James Athearn "J. A." Folger Sr. (June 17, 1835 – June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and the founder of the Folgers Coffee Company.

Early years

Folger was born in

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, the son of Samuel Brown Folger (b. 1795) and wife Nancy Hiller (b. 1798). His father was a master

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

who had invested in a

tryworks A trywork, located aft of the fore-mast, is the most distinguishing feature of a whaling ship. It is a furnace, typically constructed of brick and attached to the deck with iron braces. Two cast-iron trypots are set atop the furnace and used to ...

and bought two ships. They had nine children of which James was the second youngest. The Folger family roots can be traced back to Peter Folger, an English colonist.Remarks on the Origin and Genealogy of the Franklin Family.
/ref> On July 13, 1846, a fire broke out in Nantucket's business section and burned the works and ship and 11 year old James helped in the reconstruction.

San Francisco

After the discovery of gold in California, James (age 14), along with his brothers Henry (age 16) and Edward (age 20) set out in the autumn of 1849 on a ship bound for the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

. After a raft and hiking journey across the Isthmus, the brothers waited at

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

for quite a while before catching the Pacific mail steamer ''Isthmus'' on April 10, 1850. They entered the Golden Gate on May 5, 1850. James decided to stay in San Francisco instead of heading to the gold fields as a result of the high wages being offered. He helped reconstruct after one of San Francisco's many fires, similar to how he had in Nantucket. He helped build a spice-and-coffee mill for a man named William H. Bovee. In 1860, he founded the San Francisco coffee firm known as the J. A. Folger Coffee Company, known today simply as Folgers Coffee.

Death and legacy

J. A. Folger married Eleanor Laughran (born October 17, 1837) and was the father of James Athearn Folger Jr. (1864–1921), who married Clare Luning. James and Eleanor had three other children; John Athearn m. Nancy Try (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Slaughter), Ernest Randolph, and Elizabeth. He is the paternal grandfather of

Peter Folger Peter Folger (December 26, 1905 – August 27, 1980) was an American coffee heir, socialite, and member of the prominent United States Folger family. He was also the longtime chairman of the board and president of the Folgers Coffee Company. He ...

, and the great-grandfather of

Abigail Folger Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...

. Abigail was murdered in 1969, by members of the Manson family, along with her friend, actress

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...

among others. He is also the uncle of

Henry Clay Folger Henry Clay Folger Jr. (June 18, 1857 – June 11, 1930) was president and later chairman of Standard Oil of New York, a collector of Shakespeareana, and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Early life Henry Clay Folger Jr. was born in New ...

, founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library. He died June 26, 1889 at the age of 54 and is buried in the Folger family plot at Mountain View Cemetery in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

References

External links

Official website of Folgers Coffee
* ''The Folger Way – Coffee Pioneering Since 1850'', Ruth Waldo Newhall (1961) (no ISBN number)

by Robert F. Mooney. Originally published in the ''Historic Nantucket'', Vol 48, no. 3 (Summer 1999), p. 24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Folger, J. A. American drink industry businesspeople American company founders Businesspeople in coffee Businesspeople from San Francisco People from Nantucket, Massachusetts 1835 births 1889 deaths Place of death missing Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area American people of English descent 19th-century American businesspeople