Adolphus W. Green
Adolphus Williamson Green (January 14, 1844 – March 8, 1917) was an American attorney and businessman. He was the co-founder of the National Biscuit Company (now known as Nabisco, owned by Mondelēz International) in 1898. A year later, in 1898, he was the first person to sell packaged biscuits. He served as the President of the National Biscuit Company from 1905 to 1917.
Adolphus W. Green | |
---|---|
Born | Adolphus Williamson Green January 14, 1844 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | March 8, 1917 73) New York, New York, U.S. | (aged
Education | Boston Latin School |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Occupation | Attorney, businessman |
Net worth | US$2,400,000.[1] |
Political party | Democratic Party |
Spouse(s) | Esther Walsh |
Children | 1 son, 5 daughters |
Early life
Adolphus Williamson Green was born on January 14, 1844 in Boston, Massachusetts.[2][3][4] His ancestors had immigrated to the United States from Ireland.[5]
Green was educated in Boston public schools, including the Boston Latin School, from which he graduated in 1859.[3][6] He entered Harvard University in 1859, graduating in 1863.[4][7]
Career
Green started as the Principal of the Groton School in 1864.[3][7] In 1865, he became second assistant librarian at the New York Mercantile Library.[3][6] From 1867 to 1869, he was promoted to full librarian.[3][6] From 1869 to 1873, he worked for Evarts, Southmayd & Choate, a law firm co-founded by William M. Evarts, Charles Ferdinand Southmayd and Joseph Hodges Choate.[3][6] He was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1873.[3][6]
Green moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1873,[3] and began practising as an attorney in Chicago.[8] In 1886, he became the attorney of the South Park Commissioners.[3][9] Later, he was the attorney of the Chicago Board of Trade.[3][9]
Green was the co-founder of the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company in 1890,[6][10] by merging forty bakeries across the Midwest.[2] He was also a co-founder of the United States Baking Company.[6][10] By 1898, Green merged both companies with the Chicago-based New York Biscuit Company, which owned twenty-three bakeries from ten states on the East Coast.[5] The merger of a hundred and fourteen bakeries led to the National Biscuit Company,[2] co-founded by Green alongside Philip Danforth Armour, a meatpacking magnate, and Senator Frank Orren Lowden of Illinois.[5]
Green first served as the general counsel of the National Biscuit Company, and later as the Chairman of its Board of Directors.[7] In 1899, he was the first person to sell packaged biscuits instead of selling them in bulk.[4] Green went on to serve as the President of the National Biscuit Company from 1905 to 1917.[4] Under his leadership, the company marketed Uneeda biscuits, animal crackers and Oreos.[2] Green encouraged his employees to buy stocks, refused to hire children in his factories, and provided affordable meals.[5] However, he was opposed to strikes and organized labor.[5]
Political activity
Green was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention.[3] He supported Grover Cleveland in the 1892 United States presidential election.[3]
Personal life
Green married Esther Walsh, the daughter of Charles Walsh of Chicago, on June 3, 1879.[11] Esther was a philanthropist,[12][13] attending fundraisers for Barnard College,[14] among other causes.
Six of their children survived to adulthood: a son, John Russell Green, and five daughters: Mrs Orville Browning Carrott (Jane),[15] Mrs Bushrod Brush Howard (Esther Margaret), Mrs Norman Putnam Ream (Mary),[16] Mrs Lucius Pond Ordway, Jr. (Josephine), and Mrs Nelson S. Talbott (Elizabeth).[4][17]
In Chicago, they resided at 4935 Greenwood Avenue.[18] When they moved to New York City, they resided at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.[4] They also maintained a country estate in Belle Haven, a neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut.[19][20] They summered in Europe in 1897.[21] They attended the inauguration ball for the re-election of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905.[22][23]
Esther predeceasing him, dying on October 18, 1912 in Greenwich, Connecticut.[24]
Death and legacy
Green died on March 8, 1917.[2][4][7] He was seventy-three years old.[25] His funeral took place at St. Mary's Church in Greenwich, Connecticut on March 10, 1917.[4][26] At the time of his death, he was worth US$2,400,000.[1]
The National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco, is a subsidiary owned by Mondelēz International.[8]
References
- "Personal". The Boston Post. July 22, 1918. p. 10. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Adolphus W. Green: National Biscuit Company: 1905 - 1917". Harvard Business School: Great American Business Leaders Of The Twentieth Century. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- "Green's Great Work And How It Was Done". The Atlanta Constitution. March 20, 1904. p. 5. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Adolphus Williamson Green". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 9, 1917. p. 3. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Wagenknecht, Edward (1982). American Profile, 1900-1909. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 978-0870233517.
American biscuit and manufacturing company.
- "Lawyer's Uneeda Biscuit. Adolphus W. Green of Chicago, Originated the Idea". The St Louis Republic. March 26, 1904. p. 16. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Cracker Co. Head Is Dead". Boston Post. March 9, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "our founders". Mondelēz International. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- "Man Who Made Unedo Biscuit Famous Dies". The Leanvenworth Weekly Times (Leavenworth, Kansas). March 15, 1917. p. 8. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Success Achieved By Push And Ideas: Forceful Career of Adolphus Williamson Green, Head of the National Biscuit Company". The Salt Lake Tribune. April 3, 1904. p. 5. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "National Biscuit Head Dies: A. W. Green Succumbs to Complication of Diseases in New York Hotel". The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Michigan). March 9, 1917. p. 8. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Entertainments for Charity". The New York Times. January 13, 1907. p. 26. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Masquerade At The Plaza.: Knickerbocker Dance for the Benefit of Banard Scholarship Fund". The New York Times. February 1, 1908. p. 9. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "In the Society World". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 19, 1906. p. 11. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Ream-Green Wedding". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 3, 1916. p. 14. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Adolphus W. Green, National Biscuit Co. President, Is Dead: Aged Attorney Originated Airtight Package Sales Schemes". New-York Tribune. March 9, 1917. p. 7. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Weddings Announced For The Near Future". Chicago Inter Ocean. July 23, 1905. p. 41. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Telegraph Tips". The Washington Herald. September 25, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Wild Race With Death Is Won By Physician". The Pittsburgh Daily Post. September 14, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "All Aboard For Europe". Chicago Inter Ocean. July 14, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Rare Display of Gowns and Gems at Inauguration Ball". The Washington Post. March 5, 1905. p. 4. Retrieved August 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Ballroom Scene A Picture Of Rare Beauty And Regal Splendor". The Washington Times. March 5, 1905. p. 6. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Thorium Fails To Save. Mrs Adolphus W. Green Dies Despite Use of Rare Chemical". The Sun. October 19, 1912. p. 28. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "A. W. Green Dies In East: President of National Biscuit Company Succumbs at New York". The Sun. March 9, 1917. p. 4. Retrieved December 24, 2002 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Died". The Sun. March 9, 1917. p. 7. Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.