James Cash Penney

James Cash J.C. Penney, Jr. was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the J. C. Penney stores in 1902.

J.C. Penney was born on a farm outside of Hamilton, Caldwell County, Missouri to James Cash Penney, Sr. and Mary Frances Penney. He was the seventh of twelve children, only six of whom lived to adulthood. Penneys father was a Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached his late preteens. His intentions after graduation from Hamilton High School were to attend college with the hopes of becoming a lawyer. However, his fathers untimely death forced a change in plans, with Penney taking a job as a store clerk to help support the family. Penneys health problems caused him to venture west to Longmont, Colorado, in his early twenties, where he found employment with the previously mentioned Golden Rule stores.

Source: Wikipedia