Milton B. Hershey was born September 13, 1857, on a farm in central Pennsylvania. A descendant of Mennonite immigrants from Germany and Switzerland, he grew up speaking the “Pennsylvania Dutch” (i.e., Deutch) dialect. He also inherited this group’s characteristic enthusiasm for hard work, diligence, and thriftiness.
While he was a child, Hershey’s family moved frequently. As a result, he only finished the
fourth grade. He dropped out of school when he turned 13 years old and was apprenticed to a printer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hershey quickly realized that he disliked the printing trade. After he intentionally let his hat fall into the printing press, his internship was terminated.
Hershey then served a four-year apprenticeship with a Lancaster candy maker, Joseph Royer. The candy-making was clearly more to his liking. Once he finished his apprenticeship, he established his own, first candy-making business in Philadelphia.
Hershey soon made his first million dollars. Then, on a trip to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, he became fascinated with some German chocolate-making equipment. Hershey bought the machinery and moved it to Lancaster. He began making chocolate with a passion — producing 114 different varieties!
Hershey decided that his future was in chocolate, not caramel. In 1900, he sold his Lancaster Caramel Company and committed his business full-time to chocolate. In 1903, he broke ground for a new chocolate factory in Derry County, Pennsylvania, adjoining
Milton Hershey, c. 1896
Bradley Rymph, Edna Mae Rymph, and Albert Rymph visiting Hershey, Pennsylvania, in June 1996.
Postage stamp honoring Milton Hershey, issued by the
United States Postal Service in 1995 as part of its
“Great Americans” series.
Milton Snavely Hershey was my fourth cousin, twice removed, through my father, Albert James Rymph.
▼ Magdalena
Hoover
▼
Isaac Hershey (c. 1745 – 1845)
=
▼
David Hershey (12/2/1797 –
8/2/1859)
Mary Magdalena Hershey
(11/2/1805 – 9/12/1852)
▼ Ezra David
Hershey (9/14/1827 – 12/22/1906)
Amanda Guthridge
(4/22/1833 – 3/29/1921)
▼
Walter Ritchie Hershey
(3/20/1862 – 4/26/1944)
Fannie Emma Cage
(5/26/1862 – 4/27/1914)
▼
Levi Budd Rymph (6/10/1901 – 12/8/1987)
Jessie Mae Hershey (3/26/1903 – 11/15/1991)
=
▼
Albert James Rymph (11/9/1925 – 2/16/2019)
Edna Mae Heath (living)
=
▼
Bradley Budd Rymph (living)
José Verzosa Baquiran III (living)
=
Barbara Stauffer (1756 –
10/23/1845)
Andrew Hershey (1702 – 1792)
Mary Catherine Schnabley (1703 – 1759)
=
David Hershey (1786 – 1860)
(c. 1787 – bef 1860)
John B. Hershey
(1741 – 4/4/1811)
Anna Newcomer
(1752 – 1832)
Jacob Hershey (1742 –
4/11/1825)
= =
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
◄◄◄◄◄◄◄ ▼
► ▼
=
=
▼
David Hershey (12/2/1797 –
8/2/1859)
Mary Magdalena Hershey
(11/2/1805 – 9/12/1852)
▼
=
▼
▼
▼
Christian Hershey
(6/20/1780 – 8/5/1843)
(11/8/1785 –
2/8/1858)
=
▼ Jacob
Hershey (9/22/1802 –
5/5/1877)
Nancy Hershey
(1/22/1808 – 11/3/1869)
▼
=
Ezra David Hershey
(continued under descendants of
John B. Hershey)
=
Henry H. Hershey
(1/4/1829 – 2/18/1904)
(9/4/1835 – 3/11/1920)
▼
=
=
Milton Snavely Hershey
(9/13/1857 – 10/13/1945)
(7/6/1872 – 3/25/1915)
=
HOW WE’RE RELATED: Milton Snavely Hershey
Lancaster County. The Hershey Chocolate Company had become what it would remain to the present day, one of the United States’ most successful and internationally famous food companies.
Hershey was somewhat of a social visionary. After conceiving to build a complete community around his factory site, “he built a model town for his employees that included comfortable homes, an inexpensive public transportation system, a quality public school system and extensive recreational and cultural opportunities” (quoting Wikipedia). Because he was concerned that residents of his town would need adequate recreation opportunities, he built HersheyPark, which opened on April 24, 1907.
Hershey was also a dedicated philanthropist. When it became clear that he and his wife, Catherine Elizabeth (Sweeney) Hershey, were unable to have children of their own, they
established the Hershey Industrial School to benefit other children. After Catherine died in 1915, Milton Hershey transferred the majority of his assets, including control of the Hershey Chocolate Company, to the Milton Hershey School Trust Fund. The school continues to have control of the chocolate company.
Hershey Chocolate Company. “Discover Hershey: Milton S. Hershey.” (http://www.hersheys.com/discover/milton/milton.asp)
Hershey Community Archives. (http://www.hersheyarchives.org)
Shippen, Katherine B., and Wallace, Paul A. W. Milton S. Hershey. New York: Random House, 1959.
Wikipedia. “Milton S. Hershey.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_S._Hershey)
