Charles Alfred Pillsbury Charles is the Charles A. Pillsbury who started the Pillsbury Flour Company. Now one of the largest flour producing companies in the US, probably the world.
From www.friktech.com:
Charles A. Pillsbury bought the Minneapolis Flour Mill in 1869, renovating it and converting it to the Pillsbury Mill. At the time, the mill was capable of producing 150 barrels of flour per day. C.A. Pillsbury & Co. was organized a year later. Immediately being profitable, the Pillsbury operation began to expand. Pillsbury began to make use of the latest processes for refining and purifying flour. His confidence in the fineness of his flour was demonstrated by his marking it (beginning in 1872) with four X's: at the time, the finest flour was described as XXX, but Pillsbury honestly believed his flour to be finer than the others. Customers made 'Pillsbury's BEST' a household term. In 1881, the 'A' mill was completed, and although most operations worldwide were producing under 500 barrels per day, the Pillsbury operation set production records at over 5,000 barrels per day. The 'B' mill had actually been constructed earlier (in 1866, by Taylor Brothers), but Pillsbury did not acquire it until later. By 1887, the Pillsbury operation was the largest in the world, and by 1925, the 'A' mill's capacity had expanded to 17,500 barrels per day, with the mills as a whole producing up to 42,000 barrels.
In 1889, the operation (along with other mills) was purchased and became part of the Pillsbury-Washburn Company, Ltd., a new British company. Charles A. Pillsbury remained involved until near the time of his death in 1899.
He was born on 3 October 1842 at
Warner, New Hampshire, USA. He was the son of
George Alfred Pillsbury and
Margaret Sprague. Charles Alfred Pillsbury married
Mary Ann Stinson, daughter of
Charles Stinson and
Mary Ann Poor, on 13 September 1866 at
New Hampshire, USA. Charles Alfred Pillsbury died on 17 September 1899 at age 56.