Smucker was born on December 5, 1858, in Orrville, Ohio. He was descended from Swiss immigrants, and his parents were Mennonites. Originally, the Smucker family spelled its last name as Schmucker but eventually shortened it to Smoker. After approximately two generations, the family adopted Smucker as its surname, principally due to Mennonites’ opposition to tobacco use.
Smucker spent much of his life as a farmer in Orrville. He also taught penmanship in the evenings. In 1897, Smucker constructed a cider mill in Orrville. Besides producing apple cider, Smucker also made apple butter. In 1900, Smucker and his son, Willard, began to travel across northeastern Ohio, selling their products. In 1921, the J.M. Smucker Company officially formed and, in 1923, began to produce additional jams and jellies besides just apple butter.
By 1935, the J.M. Smucker Company’s products were in great demand across the Midwest. Hoping to increase his market, that same year, Smucker expanded his operations, including opening a fruit-processing facility in the state of Washington. In 1942, the J.M. Smucker Company began to ship its products nationwide. During World War II, the firm even provided apple butter to American soldiers serving overseas. The company’s namesake died in 1948, but the business is still family-owned, and still headquartered in Jerome Smucker’s hometown of Orrville, Ohio.
Since its inception the J. M. Smucker Company has its headquarters in Orrville, Ohio, and has been family run for four generations. Since 1998, the company has appeared on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 best companies to work for in the United States, ranking number one in 2004. According to Statista, Smucker is also the best-selling jam brand in the US. , an estimated 151.44 million consumers in 2019.
According to en.Wikipedia and ohiohistorycentral.org
