Article by Michael Joseph Lynch
A Biography of
Milton Hershey
DID YOU KNOW?
In 1996, my brother and I were vacationing in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and we took a side trip east across the state to the city of Hershey, which is named after Milton Hershey. We took a free tram tour of the chocolate factory, while watching them make Hershey Kisses and chocolate bars. This is where I got a history lesson on the man who started Hershey’s, which I have had my fair share of throughout the years of his product. After our tour, we received free fresh Hershey Kisses right off the assembly line. Also, after leaving this tour and driving around the city, the street lights in town were Hershey Kisses, which was very unusual.
Anyway, Milton Hershey was an American manufacturer and philanthropist who founded the Hershey Chocolate Corporation and popularized chocolate candy throughout much of the world. Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, although some sources say
he was born in Derry Church, Pennsylvania. Following an incomplete rural school education, Hershey was apprenticed at age 15. After two failed attempts, Hershey set up the Lancaster Caramel Company. In 1900 Hershey sold the company, focused on perfecting the formula for chocolate bars, and began building what would become the world’s largest chocolate-manufacturing plant.
Entrepreneur Milton Snavely Hershey was the only surviving child of Veronica "Fanny" Snavely and Henry Hershey. Born on a farm outside of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, a small farming community