James Cash Penney Biography

James Cash Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a farm in Caldwell County, outside of Hamilton, Missouri. He was the seventh of twelve children born to James Cash Penney and Mary Frances Paxton Penney. Jim’s father was a poor farmer and a Baptist minister. The Penneys raised their large family to believe in the Golden Rule, self-reliance, self-discipline, honor, respect and education. The Penneys though they still worked the farm moved to a house in Hamilton so the older children could attend high school. Jim spent his childhood doing farm work and attending school. When he was eight, he had to pay for his own clothing because money was scarce and his father wanted him to learn the value of money. To do so, Jim raised and sold livestock

M. Hale and Brothers dry goods store in Hamilton. Jim began his training as a salesman on February 4, 1895. “Jim will make it. I like the way he has started out.” stated Jim's father the day before he died. His father’s influence on Jim helped him remain strong in times of sorrow and need. J. C. Penney worked hard at both Hale’s store and the farm. Other salesmen often bullied Penney and took customers away from him. Penney learned that he had to stand up for himself. Even as he gained confidence in himself and developed his skills as a salesman, Penney started feeling ill. He was diagnosed as being susceptible to tuberculosis. His doctor told him to move to a drier climate. In 1897, Penney moved to Denver, Colorado, and found work in a dry goods store. Then he bought a butcher shop with all his savings. This first business failed, because Penney wouldn’t give special favors to a powerful customer. In 1898, Penney went to work for Thomas Callahan and Guy Johnson, who owned dry goods stores called Golden Rule stores in Colorado and Wyoming. Callahan liked Penney’s honesty and strong work ethic. In 1899, he sent Penney to Evanston, Wyoming, to work with Johnson in another Golden Rule

Penney was devastated and later wrote that with Berta’s death, his “world crashed” around him. Despite his grief, Penney’s business continued to prosper. In 1912, there were thirty-four Golden Rule stores with sales surpassing $2 million. The chain name was changed in 1913, becoming the J. C. Penney Company. By 1914, Penney relocated his headquarters to New York City to be closer to the major sources of merchandise. The J. C. Penney Company flourished under the company motto, “Honor, Confidence, Service, and Cooperation.” As new stores appeared across the country, illustrated announcements in newspapers let people know that a J. C. Penney store would soon open in their community. Smart advertising, just treatment of customers, and good products at affordable prices made Penney very wealthy. He opened the first J. C. Penney Store in his home state of Missouri on April 15, 1918, in Moberly. In 1919, Penney married Mary Hortense Kimball. Sadly, Mary died in 1923, leaving him with another son, Kimball. After Penney’s first employer, J. M. Hale, retired in 1924, Penney opened his 500th store in his hometown of