John Alfred Kimberly (July 18, 1838 – January 21, 1928) was an American manufacturing executive, a founder of
Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimberly-Clark brand ...
Corporation of
Neenah, Wisconsin
Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Gree ...
.
Born in
Troy, New York
Troy is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Huds ...
, he moved with his family to Wisconsin at age nine and settled in Neenah. Before moving west, he had obtained the rudiments of an education in the schools of Troy, and his education was completed in the pioneer schools of Neenah and at
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeduca ...
in
Appleton.
In 1872, Kimberly and
Havilah Babcock
Havilah Babcock (September 8, 1837 – April 21, 1905) was an American manufacturing executive and a joint founder of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Early life
Born in Franklin, Vermont, Babcock moved with his family to Waukesha, Wisconsi ...
formed a partnership with
Charles B. Clark and
Franklyn C. Shattuck. Each man contributed $7,500 to capitalize Kimberly-Clark & Company and built the Globe Mill, the first newsprint mill in Wisconsin. In the first 25 years of its existence, the company expanded from one mill with a two ton-per-day capacity to 14 mills and a daily capacity of 150 tons. Kimberly was still president of the company in 1928 when he died in his ninetieth year at his home in
Redlands, California
Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of ...
. The village of
Kimberly in Wisconsin is named after him.
['Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders H-M,' John N. Ingham, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Connecticut-London, England: 1983, Biographical Sketch of John Alfred Kimberly, pg. 714-716]
References
External links
Paper Industry International Hall of Fame– John A. Kimberly
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimberly, John A.
1838 births
1928 deaths
Businesspeople from Troy, New York
People from Neenah, Wisconsin
Lawrence University alumni
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
Kimberly-Clark