Swift, Gustavus Franklin (1839-1903), was an American businessman who founded one of the world’s leading meat-packing companies, Swift & Company. Swift pioneered in the development of modern meat-packing techniques. He was also one of the first business leaders to promote the idea that the employees of a company should own stock in the firm.
Swift was born on June 24, 1839, in West Sandwich (now called Sagamore), Mass. He quit school at the age of 14 to work in his brother’s butcher shop and opened his own shop about six years later. He soon had several of his own shops. To keep them supplied with fresh meat, Swift bought cattle from nearby farms and ran a small slaughtering operation and packing plant.
In 1875, Swift moved to Chicago, the major center of the cattle market. He soon developed the idea of shipping fresh meat rather than live cattle from Chicago to the East Coast. To do so, Swift hired an engineer to design a refrigerated railroad car. Swift formed Swift & Company in 1885, combining into one firm all of the various operations involved in selling meat. The company ran feed lots for the cattle and used an early form of the assembly line to butcher large quantities of meat. It also operated refrigerated transportation, regional warehouses that distributed the meat, and retail stores. He died on March 29, 1903.
