Individual Details

Augustus Eugene "Gene" Staley

(25 Feb 1867 - 26 Dec 1940)

E7. Emma Louise Tressler (Aug. 26,
1875-- married Augustus E. Staley (Feb.
25, 1867-Dec. 26, 1940)", Dec. 14, I898. He
was born at Julian, N. C. and died at his
winter home at 1408 South Bay Shore Drive,
Miami, Fla. In 1896 he began buying starch
in bulk, packaging It and selling to the
retail trade from Baltimore, Md. This, after
a few years led to manufacturing the starch.
In 1909 he moved nearer the source of supply,
Decatur, 111. Here the business of processing
corn into starch, sirup, etc., and later
soy beans, expanded until the plant became
one of the largest of Its kind In the world.
Emma like her sister Anna, entertained herself
and her friends by writing poetry, a
volume of which was privately printed.
Their children were lone. Ruth, Augustus.
Jr., Mary and Andrew.

Events

Birth25 Feb 1867Julian, Guilford, North Carolina, United States
Marriage14 Dec 1898Williams, Ohio, United States - Emma Louise Tressler
Census-shared1900(Emma Louise Tressler) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Census-shared1910(Emma Louise Tressler) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Census-shared1920(Emma Louise Tressler) Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States
Census-shared1930(Emma Louise Tressler) Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States
Census-shared1940(Emma Louise Tressler) Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States
Death26 Dec 1940Miami, Miami-Dade, Florida, United States
AccomplishmentFounder of the A E Staley company
Biography
Biography
BurialFairlawn Cemetery, Decatur, Macon, Illinois, United States

Families

SpouseEmma Louise Tressler (1875 - 1967)
ChildIone Tressler Staley (1900 - 1981)
ChildRuth Richardson Staley (1901 - 1970)
ChildAugustus E "Gus" Staley Jr (1903 - 1975)
ChildMary Louise Staley (1905 - 1973)
ChildAndrew Rollin Staley (1907 - 1968)

Notes

Biography

American entrepreneur Augustus Eugene (Gene) Staley was born in 1867 on his father's 265-acre red clay farm in North Carolina . Busy with farm work, Gene dropped out of primary school after a few years. Aged 14 he successfully sold a wagon-load of his father's produce in the nearest town. He soon decided he liked selling better than farming, so he left the farm in 1883 (at age 16) and went on the road selling food products, including starch.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Staley was buying bulk starch for two cents a pound, repackaging it under his own Cream Starch label, and selling it for a profit of five cents a pound. When his suppliers realised that Staley was serious competition, they joined together to cut off his supply of raw materials. Staley responded by setting up the A E Staley Manufacturing Company in 1906. He bought a starch plant in Decatur, Illinois, and began processing on 12 March 1912, grinding 1,000 pounds of corn per day.
The company has been involved in a number of notable achievements: including the construction of the Staley dam in Decatur (now the Lake Decatur dam) in 1919; the introduction of soybean processing; the development of a nutrient for penicillin; the continuing expansion of the company's research and development programmes and facilities; and the growth in a range of products manufactured across the USA and Mexico.
Gene Staley died in 1940, having seen his son, A E Staley Jnr (Gus) become president of the company in 1932.

Endnotes

1. Albert Willis Tressler, Jonathan and Joseph Tressler and their descendants: A Sketch Made by Albert Willis Tressler in 1948 (Jacksonport, Wisconsin: n.p., 1948), 6.

2. Albert Willis Tressler, Jonathan and Joseph Tressler and their descendants: A Sketch Made by Albert Willis Tressler in 1948 (Jacksonport, Wisconsin: n.p., 1948), 6.

3. , Find A Grave (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54930254&ref=acom.

4. Ohio County Marriages 1789-2016, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X897-KM2.

5. United States Census for 1900, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1900usfedcen&h=78445702&tid=100415381&pid=290002760797&usePUB=true&_phsrc=gNJ66&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&rhSource=6224.

6. United States Census for 1910, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=gNJ66&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Augustus%20E&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Staley&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&msbdy=1867&msbpn__ftp=Julian,%20Guilford,%20North%20Carolina,%20United%20States&msgdy=1898&msddy=1940&msdpn__ftp=Miami,%20Dade,%20Florida,%20United%20States&mssng=Emma%20Louise&mssns=Tressler&mscng=Ione%20Tressler&mscns=Staley&mscng1=Ruth%20Richardson&mscns1=Staley&mscng2=Augustus%20E&mscns2=Staley&mscng3=Mary%20Louise&mscns3=Staley&mscng4=Andrew%20Rollin&mscns4=Staley&_83004003-n_xcl=f&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=2a1&ssrc=pt_t100415381_p290002760797&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=10331256&db=1910USCenIndex&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2.

7. United States Census for 1920, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJH9-94L.

8. United States Census for 1930, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=gNJ66&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Augustus%20E&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Staley&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&msbdy=1867&msbpn__ftp=Julian,%20Guilford,%20North%20Carolina,%20United%20States&msgdy=1898&msddy=1940&msdpn__ftp=Miami,%20Dade,%20Florida,%20United%20States&mssng=Emma%20Louise&mssns=Tressler&mscng=Ione%20Tressler&mscns=Staley&mscng1=Ruth%20Richardson&mscns1=Staley&mscng2=Augustus%20E&mscns2=Staley&mscng3=Mary%20Louise&mscns3=Staley&mscng4=Andrew%20Rollin&mscns4=Staley&_83004003-n_xcl=f&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=2a1&ssrc=pt_t100415381_p290002760797&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=27363908&db=1930usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=3.

9. United States Census for 1940, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=gNJ66&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Augustus%20E&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Staley&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&msbdy=1867&msbpn__ftp=Julian,%20Guilford,%20North%20Carolina,%20United%20States&msgdy=1898&msddy=1940&msdpn__ftp=Miami,%20Dade,%20Florida,%20United%20States&mssng=Emma%20Louise&mssns=Tressler&mscng=Ione%20Tressler&mscns=Staley&mscng1=Ruth%20Richardson&mscns1=Staley&mscng2=Augustus%20E&mscns2=Staley&mscng3=Mary%20Louise&mscns3=Staley&mscng4=Andrew%20Rollin&mscns4=Staley&_83004003-n_xcl=f&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=2a1&ssrc=pt_t100415381_p290002760797&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=27363908&db=1930usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=3.

10. Albert Willis Tressler, Jonathan and Joseph Tressler and their descendants: A Sketch Made by Albert Willis Tressler in 1948 (Jacksonport, Wisconsin: n.p., 1948), 6.

11. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._Staley.

12. , http://www.tateandlyle.com/aboutus/history/pages/augustuseugenestaley.aspx.

13. , http://staleymuseum.com/a-e-staley-bio/.

14. , Find A Grave (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54930254&ref=acom.