James Athearn "J. A." Folger Sr. (June 17, 1835 – June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and the founder of the Folgers Coffee Company.
Early years
Folger was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel Brown Folger (b. 1795) and wife Nancy Hiller (b. 1798). His father was a master blacksmith who had invested in a tryworks and bought two ships. They had nine children of which James was the second youngest. The Folger family roots can be traced back to Peter Folger, an English colonist.[1] On July 13, 1846, a 33 acre fire broke out in Nantucket's business section and burned the works and ship and 11 year old James helped in the reconstruction.
San Francisco
After the discovery of gold in California, James (age 14), along with his brothers Henry (age 16) and Edward (age 20) set out in the autumn of 1849 on a ship bound for the Isthmus of Panama. After a raft and hiking journey across the Isthmus, the brothers waited at Panama City for quite a while before catching the Pacific mail steamer Isthmus on April 10, 1850. They entered the Golden Gate