boiler plates for steam-powered ships. After her husband and her son died in 1825, Lukens took sole control. Battling recession, debts, and flooding, Lukens expanded the business and by 1847 had built the preeminent manufacturer of boiler plates in the US.

Born in Germany, Eberhard Anheuser emigrated to the US in 1843. He settled in St. Louis and set up a successful soap and candle manufacturing company. Anheuser invested in a local business, the Bavarian Brewing Company, and when it almost went bankrupt in 1860, he bought out its other creditors and began running it himself, changing its name to E. Anheuser & Co. The following year, his daughter married Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant who later became Anheuser’s business partner in his brewing business. In 1879, the company was renamed Anheuser-Busch and is now one of the largest beer producers in the US.

A farmer’s son from Virginia, Cyrus McCormick was the first person to build a mechanical reaper—a machine enabling farmers to efficiently harvest crops. He developed a prototype of his machine in 1831, winning a patent three years later. He commercially marketed the device in the 1840s and built a Chicago factory to target farmers in the Midwest. Even after the patent’s expiry, his business still thrived, due to his innovative production and marketing techniques. By the time McCormick died, his company was known globally, and in 1902, it merged to form the International Harvester Company.

On a sea voyage in 1830, the American-born Samuel Colt made a model of a revolving cylinder mechanism that would allow a handgun to be fired six times without reloading. Colt patented his invention in 1835 and began to manufacture his “revolver” and other firearms. Early failures forced Colt to close his factory in 1842, but he reopened it in 1847 after receiving an order for 1,000 pistols. In 1855, Colt opened a cutting-edge factory that mass-produced firearms. By 1862, his company was one of the world’s most successful firearms manufacturers.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Henri Nestlé was apprenticed to a pharmacist before moving to Switzerland. He carried out research in various fields, but the invention that made his fortune was “farine lactée.” This infant formula blended powdered milk with a flour from which the acid and starch had been removed, as infants found these hard to digest. By 1869, it was on sale across Europe and in the US. In 1874, Nestlé sold his business, which is now the largest food company in the world.

US-born Thomas Adams is known for having first launched chewing gum as a mass-market product. He discovered the potential of a natural gum called chicle while experimenting on it as a cheaper alternative to rubber tires. The tire experiments failed, yet Adams realized chicle could create a superior chewing gum to that made of spruce resin or sweetened paraffin. He began selling it in 1869, won a patent in 1871, and, by adding flavors, made it the most popular chewing gum in the US.

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born into slavery in Virginia. Taught to sew by her seamstress mother, she made dresses for white women and freed black women, some of whom helped her buy her freedom and would become her initial client base. After moving to Washington, she set up a dressmaking business of 20 seamstresses. There, her talents caught the notice of the first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, to whom she became both personal designer and friend. Keckley also founded a charity to support freed slaves and wounded black soldiers and published a book.

Working on the riverboats of the Mississippi River, Ohio-born Charles T. Hinde became a steamboat captain then set up a shipping business. After seeing the commercial potential of railroad travel, in 1870 Hinde sold his interests in water transportation to become an agent for railroad companies. In 1879, he moved to California, working in property and hotel development. He also invested in mines and shipping and worked on charitable causes.

In 1872, German engineer Gottlieb Daimler worked for Nikolaus Otto, the developer of a petroleum-powered internal-combustion engine. After clashing with Otto, Daimler was sacked in 1880 and went into business with a former colleague. They developed the first motorcycle in 1885 by adding a gasoline engine to a bicycle and then built an automobile. In 1890, they founded Daimler Motors Corporation and sold automobiles commercially.

The American wife of a New Hampshire politician, Persis Foster Eames Albee worked as an agent for David H. McConnell, a New York book dealer. In 1886, McConnell began selling cosmetics instead of books, and Albee became his key salesperson. She traveled house-to-house, directly marketing their products to female customers. Albee’s great innovation was to recruit and train hundreds of other women as “depot agents,” giving them the opportunity to gain financial independence by selling products. She helped develop new cosmetics and ran her own shop. The company was later renamed Avon, and Albee is known as the first “Avon Lady.”

James J. Hill had an impoverished childhood in Ontario, Canada. In his late teens, he migrated to Minnesota, the center of river transportation in the US and worked in shipping. In 1870, he set up a business arranging steamboat transportation for freight, particularly coal. Hill then entered the railroad business, heading a consortium that bought the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Under Hill’s leadership, it prospered and expanded. He purchased other regional railroads and in 1890 amalgamated them into the Great Northern Railway, which eventually ran from coast to coast.

The youngest of 21 children, Adolphus Busch emigrated to the US from his native Germany in 1857. He settled in St. Louis and set up a company supplying brewers. In 1865, he went into business with a local brewer, Eberhard Anheuser, and was made a partner in 1873. He encouraged the use of refrigeration and developed a way to pasteurize the beer so it could be distributed nationally. Busch also helped develop the beer Budweiser, which became a global brand. The company was renamed Anheuser-Busch in 1879, and after Anheuser died the following year, Busch became its president. Under his leadership, it became the largest brewer in the US, with factories, facilities, and distribution hubs across the country.

In 1861, English brothers George and Richard Cadbury took over their father’s chocolate and cocoa manufacturing business. They made the company profitable and in 1879 moved the factory from Birmingham to a rural site they named Bournville. They ensured superior working conditions, giving employees access to their own social security program. In 1893, George purchased land to build a model village for Bournville employees, with decent, affordable housing. He campaigned for social reform, among other charitable works. After Richard died in 1899, George became chairman of Cadbury’s, which continued to thrive under his leadership.