John Sargent Pillsbury Sr.

John Sargent Pillsbury Sr. (born on December 6, 1878 at Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 31, 1968 in Palm Beach County, Florida) was an American businessman and industrialist known for his role as CEO at Pillsbury Company. His father was Charles Alfred Pillsbury[1][2] co-founder of Pillsbury Company[3] with his uncle John S. Pillsbury[4][5] after which John himself was named. John's father had served in the Minnesota State Senate[6] and his great uncle had served as Governor of Minnesota from January 7, 1876 – January 10, 1882. It was for this reason that John had wanted to pursue a career in politics upon graduating from the University of Minnesota.[7] He had also planned to go to France at the turn of the century to study international law and the French language.

Unfortunately, the family business was in turmoil following the deaths of his father, while he was in college, and his great uncle soon after graduation. John, his twin brother Charles and their cousin Alfred Fiske Pillsbury, son of Gov. Pillsbury, formed a management team to take over the company. In 1889, the company had been purchased by British investors[8][9] and while his father and great uncle both remained in key positions within the company, it was no longer family owned.

John then fought off not only a buyout effort from a New York group to join it with their flour milling trust and then saved it from receivership in 1909. They put together a group that bought Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Co. Ltd., back from British stockholders in 1923 and took great pride in bringing it back under U.S. ownership. During a trip to Sicily, Italy and France, John learned a method for milling semolina flour which is made from durum wheat and used as a principal ingredient for making macaroni.

John served for 58 years on the board of directors of the Pillsbury Co. and remained an active member until 1962[10] He was Chairman of the Board from 1932 until his retirement in 1952 when he became director emeritus. Pillsbury also was a director of Northwestern National Bank, Northwestern Bancorporation, Meriden Iron Co., and was president of Sargent Land Co., and the Keewatin Mining Co.

Pillsbury was a lifelong Republican who built a magnificent summer home where he and his wife of 57 years raised their growing family. He married Eleanor Jerusha Lawler[11] (b. August 31, 1887) on December 5, 1911 and they had six children of which Edmund and Charles died early in life.[12] The survivors were his namesake John S. Pillsbury Jr.,[13][14][15] his son George and two daughters Mrs. Thomas M. Crosby, Orono, MN, and Mrs. Stanley R. Resor, Washington, D. C. Known as Pillsbury Mansion and as Southways Estate on Lake Minnetonka[16][17] (or Southways for short), the mansion became famous for the beauty New Jersey architect Harrie T. Lindeberg[18] built into it. They spent their Winters at their home in Palm Beach, Florida which is where John S. Pillsbury Sr., died on January 31rst, 1968 in Palm Beach County, Florida. His funeral was held at Plymouth Congregation Church and burial was at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.[19]

There has been confusion between the identities of John's great uncle, himself and his namesake son because they all possessed exactly the same name of John Sargent Pillsbury and they were all top executives at the same family owned company.

References
  1. "Charles Alfred Pillsbury - American manufacturer".
  2. "Pillsbury, Charles Alfred (1842–1899) - MNopedia". www.mnopedia.org.
  3. "Pillsbury Company - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Pillsbury Company". www.referenceforbusiness.com.
  4. "Pillsbury, John Sargent (1827–1901) - MNopedia". www.mnopedia.org.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2018-08-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Pillsbury, Charles Alfred "C.A." - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present". www.leg.state.mn.us.
  7. piep0072 (24 April 2017). "About Us".
  8. Wilkins, Mira (22 August 1989). The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914. Harvard University Press. p. 320 – via Internet Archive. Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Co. Ltd., bought in 1889.
  9. "History of The Pillsbury Company – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  10. Cohan, William D. (22 August 2018). Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World. Anchor Books. ISBN 9780767928267 – via Google Books.
  11. "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Mennell/Nichols". wc.rootsweb.com.
  12. "The Grand Dames of Lake Minnetonka - Artful Living". artfulliving.com. 3 April 2018.
  13. "John Sargent Pillsbury, Jr (1912-2005) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com.
  14. "John S. Pillsbury, Jr. Remembers NWNL's Ile de Bord - Quetico Superior Foundation". 25 August 2005.
  15. "Obituary for John Sargent Pillsbury".
  16. Stein, Diana. "Demolition permit issued for former Pillsbury mansion".
  17. Boller, Jay. "Pillsbury 'Southways' estate on Lake Minnetonka: Teardown coming for Orono mansion? - City Pages". City Pages.
  18. "Harrie T. Lindeberg, the American Architect History Forgot - Architectural Digest".
  19. "RETIRED BOARD CHAIRMAN OF PILLSBURY DIES". Roots Web. rootsweb.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
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