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American businessman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolphus Williamson Green (January 14, 1843 – 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 1899, 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, 1843 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 8, 1917 (aged 74) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Boston Latin School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney, businessman |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Esther Walsh |
| Children | 1 son, 5 daughters |
Adolphus Williamson Green was born on January 14, 1843, in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2][3] His ancestors had immigrated to the United States from Ireland.[4]
Green was educated in Boston public schools, including the Boston Latin School, from which he graduated in 1859.[2][5] He entered Harvard University in 1859, graduating in 1863.[3][6]
Green started as the Principal of a high school in Groton, Massachusetts in 1864.[2][6] In 1865, he became second assistant librarian at the New York Mercantile Library.[2][5] From 1867 to 1869, he was promoted to full librarian.[2][5] 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.[2][5] He was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1873.[2][5]
Green moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1873,[2] and began practicing as an attorney in Chicago.[7] In 1886, he became the attorney of the South Park Commissioners.[2][8] Later, he was the attorney of the Chicago Board of Trade.[2][8]
Green was the co-founder of the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company in 1890,[5][9] by merging forty bakeries across the Midwest.[1] He was also a co-founder of the United States Baking Company.[5][9] 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.[4] The merger of a hundred and fourteen bakeries led to the National Biscuit Company,[1] co-founded by Green alongside Philip Danforth Armour, a meatpacking magnate, and Senator Frank Orren Lowden of Illinois.[4]
Green first served as the general counsel of the National Biscuit Company, and later as the chairman of its board of directors.[6] In 1899, he was the first person to sell packaged biscuits instead of selling them in bulk.[3] Green went on to serve as the President of the National Biscuit Company from 1905 to 1917.[3] Under his leadership, the company marketed Uneeda biscuits, animal crackers and Oreos.[1] Green encouraged his employees to buy stocks, refused to hire children in his factories, and provided affordable meals.[4] However, he was opposed to strikes and organized labor.[4]
Green was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention.[2] He supported Grover Cleveland in the 1892 United States presidential election.[2]
Green married Esther Walsh, the daughter of Charles Walsh of Chicago, on June 3, 1879.[10] Esther was a philanthropist,[11][12] attending fundraisers for Barnard College,[13] among other causes.
Six of their children survived to adulthood: a son, John Russell Green, and five daughters: Mrs Orville Browning Carrott (Jane),[14] Mrs Bushrod Brush Howard (Esther Margaret), Mrs Norman Putnam Ream (Mary),[15] Mrs Lucius Pond Ordway, Jr. (Josephine), and Mrs Nelson S. Talbott (Elizabeth).[3][16]
In Chicago, they resided at 4935 Greenwood Avenue.[17] When they moved to New York City, they resided at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.[3] They also maintained a country estate in Belle Haven, a neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut.[18][19] They summered in Europe in 1897.[20] They attended the inauguration ball for the re-election of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905.[21][22]
Esther predeceased him, dying on October 18, 1912, in Greenwich, Connecticut.[23]
Green died on March 8, 1917.[1][3][6] He was seventy-four years old.[24] His funeral took place at St. Mary's Church in Greenwich, Connecticut on March 10, 1917.[3][25] At the time of his death, he was worth US$2,400,000.[26]
The National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco, is a subsidiary owned by Mondelēz International.[7]
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