Robert Stuart (November 22, 1852 - January 27, 1926) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

businessman who was one of the founders of the Quaker Oats Company.

Early life

Robert Stuart was born in Ingersoll, Ontario on November 22, 1852, the son of John Stuart. He had opened a mill in Embro, Ontario, in the mid-1850s. In 1873, they moved to

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, opening an

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...

mill there, the North Star Oatmeal Mills. It was considered to be the world's largest at the time. The father and son team later opened a second mill in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and gained market share in

the Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, especially in Chicago,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Career

Stuart went into partnership with a railroader, George Bruce Douglas Sr., in 1874. In 1885, the Stuarts entered into a business partnership with competitor

Henry Parsons Crowell Henry Parsons Crowell (1855–1944) was an American businessman, 1901 founder of the Quaker Oats Company and a philanthropist.Musser, Joe (1997). ''The Cereal Tycoon''. Moody Press. , p.3, 154. Career As the founder of the Quaker Oats Company, He ...

, proprietor of the

Quaker Mill Company The Quaker Mill Company was a 19th-century American oat mill company in Ravenna, Ohio. After merging with three other companies in 1901, the company became the Quaker Oats Company. Today it is a subsidiary of PepsiCo. History Henry D. Seymour and ...

in Ravenna, Ohio in an attempt to compete against the much larger oatmeal business run by

Ferdinand Schumacher Ferdinand Schumacher (1822–1908),
at www.quakersquare.com. Accessed 10 August 2006. also known as The Oatmeal King ...

, the "Oatmeal King". The next year, Schumacher's largest mill burned down, leaving the uninsured Schumacher in difficult financial circumstances. Thus, he asked to join their business, thus forming the Consolidated Oatmeal Company, with Crowell as president, Stuart as vice-president, and Schumacher as treasurer. The Consolidated Oatmeal Company collapsed in 1888. Later in 1888, Schumacher led the way in organizing a consolidation of seven mills as the American Cereal Company, with Schumacher as president, Crowell as vice-president, and Stuart as treasurer. This company survived the wake of the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

by consolidating its facilities into two mills, one at

and the other at

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. In 1897, Schumacher and Stuart disagreed about investing money in the Cedar Rapids mill, and Schumacher eventually forced Stuart to resign from the American Cereal Company. The next year, Schumacher also forced Crowell out of the American Cereal Company. Stuart and Crowell, who together owned 24% of the American Cereal Company, now organized a

proxy fight A proxy fight, proxy contest or proxy battle (sometimes even called a proxy war) is an unfriendly contest for the control over an organization. The event usually occurs when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corp ...

and in 1899 managed to oust Schumacher from the company. Stuart and Crowell then undertook a massive expansion of the business, with Stuart managing the company's facilities and Crowell handling promotions. In 1901, the American Cereal Company was renamed the Quaker Oats Company. At that time, the Quaker Oats Company was doing $16 million of sales annually, selling wheat cereals, farina,

hominy Hominy (Spanish: maíz molido; literally meaning "milled corn") is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization ( is the Nahuatl word for "hominy"). "Lye hominy" is a ...

cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...

baby food Baby food is any soft easily consumed food other than breastmilk or infant formula that is made specifically for human babies between four and six months and two years old. The food comes in many varieties and flavors that are purchased ready-mad ...

, and

animal feed Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word ''feed'' more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input to ...

. By 1918, the company did $123 million in sales.

Personal life, death and legacy

Stuart married Margaret Shearer. They resided in Chicago and Pinehurst, North Carolina, where he died of heart disease on January 27, 1926. Stuart's son, John, became

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Quaker Oats Company in 1922. A second son,

R. Douglas Stuart Robert Douglas Stuart (January 20, 1886 – January 5, 1975) was a United States businessman who served as United States Ambassador to Canada from 1953 to 1956. Early life Stuart was born in Chicago in 1886, the son of Robert Stuart and his wi ...

would take over Crowell's marketing duties a short time later.

References

External links

Company History from the Quaker Oats website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Robert 1852 births 1926 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago People from Pinehurst, North Carolina American food company founders Quaker Oats Company people Burials at Rosehill Cemetery