Joel Owsley Cheek

Cheek was born on December 8, 1852 in Burkesville, Kentucky.[1][2] He attended Transylvania University in 1868.[1][2]

Cheek began his career as a schoolteacher for two years.[1][2] He subsequently became a peripatetic salesman for the Webb Wholesale Grocery Company Tennessee and Kentucky.[1] Cheek invested in the company, and it became known as Cheek, Webb & Co.[1]

With investors L. T. Webb, J. J. Norton and J. W. Neal, Cheek opened a coffee shop in Downtown Nashville in 1901.[1] They persuaded the owners of the Maxwell House Hotel to serve their coffee, and they use the name of the hotel as their coffee brand.[1] They began using the slogan "good to the last drop" in 1917.[1] In 1928, Cheek sold the brand to Postum Co. for $42 million; it was subsequently purchased by General Foods.[1] However, he was featured in Maxwell House advertisements until his death.[1]

Cheek "gave away much of his fortune to educational institutions, civic improvement campaigns, recognized charities and other worthy causes."[3]

Cheek married Minnie Ritchey in 1873.[1][2] He had eleven children.[4] He resided in Nashville, Tennessee: first at 513 Woodland Street in East Nashville and later 209 Louise Avenue near Centennial Park and Vanderbilt University.[4] His cousins were the owners of Cheekwood, which later became a museum.[1] Cheek was a Christian, and "a strong advocate of prohibition.[3] He never smoked or drank.[3]

Cheek died on December 14, 1935 in Jacksonville, Florida.[4] His portrait hangs in the Cumberland County Library in Burkesville, KY.[5]