William H. Bovee Pioneer Coffee
and Spice Merchant
Born in New York City, William H. Bovee moved after
graduation to Sandusky, Ohio to work as a clerk in his uncle's boot and shoe
shop. There he married Elizabeth Marshall when he was 19 years old.
Leaving Ohio he returned to New York and worked at Hope Mills, one of the leading coffee and spice companies. Bovee left New York on January 12, 1849 to join the gold rush. After traveling as a young man to California during the gold rush, Bovee opened the first coffee roasting plant in San Francisco, The Pioneer Steam & Coffee Spice Mill Company. One of his employees was Jim Folger who later founded Folger's Coffee. In 1859 William Bovee sold the company to Jim Folger
Bovee advertisement from the Daily Alta California June 1851
In the fall of
1849, the Folger family sent James and his two older brothers to the West Coast to
mine for gold. The Folger family had enough money to pay for their passage to
San Francisco, but was unable to provide enough money for all three boys to
travel from there to the mining towns. Therefore 15-year-old James remained in
San Francisco to work for his travel costs while his older brothers proceeded
to the mines.
Although
commercially roasted coffee was available in New York shortly before the
beginning of the 19th century, it was still a luxury for big-city dwellers and
was entirely unknown to the population at large. As for ground coffee, it was
unheard of at the wholesale level.
In 1850, a
27-year-old entrepreneur named William H. Bovee was looking for a carpenter to
build his first mill in San Francisco, which he called The Pioneer Steam Coffee
and Spice Mills. Because James was skilled in carpentry, Bovee hired him to
erect the mill.
Prior to The
Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills, Californians purchased green coffee
beans, which they roasted and ground in their homes. Bovee saw an opportunity
and inaugurated the production of coffee ready for the pot: roasted, ground,
packaged in small tins, and identified by the Pioneer labels.
After working at Bovee's mill for nearly a year,
James had saved enough money to stake a claim and headed out to mine for gold.
He agreed to carry along samples of coffee and spices, taking orders from
grocery stores in the mining country until he arrived in a town called Yankee
Jim's in 1851.
Upon his return
to San Francisco in 1865, James became a full partner of The Pioneer Steam
Coffee and Spice Mills. In 1872, James bought out the other partners, renaming
the company J.A. Folger & Co
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