Charles Alfred Pillsbury was an American flour miller.
Background
He was born on December 3, 1842 at Warner, New Hampshire, United States, the eldest son of George Alfred Pillsbury and Margaret Sprague (Carlton) Pillsbury. His father was a grocer in Warner until 1851, when he became purchasing agent for the Concord Railroad, a position he held for twenty-five years.
Education
Charles attended the public schools at Warner and at Concord, prepared for college at New London Academy, and then attended Dartmouth, earning at least part of his college expenses by teaching. His graduation from was in 1863.
Career
In 1863 he went to Montreal where he was a clerk in a produce commission store for about three years. He acquired a share in the business but shortly sold it in order to go West, following his uncle, John Sargent Pillsbury, who had settled in Minneapolis in territorial days.
Soon after his arrival in Minneapolis in 1869, Charles Pillsbury purchased a share in one of the flour mills utilizing the water power of the Falls of St. Anthony. It was a small and not particularly successful enterprise, and his partners, because of other interests, left the management to him. At first Pillsbury knew nothing of milling, but he soon acquired a working knowledge of the business.
He entered the industry at the moment when revolutionary changes were about to transform it and had a large share in bringing these changes about. When Edmond La Croix produced his purifier, making possible the manufacture of a high-grade bread flour from Northwestern spring wheat and introducing "New Process" milling, Pillsbury was one of the first to see the possibilities of the machine. He induced George T. Smith, who claimed to be its co-inventor, to become head miller at the Pillsbury Mill and to install the new machines there. A few years later Pillsbury was one of the leaders in the introduction of the roller process. In consequence, his profits were large and his fortune grew rapidly.
In 1872 he organized the firm of C. A. Pillsbury & Company, the other members being his father and uncle; two or three years later his brother, Fred C. Pillsbury, became a member. In the next decade six more mills were purchased or built by the Pillsburys, including the Pillsbury "A" Mill (completed in 1883), which was advertised to be the largest in the world. In 1878 one of their mills was destroyed by fire, in December 1881 three were burned, but by 1889 they had three mills in operation with a total capacity of 10, 000 barrels a day. Their flour brands were widely advertised, they were leaders in building up the flour export trade, and leaders also in experiments with wheat and flour testing, out of which modern systems of laboratory control have been developed.
He was always greatly interested in the wheat market, and his dealings in it were frequently spectacular if not always financially successful. Curiously, he was usually a bull in the market - was generally boosting the price of wheat and was quite convinced that short selling should be prevented if possible.
In his later years Pillsbury became interested in a number of other enterprises such as railroads, banking, and lumbering, though milling always claimed the major share of his attention.
He was also somewhat interested in politics but played a relatively smaller part in that field than his uncle or his father, who after removing to Minneapolis in 1878 held several municipal offices. From 1878 to 1885 Charles A. Pillsbury was a member of the state Senate, but he held no other official position. In 1889 an English syndicate purchased the Pillsbury mills, together with those of Senator W. D. Washburn and the water power of the Falls of St. Anthony, combining them to form the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Ltd. Charles A. Pillsbury retained a large interest in the new company and was made managing director. In this position he was not so successful as in his earlier years.
Pillsbury died suddenly on September 17, 1899 from a heart ailment.
Achievements
Personality
He was a man of keen mind, great energy and physical strength.
His strong and winning personality, his travels, and his public utterances made him the best known of American millers. He was usually on very friendly terms with his employees. He made large gifts to charitable and philanthropic undertakings.
Connections
On September 12, 1866, Charles Pillsbury married Mary A. Stinson of Dunbarton, New Hampshire. Of the four children born to them, twin sons, John S. and Charles S. Pillsbury, survived their father.