The oldest family businesses in America Continued     Updated May 2008

* denotes new listing     Click here for information on companies inadvertently omitted from our list.

— Thomas Bentley III, CEO, The Bentley Company (#71), in Family Business Magazine, Winter 2008

* 53. (tie) 1837
Harland Family Farm
Harland family
Cattle farming/Lafayette, IL
In 1837, Jonathan Gibbs homesteaded a beef cattle farm, starting with 120 cows. Now, Jonathan’s great-great-grandson Al Harland and his wife, Jeanne, operate the family farm. In addition to raising cattle, the family produces corn, soybeans and hay. The family house dates from 1854.

53. (tie) 1837
Shaff Family Farm
Shaff family
Agriculture/Camanche, IA
The farm is now owned and operated by eighth-generation Shaff family members.

* 56. (tie) 1839
Schaeffer Manufacturing Company
Schaeffer family
Lubricants/St. Louis, MO
www.schaefferoil.com
Nicholas Schaeffer was born in 1814 in Germany, where he worked for a soap and candle maker. He immigrated to America with his mother and three brothers and founded Schaeffer Manufacturing Co., producing soap and candles. Later, the company produced axle grease. By the mid-1800s, travelers to the California gold mines were using Schaeffer’s product to grease their wagon wheels. Eventually, the company became a full-fledged lubricant manufacturer and marketer. Today, the business has ten warehouse facilities throughout the country. The current chairman is John Schaeffer Shields.

56. (tie) 1839
Southworth Co.
Southworth family
Paper/Agawam, MA
www.southworth.com
In 1839 brothers Edward and Wells Southworth, paper-makers, founded Southworth Co. The company is now owned by a consortium of cousins and run by fifth-generation family member David C. Southworth. Stephen Douglas jotted notes on the firm’s paper for the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

56. (tie) 1839
Suter’s Handcrafted Furniture
Suter family
Furniture/Harrisonburg, VA
www.suters.com
Daniel Suter, a Mennonite carpenter, settled in Harrisonburg and began making furniture. Today William Suter and his daughter Carol (sixth generation) produce handcrafted colonial reproduction furniture.

59. 1840
Antoine’s Restaurant
Alciatore/Guste family
Restaurant/New Orleans, LA
www.antoines.com
This legendary tourist spot was opened in 1840 as a pension by 27-year-old French immigrant Antoine Alciatore. In 1868, the family moved the restaurant to its current location. Antoine died in 1875, and his wife succeeded him. Later, his son Jules took over after an apprenticeship in France. In 1889, Jules invented Oysters Rockefeller. His son Roy, born in 1902, ran the restaurant for 40 years until his death in 1972. Roy’s nephews William Guste Jr. and Roy Guste became the fourth generation in charge. Today Antoine’s is owned and operated by Rick Blount, CEO, Michael Guste, general manager, Colette Guste, sales and marketing manager, and James Guste, purchasing agent. Notable guests have included General Patton, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Judy Garland, Carol Burnett, Pope John Paul II, members of U2, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

60. 1842
The Verdin Co.
Verdin family
Bells, chimes, carillons/Cincinnati, OH
www.verdin.com
In the 1830s, the Verdin family arrived in U.S. from Alsace-Lorraine and settled in Yorkville, Ind. Founding brothers François and Michael Verdin moved from forging trade into repair and manufacture of tower clocks. Today, fifth-generation Verdin cousins Robert Jr. (CEO), James (president) and David (vice president) run the company. The Verdin Co. invented a continuous winder for tower clocks and, in 1927, invented the first American electric bell-ringing device. For the millennium, the company cast the “World Peace Bell,” the world’s largest bell (66,000 pounds, 12 feet in diameter), located at Peace Pavilion in Newport, Ky.

61. (tie) 1843
Baumann Safe Co.
Baumann/Billings family
Safe manufacturing/St. Louis, MO
www.baumannsafe.com
German immigrant John Baumann opened a store offering trunks and supplies for pioneers setting out on the newly opened Oregon Trail. Later, the company added safes to protect travelers’ valuables. Today the store offers video systems and home surveillance products as well. Sisters Christy Wilske, Linda King and Robyn Mikes, the founder’s great-great-granddaughters, run the company.

* 61. (tie) 1843
Teas Nursery Company
Teas family
Horticulture/Bellaire, TX
www.teasnursery.com
John C. Teas established the company in 1843, when he began selling apples out of his backyard in Indiana. After moving his business to Missouri in 1868, Teas became a nationally prominent horticulturist. His son Edward was hired by developer W.W. Baldwin to execute planting designs for Bellaire Boulevard in Texas. In 1910, Edward moved his family to 4400 Bellaire Boulevard, where Teas Nursery is still located. Initially the company specialized in fruit trees, flowering shrubs and plants. Later, it expanded to include landscaping. By 1951, Teas Nursery had planted more than 1 million trees in the Houston area. Sixth-generation member Thomas Teas, the current president, says the company owes its success to a simple recipe: “We serve customers who respect quality and expect value. That’s why people from around the country keep coming back to Teas. It’s like coming home.”

* 63. (tie) 1844
S.W. Collins Co.
Collins family
Lumber, building materials/Caribou, ME
Provides tools and products needed to build homes, barns, garages, schools, hospitals, bridges, etc. Next door to the original store is a planning mill, a relic from the company’s beginnings but also a modern facility. The business also has a home design center and a store in Presque Island, Maine. Sam W. Collins is the fifth generation to lead the company and the third Sam W. Collins at the helm.

* 63. (tie) 1844
Gold Star Farms
Richmond family
Dairy/Kent County, MI
Lucian Richmond established the farm in 1844 and sold it to his cousin James Charles Richmond in 1851. Over the years, the farm transitioned from substance farming to sheep, beef, minor timber operations and then dairy in the 1920s. Two of the earliest family members who grew up on the farm served with the Union Army during the Civil War; in the 1880s, another family member served in the Indian Wars. The Michigan Historical Commission designated Gold Star Farms an official Sesquicentennial Farm. Current owner Jerrold Richmond is a fourth-generation Richmond family member. His son and grandchildren live on the farm, representing the fifth and sixth generations.

* 63. (tie) 1844
Harden Furniture Company
Harden family
Furniture/ McConnellsville, NY
www.harden.com
After an unsuccessful search for gold in the 1800s, founder Charles S. Harden settled his family in McConnellsville, N.Y., and purchased a sawmill on Fish Creek. In 1884, furniture making became his sole business. By the 1930s, when his son Harry became president, Harden was a full-fledged furniture manufacturer. During World War II, however, little or no furniture was made at Harden. Instead, the company produced items such as gunstock. Greg Harden, elected CEO in 1992, represents the fifth generation of ownership and management.

* 66. 1845
Wise Funeral Service
Wise family
Funeral services/Bucyrus, OH
www.wisefuneral.com
William Wise established the business as a furniture and cabinet operation. Clients began requesting handmade coffins, and the business transitioned to undertaking. William’s five sons joined him in the furniture and funeral business. Grandson William operated Wise Furniture Store while grandson James became funeral director. James’s son Edward, oldest of his three children, is now president. Edward’s son David, representing the fifth generation, is vice president.

* 67. (tie) 1847
Faller’s Better Furniture/Faller Funeral Home/Fryburg Old Treasures Depot
Faller family
Furniture, funeral services, antiques/Fryburg, PA
www.fallersfurniture.com
The original business was founded in 1847 by carpenter Jacob Faller Jr., who in 1860 opened a furniture store and funeral home. Today, the business is split into three: Faller Funeral Home, Faller’s Furniture and Fryburg Old Treasures Depot. Faller Funeral Home is operated by fourth-generation member Henry Faller; Faller’s Furniture is run by fourth-generation member Gregory Faller and his wife, Roberta; and Fryburg Old Treasures Depot is managed by fifth-generation member Adam Faller.

67. (tie) 1847
Flood Co.
Flood family
Painting contractor/Cleveland, OH
www.floodco.com
The Flood Company was established in Cleveland as a paint-contracting firm. It quickly achieved a reputation for outstanding quality and craftsmanship and expanded into hardwood finishing, exterior and interior house painting and commercial architectural painting. The company survived the Great Depression of 1930s (when painting anything was a low priority) because Earl Flood persuaded idle ore ships docked in Cleveland to use coatings of Flood’s Penetrol oil to prevent them from rusting. The business is now managed by fifth-generation Flood family members.

* 67. (tie) 1847
Hare Auto Group
Hare/Cox families
Automobiles/Noblesville, IN
www.hareauto.com
In 1847, wagon maker Wesley Hare founded Carriage and Wagon Works in Noblesville, Ind. When his sons Elbert and Silas joined the business, he renamed the company W. Hare & Sons Inc. By 1882, the business was the largest wagon, buggy, and carriage dealer in Indiana and surrounding states. Automobile sales were added in 1912; the company began selling Chevrolets in 1921. Now Hare Auto is owned and operated by fifth-generation members David and Jackie (Hare) Cox with daughters Courtney Cole and Monica Peck. (See “Daughters’ driving ambitions” by Nancy Dunham, Family Business Magazine, Autumn 2005.)

* 67. (tie) 1847
Holmes’ Brothers Farm of Wayne County
Holmes family
Cattle/Wayne County, MO
In 1847, Lysander Doney was given 640 acres for having served as an officer in the Mexican-American War. He gave each of his children 120 acres. Daughter Amy Doney, later Amy Doney Crow Morgan, kept chickens, hogs and cattle and used the farm as collateral for her granddaughter’s college education. Upon graduation, granddaughter Amy Wilkinson married Richard Holmes, who purchased half of the farm from Amy’s brother. Amy and Richard continued the cattle operation. Today the farm is owned and operated by sixth-generation members, who continue to raise cattle. Recently, the family dissolved its LLC to pass the farm to sixth-generation member Sam Holmes, whose sons may carry on family ownership. Family stories describe Civil War soldiers raiding the farmhouse while the family escaped to surrounding woods.

* 71. (tie) 1848
The Bentley Company
Bentley family
Construction/Milwaukee, WI
www.thebentleycompany.com
John R. Bentley founded the oldest family-owned and managed general contractor in the United States. CEO Thomas H. Bentley III represents the fifth generation and Todd Bentley represents the sixth generation. Landmark projects include Wisconsin Club (1848 residence of Alexander Mitchell) and Tripoli Shrine Temple, completed in 1927.

71. (tie) 1848
Hancock Land Co./ Hancock Lumber Co.
Hancock family
Land, lumber/Casco, ME
www.hancockland.com
www.hancocklumber.com
In 1848, brothers Nathan and Spencer Decker launched a small logging operation. Gradually, Nathan and stepson Sumner Hancock built the company into a major log dealer. Milton Hancock opened a stationary mill in 1930 and brothers Kenneth, Sumner and Owen Hancock opened a retail store in 1954. Eventually the company’s holdings included a sawmill, retail stores and 8,000 acres of timber. Sixth-generation brothers Matt and Kevin Hancock run the land and lumber companies, respectively.

71. (tie) 1848
Richardson Industries
Richardson family
Building products, yacht interiors, retail furniture/Sheboygan, WI
www.richardsonbrothers.com
In 1841, Upstate New Yorker Joseph Richardson packed his family into a wagon and moved to Illinois. In 1845, he resettled in Wisconsin and built a sawmill there three years later. Richardson first called his company Joseph Richardson Co.; his four sons took charge and renamed it Richardson Brothers. In 1882, the family opened a new factory to make chairs. In 1973, the family created Richardson Industries, joining furniture, lumber and truss units. Residential furniture was dropped in favor of yacht furniture in 2007. The company is now in the sixth generation; six Richardsons are active in management.

PREVIOUS PAGE    NEXT PAGE

Oldest Companies Listed by State     Companies Removed since 2003