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The directors increase capital stock 200%
All the minutes of the new Vegetable Growers Supply Co. were handwritten by J. B. Molitor himself. As I read these minutes more than 100 years removed from their original writing in 1918 and 1919, I have come to learn J. B.’s formulaic but in some places idiosyncratic use of language, including his very consistent…
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Securing lumber contracts and moving with urgency…
With corporate governance for the Vegetable Growers Supply Co. tidied up just a couple weeks ago and a three-person executive committee in place (J. P. Smith, president, J. B. Molitor, secretary and Joseph Rengel, vice-president), J. P. Smith called a special meeting of the board of directors on February 5, 1919 at 8 P.M. at…
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Joseph Rengel & Robert F. Dilger: Trusted allies of J. P. Smith
At the start of the new company, the Vegetable Growers Supply Co., in 1918, Joseph Rengel served as the vice-president of the company. In January, 1919, Michael Leider turned down the nomination as Treasurer and instead nominated Robert F. Dilger. Michael remained on the board as an elected director. An executive committee which was formed…
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Michael Leider: The next generation of Luxembourg immigrants
In April 1919, Michael Leider was 43 years old and owned 10 shares in the Vegetable Growers Supply Co., newly established at the time in Rogers Park, Chicago. Michael immigrated in 1892 from Tadler, Wiltz Luxembourg, in the northern part of the country. His older step-brother by five years, John Peter (J. P.) owned 12…
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J.B. Molitor: The connection to Wisconsin
John Bernard’s father, Peter Molitor, emigrated from Medernach, Luxembourg in June, 1849 at the age of 41, but just after marrying Maria Thill, also from Luxembourg in Paris, France on May 10, 1848. They settled in Dacada, Sheyboygan, Wisconsin and gave birth to their first son John in June of 1849. Nine other children will…
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J. P. Smith: Man at the helm
Standing 130+ years away from the largest wave of Luxembourg immigration into Chicago and the United States, it is easy to repeat the often repeated oral tradition that our ancestors came from Luxembourg in the 1880s and 1890s and started as day laborers and truck farmers who then built greenhouses to grow year-round. What this…
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Officer elections and orders for wood
Later in the evening after the Vegetable Growers Supply Co. shareholder meeting on January 14, 1919, the directors held a meeting at 7 pm at Arcanum Hall in Rogers Park, Chicago, to elect corporate officers and to discuss orders for wood from the Wisconsin mills. With the new directors all present, J. P. Smith was…
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Corporate democracy at work: districts and voters
The articles of incorporation called for annual stockholder meetings on the second Tuesday of each January at 2 PM so, on January 14, 1919 at 3 PM (one hour late!), 55 out of 91 shareholders of the new Vegetable Growers Supply Co. meet at Arcanum Hall 7013 Ravenswood Ave., in Rogers Park, Chicago. This represented…
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The search for space and the price of relief
At the January 13, 1919 directors’ meeting of the Vegetable Growers Supply Co., at Arcanum Hall, 7013 Ravenswood Ave. Chicago IL, the directors found themselves a bit behind on approving prior meeting minutes and promptly dispensed with approval of minutes from the past two meetings. President J.P. Smith then turned to two pressing matters: the…
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One demand rejected, two offers extended…
The directors of the brand new Vegetable Growers Supply Co. met at 8 PM on January 7, 1919, again at Arcanum Hall, 7013 Ravenswood, Chicago IL, just week and one day after their last meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to deliberate further on two pressing items: from whom to get lumber and what…
Chicago Greenhouse Growers 