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Penney's boyhood home in Hamilton

James Cash Penney (born September 16, 1875 in Hamilton, Missouri, USA - died February 12, 1971 in New York City, USA) was a businessman and entrepreneur. In 1902, he founded the J.C. Penney stores.

After graduating from high school in Hamilton, Missouri, Penney went to work for a local dry goods merchant, then continued in that line of work after moving to Longmont Colorado for health reasons. In 1898, he began working in a small chain called the Golden Rule stores, and in 1902, the owners, Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan, offered him a one-third partnership in a new store he would open. He invested $2000 and moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming to open a store there. He participated in opening two more stores, and when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907, they offered him the opportunity to purchase full interest in three stores, which he did, and then opened more Golden Rule Stores.

By 1912, there were 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States. In 1913, he incorporated the J. C. Penney Company and the Golden Rule name was phased out. In 1916, he began to expand the chain east of the Mississippi and during the 1920s, the Penneys stores expanded nationwide, with 120 stores in 1920 (mostly still in the west) and 1400 stores by 1929.

Penney relinquished daily operating management of the company in 1917 to a trusted colleague, Earl Corder Sams, but remained as chairman of the board until 1946, and after that as honorary chairman until his death in 1971.

Penney was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.

Penney was a life-long Freemason, being Initiated into Wasatch Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons of Utah, on the 18th of April, 1911. ^[1][2]

By 1924, Penney was earning an income of more than $1.5 million dollars annually.^[3] The large income allowed Penney to be heavily involved in many philanthropic causes during the 1920s. Most of this work was halted when the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression left Penney in financial ruin. During this period Mr. Penney was able to borrow against his cash value life insurance policies to meet day-to-day payroll expenses for the stores.

The financial setbacks took a toll on his health. Penney checked himself into the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where he was treated. After hearing the hymn "God Will Take Care of You" (written by Civilla Durfee Martin) being sung a service in the hospital’s chapel, Penney became a born-again Christian.^[4]

Penney later recovered financially and continued his involvement in numerous charitable works in the 1930s and 1940s. Penney founded the James C. Penney Foundation in 1954 which is now known as the Penney Family Fund.

1. ^ Wasatch Lodge No. 1 F&AM of Utah
2. ^ Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
3. ^ J.C. Penny - Family and Philanthropies. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
4. ^ The Hymn That Saved J.C. Penny. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.