James Harvey Ganong (January 9, 1841 – April 21, 1888) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman in

St. Stephen, New Brunswick St. Stephen (2016 population: 4,415) is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River around the intersection of New Brunswick Route 170 and the southern terminus of New Brunswick Route ...

who co-founded

Ganong Bros. Ganong Bros., Limited is Canada's oldest candy company. It was founded by James and Gilbert Ganong in 1873 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where it remains. Primarily a producer of boxed chocolates and the first to introduce heart-shaped boxes, ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

making company in 1873 and the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Co. in 1878.

Biography

Born in Springfield, New Brunswick, James was the eldest of the six children of Francis Daniel Ganong and Deborah Ruth Keirstead. In 1863, he married Susan E. Brittain of Carleton, New Brunswick with whom he had seven children. His father was a farmer and a merchant and as a young man, James worked as a shopkeeper and as a travelling salesman. He lived in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

for a few years where two of his children were born. In 1873, he and his brother

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

moved to the border town of St. Stephen on the St. Croix River across from

Calais, Maine Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,079, making Calais the third least-populous city in Maine (after Hallowell and Eastport). The city has three Canada–US border cro ...

. There, they established a grocery business and within a few years added a bakery and confectionery manufactory plus expanded their retailing to include a store in Calais. Successful, in 1878 the brothers, in partnership with Freeman H. Todd, built the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company but in 1884 they elected to dissolve their partnership. Gilbert Ganong retained the store, bakery and confectionery business while James took over the soap factory. James Ganong was actively involved in community affairs and served as mayor of St. Stephen. He died unexpectedly in 1888 at the age of forty-seven upon which his son,

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (died ...

, took over the running of the soap business. Gilbert Ganong died without issue and James's son Arthur would take over the chocolate business.

References

The Canadian Encyclopedia
* Folster, David. ''The Chocolate Ganongs of St. Stephen, New Brunswick'' (1991)

Goose Lane Editions Goose Lane Editions is a Canadian book publishing company founded in 1954 in Fredericton, New Brunswick as Fiddlehead Poetry Books by Fred Cogswell and a group of students and faculty from the University of New Brunswick associated with ''The Fid ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganong, James H. 1841 births 1888 deaths Canadian Baptists Businesspeople from New Brunswick Canadian chief executives People from Kings County, New Brunswick People from St. Stephen, New Brunswick People from Washington County, Maine

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Canadian expatriates in the United States 19th-century Baptists