December 5th marks the 166th birthday of our Company’s founder, Jerome Monroe Smucker, or J.M. as we have affectionately come to know him. To celebrate the man who founded our Company, we took a closer look at his life and the incredible legacy he left.

J.M. was born in Green Township, Ohio, in 1858. Interestingly, his last name was originally “Smoker,” but he decided “Smucker” had a sweeter ring to it. When J.M. was 17, he became his father’s principal worker on their dairy farm, including serving as “foreman” during corn husking season. As the eldest of nine children, he not only helped with farm duties, he played a crucial role in raising his younger siblings, forming a close bond with his father. He wrote about this bond saying, “in…a measure [it] became my privilege to be a chum to no small degree to Father.”   

J.M.'s talents extended far beyond farming. He was passionate about education and community service, helping to establish Sunday school libraries across Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. At 23, he attended the “Old Smithville Academy” to further his education, where he also taught an evening class of 35-40 people in what is now the disappearing art of penmanship. It was during his library ventures that he met his future wife, Ella Yoder, in Bristol, Indiana.

J.M. started his consumer goods career in the creamery business with his brothers. He owned and operated creameries in Wooster and Butterdom, Ohio. His largest operation was at Butterdom, where butter, Swiss cheese and occasionally ice cream were made and, for the most part, sent to market in Cleveland, Ohio. He built and put into operation two other plants in Sharon and Braddock, PA.   

In 1896, his creamery nearly went out of business, but J.M. had a dream (literally) that spoke to him, saying, “I made it once, I’ll make it again.”   

So, he started a new venture by moving his small apple cider mill from Butterdom to Orrville, Ohio, which was a budding railroad town at the time. This is where The J.M. Smucker Co.’s history began. 

J.M.’s business, The Orrville Cider Mill, thrived, thanks in part to the abundance of nearby nurseries, some of which were said to have been started by Johnny Appleseed himself. With a surplus of cider, J.M. began creating apple butter using a family recipe and his own innovative methods. He developed a way to cook apple butter using wooden vats and steam-powered copper coils, significantly reducing production time. Each crock of apple butter was signed with “Smucker’s,” a guarantee of quality that resonated with his customers. Smucker’s Apple Butter was a hit, and production soared. 

Renowned for his honesty and dedication, J.M. began laying the foundation for The J.M. Smucker Co., which still underpins how our Company operates today. By 1907, J.M. built a house across from his mill and moved in with his family. The Smucker House, as it is called today, still stands in its original location as part of the Company’s Orrville corporate campus.

The Smucker workforce grew, and they churned out 350 gallons of apple butter a day – which was significant output for the time. By 1915, they were making 1,300 pounds a day, and in 1923, Smucker’s added fruit jellies, jams and preserves to the product portfolio – something that proved to be a game-changing move for J.M. and his small apple butter company. 

J.M. and his wife, Ella, had four children, Willard, Wilma, Winna and Welker, who all served The J.M. Smucker Co. in some capacity. Ella acted as Vice President on the Board of Directors when the Company was incorporated in 1921. The four children would also join the Board, with Willard assuming role of Secretary and, later, President. The family was heavily involved in civic affairs, including the founding of Dunlap Hospital in Orrville (now Aultman), Boys’ Village in Wooster (now The Village Network), the Orrville Board of Education and other Orrville-area community improvements, such as the Orr Park and Crown Hill cemetery.   

Willard, who started working at six, began to take on a larger role in the Company, and in 1928, he assisted in connecting the Orrville Smucker plant to the Pennsylvania Railroad. This move proved to be incredibly prudent during the 1930s economic downturn. In times of hardship, people turned to affordable and comfortable foods, like apple butter.  Today, part of this original railroad spur can be found preserved in the Orrville Campus Innovation Center.   

By 1940, The J.M. Smucker Co. was making fruit-based ice cream toppings and syrups, and national distribution kicked off in 1942 with our Company’s first shipment of product to Los Angeles, California. The J.M. Smucker Co. was quickly becoming a household name in jams, jellies and preserves across the U.S.

Upon J.M.’s death in 1948, his sisters wrote in the Smucker’s Bi-Monthly Brief saying, “And so instead of the allotted three score and ten years, J.M. lived to be four score and nine. A life well lived, with a code of honor so high that it would be well if, when we reach that age or before, we could look back over the years with the same feeling of well-being and satisfaction that he so justly deserved.”   

When asked about his great, great grandfather, Mark Smucker, Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “J.M. was many things – a businessman, a husband and father, a grandfather and great-grandfather, an entrepreneur and a true visionary. In fact, he was laughed at when he predicted that Main Street would be paved and towns would all be connected by good, hard-surfaced roads. Today, and every day, I am tremendously grateful for the foundation he laid for our Company, our Basic Beliefs, that still guide us today – serving as guideposts for decision-making and how we interact with colleagues and our partners. And I’m honored to carry on his legacy.”   

As we celebrate the 166th birthday of our founder and his incredible journey, we are reminded of the values that continue to drive our success and our commitment to quality and community. J.M.’s story is not just a part of our history; it is the cornerstone of our future.