Milton S. Hershey
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Milton Snavely Hershey (September 13, 1857 – October 13, 1945) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is famous for founding The Hershey Chocolate Company and the "company town" of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Due to his father's get rich quick plans, Milton couldn't finish school and dropped out in the 4th grade. As a young adult, his Reformed Mennonite mother's family[citation needed] financed for him several unsuccessful ventures in the candy industry. He persisted, and eventually found success in 1883 manufacturing caramel and other candies in what became the Lancaster Caramel Company. Following a visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition he bought a European exhibitor's chocolate manufacturing equipment and added chocolate products to his business. Despite his company's prospering, Hershey determined that the chocolate industry had more promise. He sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for one million dollars in 1900 but retained the chocolate business and the rights to produce chocolate products. With the proceeds he acquired some 40,000 acres (160 km�) of undeveloped land north of Lancaster where he founded the Hershey Chocolate Company, which would become the world's largest chocolate factory.
The factory was in the center of dairy farmland, but with Hershey's support, houses, businesses, churches, and a transportation infrastructure accreted around the plant. Because the land was surrounded by dairy farms, he was able to use fresh milk to mass-produce quality milk chocolate. Hershey continued to experiment and perfect the process of making milk chocolate using the techniques he had first learned for adding milk to make caramels. The company also pioneered in making cocoa drinks and the famous Hershey's baking chocolate.
On May 25, 1898 Hershey married Catharine "Kitty" Sweeney. Since Milton and his wife Catherine could not have children, they decided to use their successes to benefit others, opening the Hershey Industrial School in 1909. In 1951, this was renamed the Milton Hershey School.
In 1918, Hershey transferred the majority of his assets, including his control of the chocolate company, to the formation of the Milton Hershey School Trust, to benefit the Industrial School. The trust fund has a majority of voting shares in The Hershey Company , allowing it to keep control of the company. The trust also has 100% control of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, which owns The Hotel Hershey and HersheyPark, among other properties.
The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center was a gift from the Milton Hershey School Trust to the people of Pennsylvania, with an initial endowment of $50 million and only one restriction—the hospital must be built in Hershey. The funds were removed from the Trust without public comment or public hearings. Certain individuals gained the approval of the Attorney General and Orphans' Court, operating in secret. The hospital is a teaching hospital with an annual budget exceeding the initial amount required to build it. It is part of the Penn State University.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Brenner, Jo�l Glenn (2000). The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey & Mars. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0457-5.
- D'Antonio, Michael (2006). Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-6409-6
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1857 births | 1945 deaths | Hershey, Pennsylvania | Confectionery magnates | American Mennonites | People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania | History of Lancaster, Pennsylvania | Swiss-Americans | German-Americans
