Cudahy, Michael

Cudahy, Michael (kŭd`əhē'), 1841–1910, American meat packer, b. Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. He went (1849) to Milwaukee and after 1856 worked for meatpacking firms. In the 1870s he introduced refrigeration into the meatpacking industry. He became a partner of Philip D. Armour and later, with his brother John, established a packing company in Omaha, Nebr.

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Cudahy, Michael (1841–1910) meatpacker; born in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland; and Edward A. (Aloysius) (1859–1941) meatpacker; born in Milwaukee, Wis. The brothers' family came to Milwaukee in 1849 and at age 14 Michael began working for meatpackers. By 1869 he was supervising the Plankinton & Armour Packing House and by 1875 was a partner of Armour & Company in Chicago. During the 1870s, Michael brought refrigeration into warehouse packing plants. In 1887 the brothers—Edward had started working as a meatpacker at age 12—bought a packing plant near Omaha, Nebr. with Philip D. Armour. The Armour-Cudahy partnership broke up and the plant became the Cudahy Packing Company (1890). Under Edward's supervision the company expanded significantly; his son, Edward A. Jr., was kidnapped in 1900 and held in chains for $25,000 ransom. Subsequently the son entered the family's business in 1905, and became president in 1926.