Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills. The Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio, which held the trademark on the Quaker name and was founded by Henry Parsons Crowell, who bought the bankrupt Quaker Oat Mill Company, also in Ravenna.
He was holding the key positions between the general manager, president and chairman of the company from 1888 until late 1943. He was called the cereal tycoon.
He donated more than 70% of his wealth to the Crowell Trust. A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas.
The company expanded into numerous areas, including other breakfast cereals and other food and drink products, and even into unrelated fields such as toys.
