Gustavus Swift (1839-1903) headed a large American corporation that revolutionized the meatpacking industry by using refrigerated railroad cars, strict cost controls at his plants, and "vertical integration." His practices helped overcome consumer mistrust of processed meat and inspired the vast, mechanized meatpacking businesses depicted in Upton Sinclair's infamous 1906 novel The Jungle.

Chicago-based meatpacker Swift and Company earned its fortune by organizing the large-scale slaughter and processing of cattle in the Midwest and shipping its products to East Coast population centers via refrigerated railroad cars. Gustavus Swift, the company's founder, battled public distrust for meat processed hundreds of miles away and found many profitable uses for byproducts of the slaughterhouse. Swift, a pioneer of the "vertical integration" concept, was obsessed with controlling costs at his plants and offices.

Yankee Butcher

Swift was born on June 24, 1839, near Sandwich, on Massachusetts's Cape Cod Bay. He was one of 12 children and was...