Jones Dairy LG
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History
In 1832, Milo Jones, a government surveyor, moved from Vermont to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and a few years later his wife, Sally, and two children followed. Among their possessions was a family recipe for sausage that years later would go on to become the cornerstone of the family business.
The sausage that the Jones family made was a favorite among neighbors in the Fort Atkinson area. But it was Milo and Sally’s son, Milo C., who first had the idea of commercially producing the sausage. Milo C. was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis, which left him crippled. Longing to have a productive life despite his affliction, he decided to take the family recipe and turn it into a business. Early stories tell that Milo C. would ask to be carried to the cheese kitchen at the Dairy Farm to supervise the chopping of lean pork cuts, the rendering of lard, and the stuffing of sausage into natural casings, all done by hand.
In the early stages Milo C. began selling the sausage to Wisconsin grocers, neighbors, and friends. However, his sights were set on a larger market, Chicago, so he began by writing to wealthy Chicagoans and taking mail orders. Before long the sausage was being delivered by rail to the city. With his eye on further expansion, Milo C. would review Boston and New York society pages in search of more potential mail order customers. This unique approach was ultimately successful and helped boost Jones sales in the northeastern United States. Orders soon poured in from all over the country, and the brand began to grow. |
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