John Wesley Hanes (February 3, 1850 – September 23, 1903) was an American businessman from

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

who ran a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...

company before founding Shamrock Mills in 1901, the company that became Hanes Hosiery Mills.

Life

Known by his middle name, Wesley Hanes (one of Winston-Salem's wealthiest and most influential businessmen) owned the expensive clothing company in partnership with his brother, Pleasant Henderson Hanes. Using some of the proceeds of their sale of the business to

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco com ...

, Wesley Hanes went into the manufacturing of

stocking Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transpare ...

s while his brother set up an

underwear Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

manufacturing business under the name P.H. Hanes Knitting Company. Wesley Hanes died of heart trouble on the morning of September 23, 1903, in Atlantic City N. J, aged fifty-three, just two years after creating the business. His son,

James Gordon Hanes 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 (disambigua ...

, would be responsible for the 1963 merger with P. H. Hanes Knitting and for making Hanes Hosiery one of largest producers in the world of seamless stretch

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...

hosiery for women."James G. Hanes, 86, Former Top Officer Of Textile Company"
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', p. 51, July 23, 1972

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanes I, John Wesley 1850 births 1903 deaths American chief executives of manufacturing companies American tobacco industry executives American textile industry businesspeople American chief executives of fashion industry companies American company founders Hanes family Businesspeople from Winston-Salem, North Carolina R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Burials at Salem Cemetery