The Golden Rule and Success

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The Golden Rule and Success

Post by jesusgirl4ever » Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:34 am

James Cash Penney was taught the value of money from an early age, when at eight his parents began to have him buy his own clothes, which he did by raising pigs and watermelons. His father was an unpaid Baptist minister who supported his twelve children, of whom James was seventh, by farming. After graduating from high school in 1893, he began working as a store clerk. However, he soon moved to Colorado because of his risk of contracting tuberculosis. In Denver, he spent his savings on a butcher shop, but it failed when he refused to give whiskey to the cook of a hotel. Penney was hired by Thomas Callahan, owner of the Golden Rule stores, because of his strong morals and work ethic. A year later, he married Berta Hess, with whom he had two sons. In April 1902, he opened his own Golden Rule store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. He and his family lived above this store, and Penney only accepted cash for his products, not wishing to harm others by forcing them into debt.

By 1907, he owned three Golden Rule stores. Two years later, he moved his headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah. Sadly, his wife Berta died a year after the move; however, “despite his grief, Penney’s business continued to prosper.” His chain was incorporated in 1913 as J.C. Penney and Company, as others had begun to steal the Golden Rule name (rather ironic). He moved his headquarters again in 1914, this time to New York City. He married Mary Kimball in 1919, but she, too, died in 1923, leaving him with their only child together, Kimball. A year after her death, he opened his 500th store in his hometown of Hamilton, Missouri. During the 1920s, he also became involved in the beef industry. During this time, he also bought his father’s farm. In 1926, he married again, this time to Caroline Autenrieth.

The Great Depression hit the nation at this time, and, while the company as a whole grew, even during this time, Penney personally experienced financial loss. As he sank into depression, a friend suggested he enter a sanitarium, which he did. While in the sanitarium, he overheard a chapel service one morning, where the doctors and nurses were singing a hymn he remembered from his childhood. Someone also read Matthew 11:28, in which Christ promises rest to those who come to Him. At that moment, he, for the first time in his life, truly placed his faith and trust in Jesus as his Savior. “His financial fortunes began to be restored in the mid-1930s. As that happened, he renewed his support of various charities, putting millions of dollars into the Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida, Christian Herald magazine, and more than 100 other organizations ministering in the United States and around the world.”

Penney spent his later years speaking and writing. He lived to be 95 years old, dying in 1971 in New York City. He had five children, two sons with his first wife, one son with his second, and two daughters with his third. Upon his death, J.C. Penney and Company had 1,660 stores. The only store larger was Sears, Roebuck, and Co. He remained a strong Christian after his conversion in the ‘30s. At the time of this death, James Cash Penney was tithing 90 percent of his earnings from his company, because God was blessing him so greatly. Because he honored God with what he was given, God rewarded him with more. “You were faithful with a few things, [sic.] I will put you in charge of many things.” (Matthew 25:21)


School project I thought I might as well post. If you want my sources or where I quoted from, just ask.
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Re: The Golden Rule and Success

Post by thegoldenchesspiece » Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:50 am

That is really amazing! I had no idea he was a Godly man, nor that he was so successful! I wonder what he wrote...
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Re: The Golden Rule and Success

Post by jesusgirl4ever » Fri Feb 05, 2016 12:07 pm

Thanks, Chess! I know he wrote several autobiographies... Fifty Years Under the Golden Rule is the title of one of them.
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