Hershey, Milton Snavely (1857-1945), was an American manufacturer and philanthropist who founded one of the world’s largest confectionery companies, the Hershey Chocolate Company. He was a pioneer in the mass production of milk chocolate, turning it from an expensive luxury into an affordable, everyday treat.
Hershey was born on Sept. 13, 1857, in Derry Church, Pennsylvania. He became a confectioner’s apprentice in nearby Lancaster at age 15. After several failures, he founded his first successful business, the Lancaster Caramel Company, in 1886. He created the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894 to make chocolate coatings for his caramels. He soon perfected a formula for milk chocolate and, in 1900, the company began selling the “Hershey bar.” Also in 1900, he sold his caramel company for $1 million.
Hershey began to build a factory in Derry Church in 1903, and his company began operating there in 1905. The community was renamed Hershey in 1906. There, Hershey and his wife, Catherine, set up what became the Milton Hershey School for disadvantaged children in 1909. In 1918, he placed most of his fortune in trust for the school. He died on Oct. 13, 1945.
