#520 The Pioneer Seedsman

 Fun Fact #520

The Pioneer Seedsman

In 1870, The Civil War Veteran from Kiswaukee, Ronald H. Shumway, would found a company known as “The Pioneer Seedsman” on South First Street in Rockford IL. His idea was simple as he would use the US postal system to mail seeds on demand to dry goods stores across the nation. By doing so he hoped to expand his market from just one city to the entire nation even reaching the furthest and most remote frontiers. The plan worked, so by the time of his death in 1925 “The Pioneer Seedsman” was the largest seed company in the world. 

While the company was sold off it was revived in the 1980s as an inhouse brand of the J. W. Jung Seed company, and is notably still selling the same seed species which were adapted specifically for the Midwest climate.