Background
Cudahy was born on St. Patrick's Day in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. A few months after he was born, his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He worked his way up at the Plankinton and Armour meat packing plant in the Menomonee River Valley, becoming the superintendent in 1874. In 1888, the owner, John Plankinton, transferred the company to Patrick and his brother, John. The company became known as "Cudahy Brothers." The company changed its name to "Patrick Cudahy, Inc." in 1957, long after Cudahy's death.
In 1892, Cudahy moved the company to a 700 acre (2.8 km²) plot of land south of Milwaukee which he and his brother John bought for the purpose. This land was in the former Town of Lake, which is now divided between the municipalities of Milwaukee, St. Francis, and Cudahy.
Cudahy "had a bittersweet relationship with the village of Cudahy" in part because he supported temperance and "fought against liquor". He "argued with the Cudahy Common Council about the spread of taverns in the village", although he also worked to start assist business development and the construction of a new library. He said, "It is a source of satisfaction to me to look over those 25 years and see what has been accomplished, but I would feel much better if there were not the antagonistic spirit in Cudahy which seems to prevail to a great extent among its citizens."
Patrick Cudahy is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Read more about this topic: Patrick Cudahy
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)