Charles Gulden

popular name: Oliver Winchester

date_of_death: December 10, 1880

age: 70

cause_of_death: Long term illness

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician, best known as the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut. Interesting to note that repeating rifles were used to some extent in the American Civil War. However, the United States Army at that time did not use many repeating rifles as they were expensive and too advanced for the outdated tactics used in the war. Repeating rifles were not widely used until after the war when they became increasingly popular with civilians. Military authorities concentrated primarily on perfecting breech-loading single shot rifles for many more years. With thousands of rifles in the hands of the average pioneer, the Winchester repeating rifles gained a reputation as "The Gun that Won the West". Oliver Winchester was also active in politics, serving as a New Haven City Commissioner, Republican Presidential elector in 1864, and as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1866 to 1867.

popular name: Rowland H. Macy

date_of_death: March 29, 1877

age: 54

cause_of_death: Bright's disease (kidney failure)

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Rowland H. Macy (1822–1877) was an American businessman best known as the founder of Macy’s department store. Born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, he began his career at sea as a whaler before turning to retail. Macy opened a series of small shops, most of which failed, before achieving success with his New York City store, R.H. Macy & Co., founded in 1858 on Sixth Avenue. His innovative business practices—such as fixed prices, cash sales (no credit), and extensive advertising—helped revolutionize retail and set the foundation for the modern department store. Macy’s business thrived, and his store became a landmark of American consumer culture. Rowland H. Macy died in 1877 in Paris, France, reportedly of Bright’s disease (a kidney ailment). After his death, his store continued to grow under Isidor and Nathan Straus, eventually becoming one of the largest and most iconic retail chains in the world. Today visitors can view the grave of Rowland Macy at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York

popular name: J. P. Morgan

date_of_death: March 31, 1913 (aged 75)

age: 75

cause_of_death: Acute attack of gastro enteritis

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: J.P. Morgan was a titan of American business. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries his position and connections put him squarely in the middle of the development of American industry. Of his generation John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) was the most powerful banker, industrialist and art collector in America. Born in Connecticut, he was the third generation of a banking dynasty that he would go on to dwarf with his financial acumen and bullish instinct. His father Junius Spencer Morgan was a partner in a London-based merchant bank. Another ancestor, James Pierpont, founded Yale University. At the height of his powers in the 1890s, Morgan was said to control one sixth of America’s railway lines. In 1895 he and a consortium of bankers rescued America’s Gold Standard loaning the federal government more than $60 million. In addition to the bank that bore his name, Morgan invested in and subsequently bought the Carnegie Steel Company, Edison General Electric and the United States Steel Corporation. He also acquired the New York Times newspaper and founded the Metropolitan Club in New York when the Union Club blackballed his friend John King. Deeply offended, he instructed the architects ‘build me a club fit for gentlemen. Forget the expense’. However, Morgan was not content just in the banking world – he had many interests elsewhere. Adolph Ochs, publisher of the Chattanooga Times, secured a loan with J.P. Morgan’s help and managed to save the New York Times. His personal and business interests extended to steel and railroads. He purchased U.S. Steel from Andrew Carnegie and merged it with a few other firms to create United States Steel in 1901. Over 100 years later that firm is still going strong.