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‘We have a proud legacy. We’ve been here 172 years now, so there’s the belief that people aren’t here temporarily.’
— Tim Hussey, CEO of Hussey Seating Company (#49), in Family Business Agenda, Autumn 2007
America’s oldest
companies are scattered
across 31 states. The original
13 colonies are home to
54 companies on the list.
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31. 1815
Loane Bros. Inc.
Loane family
Awnings, tents/Baltimore, MD
www.loanebros.com
British immigrant Joseph Loane arrived in Baltimore in 1815 and opened a shop selling canvas sails. Today, the sixth generation of Loanes makes and rents awnings and party tents and rents party equipment. Bryan Loane is the current president.
32. 1816
Taylor Chair Co.
Taylor/Meals family
Furniture/Bedford, OH
www.thetaylorcompanies.com
Carpenter Benjamin Fitch, a settler from Connecticut, founded the furniture company. His daughter married his apprentice, William O. Taylor; the firm took Taylor’s name in 1842. The seventh generation now makes desks, chairs and sofas for nationwide markets.
33. (tie) 1818
Eaton Funeral Homes
Eaton family
Funeral services/Needham, MA
www.eatonfuneralhomes.com
In 1818, carpenter William Eaton opened a shop at age 25 and built his first coffin that year. Founder William and his son George, an insurance man, managed funerals as a sideline. In the 1890s, George’s son Alger bought his uncle’s livery business, acquired a hearse and got his embalming license. Current director Laurence G. is a sixth-generation family member. Laurence R. and brother David also represent the sixth generation.
* 33. (tie) 1818
Marshall Elevator
Marshall family
Elevators/Pittsburgh, PA
www.marshallelevator.com
The company was established in Pittsburgh in 1818 as a blacksmith shop and foundry. The family can trace its business activities to the mid-1650s in West Thirston, Northumberland County, England. The core business is now commercial elevator and escalator installation and service. The company also produces industrial communication equipment, tower elevators, specialty accessibility ramps, and wheelchair and residential lifts. Seventh-generation members Robert and Lynda Jamison own the company; their sons are the eighth generation working at Marshall.
35. 1822
Stuard Funeral Home
Stuard family
Funeral services/Ardmore, PA
Henry Stuard founded a funeral home in Ardmore, Pa., in 1822. Sixth-generation member Wally Stuard III now runs the business.
36. 1824
Ashaway Line and Twine Mfg. Co.
Crandall family
Manufacturing/Ashaway, RI
www.ashawayusa.com
Capt. Lester Crandall founded a fishing line company in 1824. The company produced the first commercial nylon fishing lines in 1939 and the first commercial racquet strings in 1949. In 1977, Ashaway introduced Kevlar strings. Now, Ashaway Line and Twine Mfg. Co. produces strings for racquet sports, surgical suture thread and custom braided products. The sixth-generation Crandall family manages the company.
* 37. (tie) 1825
Milward Funeral Directors Inc.
Milward family
Funeral services/Lexington, KY
www.milwardfuneral.com
Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Milward opened a cabinet and furniture business with a partner and soon afterward focused on production of caskets. Within ten years he became the sole proprietor. Milward Funeral Directors is Lexington’s oldest continuously operating business. Fifth- and sixth-generation members Robert Emmet Milward and Robert E. Milward Jr. are now operating the business.
37. (tie) 1825
M.A. Patout & Son Ltd.
Patout family
Sugar, syrup, etc./Jeanerette, LA
www.mapatout.com
In 1829, Pierre Siméon Patout (1791-1847), son of French peasants with Bonapartist sympathies, came to Louisiana, acquired slaves and began producing sugar cane. Despite a major fire in 1959 that destroyed the mill and all records, his widow, sons and descendants continued the business. Now, M.A. Patout & Son Ltd. is the oldest (and largest) continuously operating, family-owned sugar plantation in U.S. The family has a raw sugar factory on premises. The current chairman of the board, Frank William Patout, is a sixth-generation family member.
39. 1826
Henry W.T. Mali & Company
Mali family
Billiards/New York, NY
www.malicloth.com
Belgian-born Henri W.T. Mali worked in his father’s cloth manufacturing firm. In 1826, he came to the U.S. to launch an office; his brother Charles joined him shortly after. The company now makes billiard cloth, cues and cases. Family members served as Belgian consuls in New York, 1831-1949. Relatives include abolitionist Lucretia Mott and John Taylor Johnston, founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fifth-generation member Lucretia Mali now runs the company.
40. (tie) 1828
Cornell Iron Works
Cornell family
Industrial door manufacturing/Mountaintop, PA
www.cornelliron.com
The family firm started as a blacksmith shop and evolved into specialty ironwork, grates, railings, stairs, vaults, and structural and ornamental ironwork. The company provided circular stairs and ironwork for the Brooklyn Bridge and the iron base and stairways for the Statue of Liberty. Today it is a major manufacturer of industrial doors. CEO Andrew Cornell is a fifth-generation Cornell family member and the seventh family president.
40. (tie) 1828
George Jerome & Co.
Jerome family
Engineering/Roseville, MI
www.georgejerome.com
Founder Edwin Jerome, originally from Batavia, N.Y., started a lumber business in Michigan. He laid out lot lines with chain and transitioned to surveying and engineering. Two members of Edwin's survey crew were killed in an Indian raid. The current chairman is fifth-generation member George Jerome Sr. His son George Jerome Jr., a civil engineer, is president.
42. 1829
D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc.
Yuengling family
Brewery/Pottsville, PA
www.yuengling.com
David Yuengling (pronounced “ying-ling”) founded Eagle Brewery in 1829. Two years later, the brewery burned down and was rebuilt. In 1873, the family adopted the company’s current name and David’s son Frederick joined the business. During Prohibition, Yuengling produced “near beer.” Throughout the years, the Yuengling family has resisted buyout offers from brewery giants. President Richard Yuengling Jr. represents the fifth generation, and his four daughters may continue the family tradition. Recently, to triple capacity, the family built a new plant near the original site. Today America’s oldest brewery makes about 800,000 barrels of beer and ale yearly.
43. (tie) 1830
E.A. Clore Sons Inc.
Clore family
Furniture/Madison, VA
www.eaclore.com
Moses Clore founded a furniture business in Virginia in 1830. The company still produces handcrafted furniture and tables.
* 43. (tie) 1830s
Woolrich Inc.
Brayton family
Apparel/Woolrich, PA
www.woolrich.com
Founder John Rich traveled from logging camp to logging camp selling fabrics, socks, coverlets and yarn from a mule cart. At 25, he opened his first woolen mill in Plum Run, Pa. Within five years, he expanded the business and moved to Woolrich, Pa. 1n 1939, Woolrich outfitted Admiral Byrd’s expedition to Antarctica. Today the company produces men’s and women’s apparel, sporting wear, children’s clothing, accessories and home furnishings. Sixth-generation leader Roswell Brayton Jr., great-great-great grandson of John Rich, died in March 2007.
* 45. 1831
Faries Funeral Home
Faries family
Funeral services/Smyrna, DE
Faries Funeral Home has been located in Smyrna, Del., since Alexander Faries began making cabinets and coffins there in 1831. The family has used the same building since 1833. The business is in its seventh generation of family ownership and has passed from father to son for six generations. Current owner is Wells A. Faries. The family recently created a history room with family heirlooms and artifacts from the trade, including cooling boards, tables used in the mid-1800s to display and embalm the deceased in families’ homes.
46. 1832
Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Co.
Bevin family
Bells/East Hampton, CT
www.bevinbells.com
In 1832, four brothers founded a sleigh bell company. In the late 1800s, Bevin Brothers produced 90% of the world’s sleigh bells. Second-generation chief Chauncey G. Bevin served 70 years, into the 1940s. Today, the company, under sixth-generation family leadership, is the only U.S. company that produces bells exclusively. Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company makes 200 different kinds of bells, including “Bells of Hope” used during the Arlington National Cemetery ceremony for President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.
47. 1833
C.F. Martin & Co.
Martin family
Guitars/Nazareth, PA
www.mguitar.com
German immigrant Christian Frederick Martin Sr., descendant of a long line of guitar makers, apprenticed in Vienna and left Europe after dispute between guilds. In 1833, Christian, 37, arrived in the U.S. and set up shop in New York City. In 1836, he moved to Nazareth, Pa., and his family and company have been there ever since. Christian Frederick Martin IV, CEO since 1986, is a sixth-generation Martin family member. (See “The grandson who amplified a brand” by Kerry Pechter, Family Business Magazine, Summer 1998.)
* 48. 1834
Bahney’s Furniture
Bahney family
Furniture/Myerstown, PA
www.bahneys.com
In 1834, cabinetmaker Isaac Noeckler founded a carpentry business in Myerstown, where the business is still located. His daughter married Adam Bahney, who took over the business in 1866. Owners Doug and Gregg Bahney are sixth-generation members.
49. (tie) 1835
Hussey Seating Company
Hussey family
Seat manufacturing/North Berwick, ME
www.husseyseating.com
In 1632, the Hussey Family arrived in New England from England. In the 1770s, the family moved to Maine. William Hussey (1800-1870) founded a plow manufacturing company in 1835. The company survived a fire in 1895 and entered the seating business in the 1930s. Today, Hussey Seating makes seats for auditoriums, gymnasiums, churches, etc. The company is headed by sixth-generation president and CEO Timothy Hussey. His cousin Thomas Hussey is manufacturing coordinator. (See “Deep-seated commitment” by Dave Donelson, Family Business Agenda, Autumn 2007.)
49. (tie) 1835
McLanahan Corp.
McLanahan family
Mining equipment/Hollidaysburg, PA
www.mclanahan.com
The nation’s oldest family-owned foundry originated as Bellorophon Foundry in Gaysport, Pa. In 1848, James C. McLanahan purchased part interest. A year later, he brought his 21-year-old son, J. King, home from an apprenticeship at Philadelphia’s Baldwin Automotive Works to run the foundry. In 1850, the foundry burned down (the first of four major fires) and was rebuilt in 1852. The founder’s son Samuel joined the company at 14 and left to serve in the Navy during the Civil War. Later, Samuel ran the company for almost half a century until his death in 1928. The firm took its present name in 1961. Today, McLanahan Corp. makes iron and steel castings and mineral processing equipment. Chairman and CEO Michael W. McLanahan is the fifth-generation leader. His son Sean K. McLanahan is executive VP.
51. (tie) 1836
Bromberg & Co. Inc.
Bromberg family
Retail jeweler/Birmingham, AL
www.brombergs.com
Sixth-generation member Frederick Bromberg, Jr. leads Bromberg & Co., seller of fine jewelry, china, crystal, silver and giftware.
51. (tie) 1836
Thompson Drug Company
Thompson family
Pharmacy/Spring Valley, IL
Family drugstore now run by fifth-generation pharmacist Terry Thompson.
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Oldest Companies Listed by State Companies Removed since 2003
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