John Avery McIlhenny
Encyclopedia
John Avery McIlhenny was an American
businessman, soldier
, politician
and public servant. He was the eldest son of Tabasco sauce
inventor Edmund McIlhenny
.
, McIlhenny was educated on the Island by private tutors before attending Dr. Holbrook's Military School
in Sing Sing (now Ossining
), New York
and Phillips Academy
in Andover, Massachusetts
. He later attended business school in Poughkeepsie, New York
, as well as Tulane
and Harvard
universities (although he did not complete his studies).
In the late 1880s McIlhenny worked as a clerk on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico
, but returned to Avery Island on the death of his father in 1890. Assuming control of Tabasco operations, he ran McIlhenny Company
for eight years, expanding and modernizing production, and increasing promotion and advertising of the increasingly famous product.
, joining Theodore Roosevelt
's Rough Riders
volunteer cavalry
regiment. "[B]y his high qualities and zealous attention to duty," wrote Roosevelt in his memoir of the campaign, McIlhenny "speedily rose to a sergeantcy, and finally won his lieutenancy for gallantry in action." McIlhenny participated in the Battle of Las Guasimas
and the Battle of San Juan Hill
and continued to serve despite suffering from measles
and malaria
.
, winning a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
from 1900 to 1904 and in the state Senate from 1904 to 1906 as a Democrat
. A close companion of Theodore Roosevelt, in 1906 he accepted then President Roosevelt's offer to help oversee the United States Civil Service Commission
, during which he enacted numerous reforms that streamlined the federal bureaucracy
. McIlhenny retained his position with the commission under Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft
, as well as under Woodrow Wilson
. He resigned in 1919, however, to accept a position with the U.S. State Department as Financial Adviser
to Haiti
during the island republic's occupation by the U.S. Marines
. During his time in Haiti, he clashed with Haitian president Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave
over economic issues, which resulted in McIlhenny suspending Dartiguenave's salary, causing a diplomatic crisis and inviting private criticism from the U.S. State Department.
, Virginia
. Over the next several years he renewed his interest in McIlhenny Company, helping with its reorganization as a major shareholder
in the family-owned company. After a prolonged illness, McIlhenny died in 1942 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman, soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and public servant. He was the eldest son of Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...
inventor Edmund McIlhenny
Edmund McIlhenny
Edmund McIlhenny was an American businessman and manufacturer who invented Tabasco brand pepper sauce.-Origin:Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1815, Edmund McIlhenny moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, around 1840, finding work in the Louisiana banking industry...
.
Background
Born on Avery Island, LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, McIlhenny was educated on the Island by private tutors before attending Dr. Holbrook's Military School
Dr. Holbrook's Military School
Dr. Holbrook's Military School was a military academy and boarding school for boys located on Briar Cliff, which overlooked the Hudson River near Sing Sing , New York....
in Sing Sing (now Ossining
Ossining (town), New York
Ossining is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 37,674 at the 2010 census. It contains two villages, the Village of Ossining and part of Briarcliff Manor, the rest of which is located in the Town of Mount Pleasant....
), New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
. He later attended business school in Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, as well as Tulane
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
universities (although he did not complete his studies).
In the late 1880s McIlhenny worked as a clerk on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, but returned to Avery Island on the death of his father in 1890. Assuming control of Tabasco operations, he ran McIlhenny Company
Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...
for eight years, expanding and modernizing production, and increasing promotion and advertising of the increasingly famous product.
As Rough Rider
In 1898 McIlhenny resigned from the company to serve in the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, joining Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
volunteer cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
regiment. "[B]y his high qualities and zealous attention to duty," wrote Roosevelt in his memoir of the campaign, McIlhenny "speedily rose to a sergeantcy, and finally won his lieutenancy for gallantry in action." McIlhenny participated in the Battle of Las Guasimas
Battle of Las Guasimas
The Battle of Las Guasimas of June 24, 1898, part of the Spanish-American War, unfolded from Major General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler's attempt to storm a Spanish position in the jungles surrounding Santiago. Commanding a division that included the 1st U.S...
and the Battle of San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill
The Battle of San Juan Hill , also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. The San Juan heights was a north-south running elevation about two kilometers east of Santiago de Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were names given by the...
and continued to serve despite suffering from measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
.
Public service
On his return to civilian life, McIlhenny served in the Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
, winning a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
from 1900 to 1904 and in the state Senate from 1904 to 1906 as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. A close companion of Theodore Roosevelt, in 1906 he accepted then President Roosevelt's offer to help oversee the United States Civil Service Commission
United States Civil Service Commission
The United States Civil Service Commission a three man commission was created by the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was passed into law on January 16, 1883...
, during which he enacted numerous reforms that streamlined the federal bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
. McIlhenny retained his position with the commission under Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, as well as under Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. He resigned in 1919, however, to accept a position with the U.S. State Department as Financial Adviser
Financial adviser
A financial adviser, is a professional who renders financial services to individuals, businesses and governments. This can involve investment advice, which may include pension planning, and/or advice on life insurance and other insurances such as income protection insurance, critical illness...
to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
during the island republic's occupation by the U.S. Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. During his time in Haiti, he clashed with Haitian president Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave
Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave
Philippe Sudre Dartiguenave was a Haitian political figure. He served as president of Haïti from 12 August 1915 to 15 May 1922 in a government set up by the United States after its intervention began on July 27, 1915 following an uprising which resulted in the death of Jean Vilbrun Guillaume...
over economic issues, which resulted in McIlhenny suspending Dartiguenave's salary, causing a diplomatic crisis and inviting private criticism from the U.S. State Department.
Retirement and death
McIlhenny retired in 1922 and settled in a farm house near CharlottesvilleCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Over the next several years he renewed his interest in McIlhenny Company, helping with its reorganization as a major shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
in the family-owned company. After a prolonged illness, McIlhenny died in 1942 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
See also
- Edmund McIlhennyEdmund McIlhennyEdmund McIlhenny was an American businessman and manufacturer who invented Tabasco brand pepper sauce.-Origin:Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1815, Edmund McIlhenny moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, around 1840, finding work in the Louisiana banking industry...
- Edward Avery McIlhennyEdward Avery McIlhennyEdward Avery "Ned" McIlhenny , son of Tabasco brand pepper sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny, was a Louisiana businessman, explorer, and conservationist....
- Walter S. McIlhenny
- Tabasco sauceTabasco sauceTabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...