Cabot, Godfrey Lowell (26 February 1861–02 November 1962), manufacturer, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel Cabot, a physician and prominent member of the unofficial first family of Boston, and Hannah Lowell Jackson. In 1882 Cabot graduated from Harvard, where he studied chemistry. Following graduation, he studied at Zurich Polytechnicum and University in Switzerland and again at Harvard in 1891 and 1892. In 1890 he married Maria Buckminster Moors, with whom he had five children....
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Cabot, Godfrey Lowell (1861-1962), manufacturer
Albro Martin
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Colgate, William (1783-1857), manufacturer and philanthropist
Charles W. Carey Jr.
Colgate, William (25 January 1783–25 March 1857), manufacturer and philanthropist, was born in Hollingbourne parish, Kent, England, the son of Robert Colgate, a gentleman farmer, and Sarah Bowles. In 1795 he emigrated with his family to the United States because his father, an outspoken critic of King George III, was forced to flee England to avoid prosecution for treason. The family disembarked in Baltimore, Maryland, and purchased a modest estate in nearby Harford County, which was lost two years later when it was discovered that they did not possess a clear title. They then moved to present-day Randolph County, West Virginia, where his father attempted unsuccessfully to farm and mine coal. In 1800 they returned to Baltimore, where he and his father went into business with Robert Mather, a soap and candle maker. After the partnership dissolved two years later and his family relocated to Ossining, New York, he remained in Baltimore and opened his own soap and candle works....
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Fels, Samuel Simeon (1860-1950), soap manufacturer and philanthropist
Lawrence F. Greenfield
Fels, Samuel Simeon (16 February 1860–23 June 1950), soap manufacturer and philanthropist, was born in Yanceyville, North Carolina, the son of Lazarus Fels, proprietor of a general store, and Susanna Freiberg. Before and during the Civil War, the family prospered, largely through the entrepreneurial efforts of Samuel’s father, despite an unsuccessful attempt to make and sell soap....
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Johnson, Robert Wood (04 April 1893–30 January 1968), pharmaceutical manufacturer and philanthropist
Ann T. Keene
Johnson, Robert Wood (04 April 1893–30 January 1968), pharmaceutical manufacturer and philanthropist, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Robert Wood Johnson and Evangeline Armstrong Johnson. A decade before Johnson's birth, his father, a small-town druggist from New England, had joined with his brothers to found Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the surgical dressings company headquartered in New Brunswick, and had become its first president. Growing up in a well-to-do household, young Johnson was privately tutored and also attended Lawrenceville School prior to enrolling at Rutgers Preparatory School for his secondary education. The elder Robert Wood Johnson died during his son's senior year, and upon graduation the younger Johnson decided to forgo college and enter the family business....
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Mallinckrodt, Edward (1845-1928), chemical manufacturer and philanthropist
Joanna B. Downer
Mallinckrodt, Edward (21 January 1845–01 February 1928), chemical manufacturer and philanthropist, was born Edward Theodor Mallinckrodt in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Emil Mallinckrodt, a horticulturist and real estate developer, and Eleanor Didier Luckie. Edward’s father was in the first generation of Mallinckrodts to emigrate to the United States, from Westphalia, Germany. The Mallinckrodt family did a great deal of traveling, both to escape the hot summers of St. Louis and to maintain close ties to family residing in Germany. On returning from an extended stay in Germany (1850–1855), Edward’s father purchased forty acres of farm land approximately ten miles west of St. Louis, where the family then resided. Early in his life Edward discovered his father’s chemistry books, and his father encouraged this interest by building a laboratory for him in an outbuilding....
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Malone, Annie Turnbo (1869-1957), African-American businesswoman, manufacturer, and philanthropist
Mary K. Dains
Malone, Annie Turnbo (09 August 1869–10 May 1957), African-American businesswoman, manufacturer, and philanthropist, was born in Metropolis, Illinois, the daughter of Robert Turnbo and Isabella Cook, farmers. Little is known of the early childhood of Annie Turnbo Malone, except that she was second youngest of eleven children. Her parents were former slaves in Kentucky. Her father joined the Union army during the Civil War, and her mother escaped to Illinois with her small children. After the war, Robert Turnbo joined his family at Metropolis, where he became a farmer and landowner. Following the death of both parents, Annie went to live with older brothers and sisters in Metropolis and, later, Peoria and Lovejoy, Illinois. She completed public school education in Metropolis and attended high school in Peoria. Because of ill health, she did not complete her high school education. In these early years, Malone dreamed of making products to enhance the beauty of black women. She experimented with chemistry while in high school, and believing that “woman’s crowning glory is her hair,” she developed a scalp treatment solution to grow and straighten hair....
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Morehead, John Motley (1870-1965), electrochemist, diplomat, and philanthropist
Herbert T. Pratt
Morehead, John Motley (03 November 1870–07 January 1965), electrochemist, diplomat, and philanthropist, was born in Spray (now Eden), North Carolina, the son of James Turner Morehead, a prominent textile manufacturer, and Mary Elizabeth Connally. After preparatory and military school training, he entered the University of North Carolina and graduated with election to Phi Beta Kappa in 1891....
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Procter, William Cooper (1862-1934), business executive
Amy Fischer
Procter, William Cooper (25 August 1862–02 May 1934), business executive, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of William Alexander Procter, an executive at the Procter & Gamble Company, and Charlotte Elizabeth Jackson. His father was the eldest son of William Procter, who cofounded the Procter & Gamble Company with his brother-in-law James Gamble in 1837....
