Benjamin Bradbury Cheney (1905–1971) was an American businessman and sports enthusiast active in Pacific Coast states. Cheney founded the Cheney Lumber Company and is credited with standardizing the size of wall stud

Wall stud

A wall stud is a vertical member in the light frame construction techniques called balloon framing and platform framing of a building's wall.-Purpose:...

s at 8 feet long by 2 inches thick by 4 inches wide, commonly referred to as a 2-by-4. Cheney is also known for his efforts in constructing Cheney Stadium

Cheney Stadium

Cheney Stadium, in Tacoma, Washington, is the home field for the Tacoma Rainiers minor-league baseball team of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The stadium opened in 1960, and has a capacity of 9,600...

 in Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

.

In the lumber industry, Cheney established mills in Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

, Washington, and in Medford

Medford, Oregon

Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. He also constructed mills in Greenville

Greenville, California

Greenville is a census-designated place in Plumas County, California, United States, on the north-west side of Indian Valley. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census, down from 1,160 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

, Pondosa

Pondosa, California

Pondosa is an unincorporated community in Siskiyou County, California, United States. Pondosa is east-southeast of Mount Shasta. A post office opened in Pondosa in 1925. The community was named after the ponderosa pine by Elmer E. Hall....

, and Arcadia

Arcadia, California

Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

As a sports enthusiast, Cheney sponsored sports teams in all the towns in which he was in business. He held an 11% stake in the San Francisco Giants. Cheney is most famous for helping build Cheney Stadium

Cheney Stadium

Cheney Stadium, in Tacoma, Washington, is the home field for the Tacoma Rainiers minor-league baseball team of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The stadium opened in 1960, and has a capacity of 9,600...

in Tacoma, personally contributing $100,000 to cover construction overruns of the stadium. A grinning, life-size bronze statue of Cheney, complete with scorecard and peanuts, occupies a front row seat in the grandstand of Cheney Stadium.

In 1955, Cheney established the Cheney Foundation, a charity which encourages the growth and Proserpina of communities where the Cheney Lumber Company was once active. Cheney died in 1971, bequeathing $10 million to his ongoing charity.