William Ziegler
| William Ziegler, Sr. | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
September 1, 1843 Beaver County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | May 25, 1905 (aged 61) Great Island Darien, Connecticut |
William Ziegler, Sr. (September 1, 1843 - May 25, 1905) was an American industrialist who was one of the founders of the Royal Baking Powder Company. He ended up suing his partners. His other interests were organizing Arctic expeditions and yachting.
He was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, of German parents. His father, Francis Ziegler, died in 1846, and in 1848 his mother, Ernestine Ziegler, married Conrad Brandt. The family moved to Muscatine, Iowa, where his stepfather had a farm. He was educated in the public schools there and became a printer's apprentice in a newspaper office. He later became a clerk in a drug store and studied telegraphy and chemistry. In 1862, he enrolled in the Eastman Business School in Poughkeepsie, New York. After he completed his course there, he went to New York City where he worked for a wholesale drug and chemical company from 1863 to 1868. At the same time he took a course at the College of Pharmacy.
In 1870 William Ziegler and Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and John H. Seal organized the Royal Chemical Company, which later became the Royal Baking Powder Company. In 1888 he sold his shares for $4,000,000. With the proceeds of the sale he bought the Price Baking Powder Company of Chicago and the Tartar Chemical Company in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Ziegler is remembered as the public-spirited plaintiff in a tax-payers' suit to prevent a "deal" between the Long Island Water Company and the City of Brooklyn. This suit was conducted successfully at an expense of about $100,000 and saved nearly $1,500,000 to the people of Brooklyn. A similar taxpayers' suit brought by him compelled the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad to pay nearly $500,000 in taxes to the city. Another notable suit was brought by him as a minority stockholder of the Lake Elevated Railroad of Chicago. It resulted in his securing $1,000,000 damages, and in setting a most important legal precedent.
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