Origins & Early Life

Richard Warren Sears (December 7, 1863 – September 28, 1914) was an American businessman who co-founded the department store Sears, Roebuck and Company with his partner Alvah Curtis Roebuck. Sears was born in Stewartville, Minnesota. His father was James Warren Sears, born circa 1828 in New York, a blacksmith and wagon-maker; his mother was Eliza Burton, born in Ohio circa 1843. The family was living in Spring Valley, Minnesota, by June 1870, where his father served as a city councilman and eventually sold his wagon shop in 1875.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Both of his parents were of English descent. During his boyhood in Spring Valley, he befriended Almanzo Wilder, the future husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In 1880, he started working as a telegraph operator in the town of North Branch, Minnesota, for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, and was later transferred to North Redwood Falls, Minnesota, to be station agent there. In 1886, when Sears was 23, his station received a shipment of gold watches from a Chicago manufacturer, but the local consignee, jeweller Edward Stegerson, refused the unsolicited shipment.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

A common scam existing at the time involved wholesalers...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• 1863 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1863
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• 1914 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1914
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