Ferdinand Schumacher (1822–1908),
at www.quakersquare.com. Accessed 10 August 2006. also known as The Oatmeal King, was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and one of the founders of companies which merged to become the

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. Sc ...

.History
of the Quaker Oat Company o
the company website
. Accessed 28 July 2006.

Biography

Ferdinand Schumacher was born in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

March 30, 1822, son of a merchant. He completed high school locally, and apprenticed in the grocery business. He pursued this, and clerked in a manufacturing business until age 28, when he and his brother Otto emigrated to the United States. He farmed for two years and established a grocery trade in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

in 1852. Remembering that back in Germany he used to grind oats and sell them as breakfast food. He decided to do the same in Akron, Ohio and in 1854, Ferdinand Schumacher started selling his oatmeal, and from there it branched out to the rest of the United States. In 1857, he rented water power on the Ohio Canal in northwest Akron to power a mill for production of oatmeal. In 1858 he added equipment for pearling

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

. He continued adding to his plant, and introduced steam power in 1875. Ferdinand Schumacher married his cousin, Hermine Schumacher, in 1851, they had seven children, three of whom survived to adulthood. He was active in the

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

movement, and was strongly for

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

. He supported the erection of many churches. Schumacher ran unsuccessfully for

Ohio Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...

in 1872 and 1882, and Ohio Governor in 1883 as Progressive Party nominee.

References

External links

*
Description of Ferdinand Schumacher
at the Cleveland Memory Project. Quaker Oats Company people 1822 births 1908 deaths Businesspeople from Akron, Ohio American temperance activists German emigrants to the United States Activists from Ohio People from Celle 19th-century American businesspeople {{Business-bio-stub