Industry: Agriculture

Hall W. Thompson

  • October 26th, 2021

Although Hall W. Thompson is a native of Tennessee, he has become a distinguished business leader in Alabama during the last thirty-five years. He is the retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., which he founded in 1957, and is currently President of Thompson Realty Co., which he established. in 1959.

One of four children of the late DeWitt C., Jr. and Mary (Gibson) Thompson, Hall W. Thompson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 28, 1923. After graduating from Duncan Preparatory School in Nashville in 1941, he attended Vanderbilt University until called to serve his country in World War II. From March 1943 until January 1946, he served with the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific.

Returning to Nashville in 1946, he again entered Vanderbilt, while at the same time assuming responsibilities at General Truck Sales, a company founded by his father. During his 12 years with General Truck Sales, the nation’s largest privately-owned GMC truck outlet, he served in all facets of the company and left the Tennessee business while serving as its Executive Vice President and General Manager.

In 1957, he acquired the North Alabama dealership for Caterpillar, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of earth-moving and construction equipment, and a major supplier of diesel and natural gas engines and gas turbines. Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., became an Alabama corpora­tion and established its headquarters in Birmingham.

Under Hall Thompson’s leadership, the firm would become one of the most successful Caterpillar dealerships in the nation. Building on the philosophy that customers consistently do business with firms dedicated to customer service, Thompson recruited an outstanding team of people, at one time totaling nearly 600, and set standards by which most Caterpillar franchises were then and are today measured.

Of particular significance in his career, according to Hall Thompson, was his part in convincing local and state banks that firms engaged in highway construction and in mining the coalfields in Alabama deserve significant support.

When Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. was established, Alabama was just beginning to use funds provided by the Highway Defense Act of 1956 (an Eisenhower program that authorized over $50 billion for construction of the nation’s highways). He found that banks at that time had shown no interest in investigating what was happening in two of the major markets that Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. would serve.

Thus, in 1958, he invited all the CEOs of Birmingham area banks to “spend a day with him in the highway industry.” The day began with breakfast at the old Tutwiler Hotel and ended with a dinner party at the Birmingham Country Club.

The main event of the day was a scenic tour through rural areas to several interstate highway projects in Blount and Cullman counties to let bankers see first-hand what ultramodern machinery would accomplish in completing Alabama’s portion of the highway program. He gave bankers a first-hand view of exactly what lay ahead for construction companies and what these companies would need in capital to accomplish these large projects if Alabama businesses and Alabama jobs were to be created. In effect, Hall Thompson set the stage that would lead to major bank participation and ultimately solve the problems that faced the contractors. He made similar efforts in the mining industry-an “iffy” opportunity for bankers when coal prices were very low, but an entirely different picture as the mid-70’s oil embargo sent coal prices soaring.

Unusual growth in construction, mining, and other industries throughout the state brought a change in the 37 counties in North Alabama. Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. facilities were built in Anniston, Decatur, and Tuscaloosa, and additional people were hired to meet rapidly expanding needs. Hall Thompson says that he was fortunate, as are most successful leaders, to have had his timing right and to be on the scene when rapid growth in all industries was taking place.

Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. today markets earth-moving equipment through its tractor division; provides complete product and product support offerings of Caterpillar and Crown through Thompson Lift Co.; and provides CAT diesel engines and power systems for prime and standby power for any application through Thompson Power Systems.

Under the leadership of Hall Thompson’s son, Michael, who became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1986, Thompson Tractor Co., Inc. has continued the tradition of excellence and service fostered by its founder.

In 1987, the company became the authorized Caterpillar Dealer for South Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. The firm has also added to its “full-service” and “mini-service” branches.

The corporate headquarters and main operations are still in Birmingham. “Full-service” branches are located in six Alabama cities and one in Florida. The company has three “mini­branches” in Alabama and one in Florida.

A dedicated golfer, Hall Thompson fulfilled a longtime goal by finding the perfect property on which to construct a superior golf course. A combination of his extensive background in golf, a magnificent piece of property, and the expert assistance of Jack Nicklaus developed the course now known as Shoal Creek. The course has gained national and international recognition in the world of golf and has hosted three national championships. In 1985, “Golf Digest” ranked Shoal Creek as the 14th finest golf course in America while elevating it to #3 in the quality of turfgrass found on courses throughout the country.

Hall Thompson is pleased that Shoal Creek has become an example to other clubs in the community to provide their membership with superior facilities. The support of the golf tournaments at Shoal Creek also did much to encourage entrepreneurs to build quality courses on which the daily fee golfer can play. The number of jobs created in the construction and maintenance of these facilities has been significant.

Taking a leaf out of his father’s book, Hall Thompson became very active in community affairs when he moved to Birmingham. An early membership in the Monday Morning Quarter­ back Club led to substantial involvement in many facets of community life.

He has served on a number of corporate boards, including AmSouth Bank, South Central Bell, BellSouth Telecommunications, Protective Life Corporation, and Alabama By Products Corp. He is a past director of both the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the State Chamber of Commerce as well as the Associated Industries of Alabama. He is currently a member of Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trustees.

He became active in politics at the county, state, and national levels because he believed then, and still believes, that business people should have a voice in shaping the future of the nation. He became a Republican when, he has said, “it wasn’t all that popular to be so identified.” While never a candidate for office, he has served several candidates as a major fundraiser, and in one instance, as a state-wide campaign manager.

Hall Thompson has received well-deserved recognition for his leadership in business and community affairs. In 1978, he received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. In August 1982, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Samford University. He has also received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from Judson College and was honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Alabama’s first Distinguished Sportsman.

He and his wife-the former Lucille (Lucy) Ryals of Rhine, Georgia-have three sons, two daughters, and eight grandchildren.

Goodwin L. Myrick

  • October 25th, 2021

Goodwin L. Myrick’s resume belies the fact that he has been a farmer all his life.

President and chief executive officer are the words that jump out at the reader and listed beneath those terms are so many organizations that one might overlook the second, and key, word in the first listing: Alabama Farmers Federation. But there is no overlooking Goodwin Myrick, or the influence he has had on business and agriculture in the state of Alabama.

Goodwin L. Myrick was born May 9, 1925, in Etowah County, Alabama, to Marion Myrick and Lillie Burgess Myrick. He grew up a farmer, tilling the family soil, and establishing his first dairy herd in 1944 with eight cows. Today, with more than 400 Holstein dairy cows and 700 head of beef cattle, his dairy, beef cattle and farm opera­tions encompass two farms and more than 2,000 acres in Etowah and Talladega counties. The farming operation is run through M&H Farms, a partnership between Mr. Myrick, his son Greg, his daughter Donna and her husband Tony Haynes.

Mr. Myrick began the executive side of his career by joining and progressing through the ranks of Alabama’s largest farm organi­zation, following in his father’s footsteps as president of the Etowah County Farm Bureau Federation. Later he was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Farm Bureau Federation, the predecessor organization to the Alabama Farmers Federation. He was then selected as a vice president of that organization, and later, in 1969, as first vice president – a capacity in which he served for some nine years. In 1978, with the support of a grassroots movement within the organization, he was elected president. The members of the Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance Companies Group have confirmed that original vote eight times since, and Mr. Myrick is currently serving his ninth term.

Since his first term in office, membership in the Federation has increased each year, growing from 223,000 members in 1980 to almost 400,000 today, making it the largest farm organization in Alabama and one of the largest in the nation. The Alfa Insurance Group has also seen an annual growth rate of 22.3 percent, expanding from a small, one-state operation into one of the strongest regional insurance groups in the United States. The Alfa Corporation, of which he is also president and chief executive officer, is now a publicly-traded insurance holding company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and listed five times in one 10-year period by Forbes Magazine as one of the “200 Small Best Companies in America.” In 1991, the Corporation was recognized as one of the Top 50 small company stocks in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and has been honored five times in the 1990s by National Underwriter as one of the Top 50 insurance companies in the nation.

Mr. Myrick led Alfa’s growth and expan­sion efforts in many ways. Under his leadership several subsidiary corporations have been formed or have been changed or improved to the extent that all are now operating at significant positive profit levels, including Alfa Investment Company; Alfa Realty, Incorporated; Alfa Builders, Incorporated; and Southern Boulevard Corporation. Under his leadership, an insurance pooling agreement was implemented that essentially changed Alfa Corporation from a life insurance holding company to a multi-line insurance holding company, with subsequent significant operational and financial benefits to the entire insurance corporation. He has also established an in-house advertising agency, Creative Consultants, Incorporated, which handles all of the Alfa Insurance, affiliate companies, and Alabama Farmers Federation advertising and placement.

Over the years Goodwin Myrick has said that one of the keys to his corporate success has been his strong belief that the greatest assets of his companies are the people who work for them and the persons whom they serve, both farmers and insurance policy­holders. This philosophy played out into the concrete reality of a significant decline in the annual rate of personnel turnover. It went, for general employees, from approximately 52 percent at the time he became president to a current rate of about 11 percent at the headquarters office of the Alfa Companies in Montgomery, Alabama. For agents, on a statewide basis, the drop was even more dramatic: from about 85 percent at the time of Mr. Myrick’s election to a current rate of about 15 percent.

One of Goodwin Myrick’s first management decisions after taking the helm as president of the Alfa Group was to elevate the role of the human resources department, having it report directly to the president and centralizing all personnel functions of the several affiliate corporations and organizations. Compensation and benefits packages were unified, and he initiated an incentive pay plan that still involves all employees, from the entry-level hourly wage earner to top management.

Continuing to implement his philosophy to put people first and to make Alfa a leader in corporate America, Mr. Myrick led his companies to build and provide for their employees a state-of-the-art childcare facility, licensed for 120 children, adjacent to the corporate offices in Montgomery, one of the first of its type in the state. He has also been responsible for planning and implementing a corporate fitness center.

Today Goodwin Myrick sits on the boards of directors of Compass Bank of the South; of the Alfa Corporation and all Alfa Insur­ance Corporations and subsidiary corporations; the Alabama 4-H Foundation; and the Auburn University College of Agriculture Advisory Council, of which he served as the first chairman. He has led Alfa’s participation in United Way and other charitable causes and civic programs and has been responsible in recent years for the Companies’ contribu­tions to many of the state’s universities, in­cluding The University of Alabama, Auburn University, Troy State University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has also implemented and expanded numerous individual scholarship programs, and under his direction, Alfa is a “Partner in Education” for two schools in the Montgomery County School System.

In 1990 Goodwin L. Myrick was named one of the 10 most influential men in the state of Alabama by Business Alabama Magazine, and in 1992 he was inducted into the Alabama Agricultural Hall of Honor.

And how would he like for history to remember him?

“I’ll tell you, “He once told the state’s capital city newspaper, The Montgomery Advertiser. “My Daddy had this reputation – if you wanted to do – Something good for the community, then don’t pass my Daddy’s house (by). He’d always help you.

“We want to build a better community, a better state. I don’t want to be listed as a negative.”

Goodwin L. Myrick need not worry. He will be listed as a positive – and a farmer.

Raymond B. Jones

  • October 4th, 2021

Ray Jones’ life’s work has grown straight up from the soil, with roots deep in the land where he was raised.

Raymond B. Jones, Sr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 23, 1935, to engineer Carl T. Jones and his wife Betty. Carl had been forced to leave his home in Huntsville, Alabama because of the depression and found work in Tennessee.  In 1939, he moved his family back to Madison County to attempt to revitalize the struggling family engineering business and to farm and raise cattle. He moved his wife, Betty, his son Ray and young daughter Betsy onto a worn-out 2,800-acre farm that he had purchased with his brother Ed as a backup in case their engineering business failed.

It was in 1939 that 4-year-old Ray would first see the farm that he would tend all of his life.  As a young man growing up on the farm, Jones tilled the land and herded cattle from before the sunlight shone on the valley until after it had gone away, and each day it bloomed in him a passion for the earth and its bounty.

Interest in agriculture and cattle-raising saw Jones off to Auburn University to study animal science.  To make money for tuition, he hatched and raised pheasants to sell to restaurants.  After Jones earned his degree and completed his military obligation he returned to Jones Valley in 1957 to manage the farming operations.  Over the next decade, the farm flourished.  The farm tripled the population of cattle and expanded its acreage with the acquisition of two other farms in Jackson and Marshall Counties.

During this time the farming, real estate, and engineering enterprises had come a long way, but Ray had stayed close to his roots.  In one of the most pivotal moments of his life, Jones became president of the family’s engineering firm with the untimely death of his father in 1967.  This necessitated his having to run the farms in three counties as well as the consulting engineering business.  Founded in 1886 by Jones’s grandfather, G. W. Jones & Sons Consulting Engineers still performs engineering design on a multitude of municipal projects.  Roadway, water, wastewater, and airport design, as well as land surveying services, are offered by the firm.  Huntsville’s International Airport was designed by the firm and is named for Ray’s father – Carl T. Jones.  Following the death of his father, Jones continued to run and expand the farming, real estate, and engineering businesses for the next thirty-five years.  Jones continues to be the CEO of G. W. Jones & Sons Consulting Engineers and G. W. Jones and Sons Farms.

In addition to the engineering and farming businesses, Jones has been involved in many other enterprises.  He is president of the North Alabama Mineral Development Company, president and CEO of R. B. Jones and Associates,  president of Valley Bend at Jones Farm shopping center and is involved in other real estate endeavors ranging from apartment complexes to subdivision developments.

Still, though, Jones’ roots and heart tell him he’s first a farmer, second a businessman. Over the years he has served as president of both the Madison County Cattleman’s Association and the Alabama Cattleman’s Association. A Huntsville Times article entitled “Foremost a Farmer,” describes Jones as a farmer – humble, wise, and unpretentious. “He knows about the uncertainty of tilling the land and he has respect and even reverence for the unpredictable whims of nature. Once a man has that knowledge he can never forget his tiny tentative place in the vast natural universe.”

Jones has received many awards for his business and civic leadership as well as his success and influence in the field of agriculture.   He received the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce in 2002.  He has served on the board of trustees of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee for the last 23 years.  In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  He is currently serving as Chairman of the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation.    Perhaps the most prestigious recognition in agriculture was when he became the first and still the only Alabamian to be awarded the “Sunbelt Farmer of the Year” in 1996.  He was surprised when he won, but no one else was.  The chairman of the award’s judging team said Jones “demonstrated all that is good about American agriculture.  He has built an outstanding beef cattle operation, relying on the heritage of his forbearers, who were pioneers in this area of Alabama.”

Today the legacy of the G. W. Jones & Sons family is being shared by Ray Jones and his wife Libby with their children.  Daughter Lisa and her husband Mark Yokley are both registered engineers.  Mark is the current president of the firm.  Daughter May and her husband Mike Patterson are involved in the firm.  May is a realtor; Mike is a CPA and Chief Financial Officer for the firm.  Son Raymond B. Jones, Jr. and wife Kristy are active in the firm.  Raymond is a realtor and runs the cattle operations.  Kristy is a licensed insurer.  The 121-year-old firm that started with his grandfather continues through Jones and his children.

Jones related this quote in an interview for a newspaper article some years ago.  “We are, all of us, the recipients of the courage, hard work, and vision that has come down to us from our forefathers.  Our duty is to build on that heritage while invoking the blessings of our heavenly Father and always giving thanks to Him for the privilege of living in this great land that we call America.”

General. John Coffee

  • September 22nd, 2021

General John Coffee epitomizes the type of dependable, public-spirit­ed private citizen who contributed substantially to the development of the frontier regions of Tennessee and North Alabama in the early 19th century.

Throughout his life as a frontier merchant, a soldier, a promoter, and a planter – he seemed to display physical and mental qualities which made other men instinctively trust him and turn to him for advice and counsel.

Born on June 2, 1772, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, John Coffee was the son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Graves) Coffee. The family subsequently moved to Granville County, North Carolina, and to Rockingham County, North Carolina, where he grew to manhood. When his father died in 1797, John Coffee took steps to assure that his mother would be well provided for.

Noting the opportunities in agriculture, commerce, and land speculation in a newly opened region in Tennessee, he purchased land on the Cumberland River in Davidson County and in 1798 moved with his mother to this thriving frontier section near Nashville. Here the Coffees established direct contact with a group of families whose names are well known in the history of Tennessee and the United States – among them Andrew Jackson. John Coffee was to become closely associated with Andrew Jackson, not only as a neighbor, but also as a business associate, a relative by marriage, an officer serving under Jackson’s command, and a friend and confidante.

When the family farm no longer demanded his undivided attention, the young man sought new horizons as a frontier merchant. After several unsuccessful ventures in the mercantile business, caused primarily by the economic and political situation of the times, John Coffee turned to survey the unoccupied lands of middle Tennessee in order to recover his fortune and repay his debts. Ironically, the depressed market which brought financial loss in the mercantile business brought financial gain to John Coffee during the rest of his life. He was able as a surveyor, land agent, and speculator to profit from the ensuing westward movement.

Between 1807 and 1812, John Coffee, along with John Drake, became surveyors and locators for William P. Anderson and John Strother, one of the partnerships which sprang up after the passage of an act in 1806 which settled a long-standing dispute (North Carolina vs. Tennessee vs. U.S. Government) about ownership of land in Tennessee. Such partnerships and land companies sought warrants for unoccupied lands in order to sell the property. Coffee and Drake, as surveyors and locators, were to receive one-half of any cash and lands Anderson and Strother might receive. During this time, John Coffee also formed an in­ dependent partnership with John Drake. He was also called upon by many leading men of the state to give advice and to assist in their purchases.

In October 1809,  the bond already existing between John Coffee and Andrew Jackson was strengthened when Coffee married Mary Donelson, niece of Mrs. Jackson. Mary received a plantation as a wedding gift, and there at Jefferson Springs on Stone’s River, Coffee built a home called Sugar Tree Forest and briefly turned his attention to developing the plantation.

In 1810, in order to settle affairs with Anderson, Strother, and Drake, he agreed to act as agent in surveying and laying off the townsite of Huntsville, Alabama.

He was also instrumental in persuading territorial officials to select Huntsville as the county seat of Madison County. After the completion of this work and the settlement of his affairs with Anderson, Strother, and Drake, he seemed to be in a position to devote his time to the plantation. But in 1812 came the call to military service to defend the frontier.

During the campaigns against the British and the Indians, John Coffee led a regiment of cavalry as part of Andrew Jackson’s force of Tennessee volunteers. His astute leadership and unerring courage soon brought him the rank of Brigadier General. His feats during the Battles at Horse Shoe Bend and New Orleans are a well-known part of history.

When General John Coffee returned from military service in 1815, he used the knowledge gained during the campaigns to extend his land interests into a new region. By 1817 he had been appointed surveyor-general of the newly created political unit called the Alabama Territory. His first task was to oversee the survey of the region North of the Tennessee River. When the work was completed, he established a land office at Huntsville, where the necessary plats and descriptions were prepared for use in the opening sale of land in the new territory.

In his capacity as surveyor general, he was able to profit, as was the custom of the times, from his or his clerk’s dispensing of information that enabled persons to buy land in the district.

He also participated in the organization and direction of stock companies in which problem region. One of the companies was the Cyprus Land Company which promoted the town of Florence. That his activities as a speculator were not construed by federal authorities as inconsistent with the duties as Surveyor of Public Lands is indicated by the fact that General Coffee was reappointed by each successive presidential administration from Monroe to Jackson.

By the end of 1817, John Coffee had decided to settle in Alabama. He bought a choice tract of 1,280 acres near Florence where he built a new home, which he named Hickory Hill. In 1819, he leased Sugar Tree Forest and moved his family to Alabama.

John Coffee shifted his major interests to the plantation and to his family and friends. The plantation became known as one of the most perfect plantations in North Alabama – fairly managed and expertly productive.

That John Coffee also found time to serve the interests of the Florence Community is evidenced by a resolution drawn up by city authorities after  General  John  Coffee’s  death on July 7, 1833, stating “a due sense of general moral worth,  feeling a general lively gratitude for his public services and revering him for his upright work as a private citizen, (who gained) by his kindness and benevolence  to  the poor, and by his honesty  and  integrity  the  respect and confidence of every class of the Community.”

General John Coffee was given a military funeral, and as Andrew Jackson later said, “The vast concourse of people who attended … show how firmly he was fixed in the affections of his fellow citizens.”

(The information in this biographical summary was derived primarily from “The Life and Activities of General John Coffee,” the dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University by Gordon T. Chappell in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1941.)

Isidor Weil

  • September 20th, 2021

Possessing little more than a penchant for hard work, a keen eye for business, and a measure of good luck, young Weil was able to start his own business at the age of twenty-two.

By the time he died, at the age of eighty-nine, his business dealings spanned the globe, and Weil himself, reported the Montgomery Advertiser, was “one of the best-known cotton merchants in the world.”

When he first arrived in this country, thirteen-year-old Isidor Weil probably had less grandiose dreams. Born in Otterstadt, Rhine-Bavaria in 1856, he was the eldest of twelve children of Aaron and Magdalene Weil. In August of 1869, Isidor and his eleven-year-old brother Herman-neither of whom spoke English – sailed from Bremen to New York. From there they traveled to Huntsville, Alabama, where they made their home with two of their uncles, Isaiah and Herman Weil, who had come to the South prior to the Civil War.

In Huntsville, Isidor and his brother attended school and learned the language and customs of their adopted country. Sometime in the mid-1870s, the young Weil brothers moved to Opelika to live and work with their mother’s brother, Mose Lemle, who operated a general store. Like other merchants in the South, Lemle extended credit to his customers, most of whom were cotton farmers, for goods purchased throughout the year. The farmers then paid their debt at harvest time with a portion of their crops. Isidor was put in charge of converting these crops into cash.

His success at this undertaking was such that the young Weil was soon able to talk his uncle into buying cotton directly from the farmers and selling it to the local mills. By 1878, the services of the Weils were in such demand that Isidor and his brother Herman, in partnership with their uncle Lemle, formally went into business as cotton buyers and exporters. In 1884, when Mose Lemle died, Isidor named the firm Weil Brothers.

By 1887, the year Isidor married Eda Oppenheimer of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was already well established as a successful cotton merchant. He was also known as one of the most public-spirited citizens in Opelika, where he took an active interest in the town’s commercial, civic and political affairs, and where he served over the years as alderman, as a director in the local banks, and as chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee for that district.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the company expanded rapidly as the Weils found new markets in the Southeast, in New England, and abroad. From the ports of Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston, they shipped cotton to England and to other countries across the continent. Several of the export practices Weil Brothers employed became standard operating procedures throughout the industry. The cash-on-arrival form of payment they instituted (in which the buyer cables funds to the seller’s bank when a vessel is first sighted in a foreign port) is still in use today in England, France, Germany, and other European countries.

In 1889, Herman Weil withdrew from the firm and Emil Weil, another of Isidor’s brothers, became associated with the business. By the turn of the century, Weil Brothers had developed into such a large and complex network of services that the brothers thought it necessary to move the business closer to the shipping and distribution centers of the region. So, in 1903, Isidor Weil moved his growing business and his growing family (now two sons, Adolph and Leonel, and a daughter Helen) to Montgomery.

Once again he took an active interest in the welfare of the community. Weil was one of the organizers and directors of the Exchange National Bank; he served as director of the Alabama National Bank Company, the Union Bank & Trust Company, the Capitol National Bank, and the Peoples Cotton Mills. He helped organize and served as vice-president of the Memorial Hospital, was a director of the Anti-Tuberculosis League, the Associated Charities of Montgomery, and other public welfare organizations.

During World War I, Weil became a leading member of several committees in charge of the sale of Liberty Bonds. He chaired three separate drives to raise funds in Montgomery for European relief after the war and was Alabama State Chairman for the Jewish Relief Fund. A thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Shrine, Weil was also an active member of the Reform Jewish congregation, Kahl Montgomery, which he served as a member of the board of directors and as president.

When Isidor’s sons, Adolph and Leonel, returned from service after World War I, they took over management of the company and were soon joined in the business by Lucien Loeb, Isidor’s son-in-law, and Alvin Weil, Emil’s son. Isidor Weil, however, never retired from the company he had spent his life building, and he continued to take an active interest in Weil Brothers’ affairs for the next two and a half decades.

These were years of growth and expansion for the company. They were also years of change as the transportation of cotton shifted from steamboats to trains and trucks, and as the center of the cotton industry began to move slowly from the Southeast to the far West. Weil Brothers shifted with the times. They opened offices in Memphis, Dallas, Houston – and later in Fresno, California – and maintained offices in New York, where the company had become a clearing member of the New York Cotton Exchange.

After World War II, when cotton production increased dramatically in many other countries, Weil Brothers opened affiliated offices in Mexico, and it pioneered the marketing of Central American cotton, especially in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Salvador. As the trend in world textile production shifted from Europe to the Orient, a selling office was opened in Osaka, Japan.

In the 1950s, Adolph’s two sons, Adolph, Jr., and Robert, assumed the company’s management, and under their direction, the firm has continued to expand. With two partnerships in Mexico and South America, Weil Brothers now deal in cotton in some twenty-four countries throughout the world, buying and selling between 800,000 to 1,000,000 bales per year through its extensive affiliated network.

Isidor Weil, of course, did not live to see all of his company’s growth. Before he died in 1946, however, he had watched the small business he had begun in 1878 develop into a worldwide concern. He had seen the fruits of his labor passed on to his children and to his children’s children, and he must have understood, as perhaps only an immigrant can, what it is to attain his own version of the American Dream.

X