![EH Dyer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/EH_Dyer.jpg)
Ebenezer Herrick Dyer (April 17, 1822 – 1906) was an American businessman who established the first successful commercial
beet sugar
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wit ...
mill in the U.S., and as such, was called the "father of the American beet
sugar industry".
Dyer was born in
Sullivan, Maine; his family was one of the original colonists of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
. Unlike his brother Ephraim who was drawn by the
California Gold Rush, Dyer stayed in Maine when the number of immigrants to California skyrocketed. However, Ephraim needed help running a farm and asked his brother to join him. Dyer had previously run
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
and
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
companies, and as an 1883 biography states, "Seeking a wider field he came to California."
He arrived in 1857 and determining that the situation was favorable, returned to Maine for his wife Marion Wallace Ingalls, whom he had married in 1850,
and two children. Returning in April 1858, they settled on Ephraim's farm in
Alvarado (now part of
Union City). After his wife died in 1863, Dyer married Olive Ingalls, his sister-in-law. In total, he had six children, three sons and three daughters,
three from each of the sisters.
In 1859 he was elected County
Surveyor of
Alameda County
Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...
and re-elected two years later. Also, that same year he was appointed United States Deputy Surveyor by
Surveyor General E. F. Beale, and he served in that position for about ten years. In 1876 he was chosen by the
Second Congressional District of California as a
delegate
Delegate or delegates may refer to:
* Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia
* Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique
* Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations
* Delegate (Unit ...
to the
Republic National Convention at
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
.
Meanwhile, Dyer noticed that much of America's sugar was imported from abroad. Although several sugar beet mills had been established in the U.S., none of the ventures could remain in business for more than a few years. Dyer felt that with proper management, something he had experience in, a sugar company should be able to succeed.
To determine if the land was suitable for growing sugar beets, he ordered seeds from
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 betwe ...
to plant on his farm. To his delight, he found the plants to thrive in California.
These experiments attracted the attention of the owners of one of those failed companies, a pair of Germans named A. Otto and A. D. Bonesteel, who had left sugar beet processing jobs in their home country to try to establish a sugar beet industry in the U.S.
The Dyers, the Germans, and some other partners formed the
California Beet Sugar Company. The Germans, who were tapped to manage the mill's operation based on their previous experience, turned out to be less than competent, and the enterprise failed. In 1873, Bonesteel and Otto moved to try their luck in
Soquel
Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Soquel is located a ...
, but they proved to be unsuccessful yet again.
Undeterred, Dyer purchased the Sacramento Beet Sugar Company. This attempt also was a failure, but Dyer persisted and, in 1879, finally found the right formula when he formed the Standard Sugar Manufacturing Company. Still, in 1886 the company was forced to close, not due to poor business, but after some equipment exploded, causing the death of a firefighter.
Dyer
liquidated
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...
the stock and reorganized the company as the Pacific Coast Sugar Company. Three years later, the business was sold to the Alameda Sugar Company.
Dyer continued to be in the sugar business, however. He and his son Edward, who was a
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
and mechanical
draftsman
A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...
, toured sugar beet factories in Germany and brought back ideas to improve their existing facilities as well as for his next project, designing the factory for the newly incorporated
Utah Sugar Company
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...
in
Lehi, Utah.
He retired in the 1890s and died in 1906.
The street on which the California Beet Sugar Company resided in Union City is named after Dyer, as is a street in
Santa Ana, California.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, E. H.
1822 births
1906 deaths
History of the San Francisco Bay Area
People from Sullivan, Maine
People from Union City, California
History of sugar
Date of death missing
Businesspeople from California
Businesspeople in the sugar industry
19th-century American businesspeople