Maxwell Wilber Becton (August 22, 1868 – January 2, 1951) was an American industrialist and businessman.[1] He co-founded Becton, Dickinson and Company in 1897 with Fairleigh S. Dickinson.[2] He also co-founded Fairleigh Dickinson College.[3]
Maxwell Becton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Maxwell Wilber Becton August 22, 1868 |
| Died | January 2, 1951 (aged 82) |
| Education | Rutherford College |
| Occupation(s) | Industrialist and businessman |
| Employer | Becton, Dickinson and Company |
| Known for | Co-founder of Fairleigh Dickinson College |
Early life
editBecton was born on his family's plantation in Kinston, North Carolina on August 22, 1868.[4] His parents were Eliza and Jarman Becton.[1][3] Growing up, he attended the Woodington Methodist Church.[4] He attended local schools.[3] He attended Rutherford College.[4] However, the college burned in 1888, so he only completed two years of college.[4] He then moved to New York.[4]
Career
editIn New York in 1888, Becton worked as a salesman.[3] In 1891, he moved to Montana where he worked in real estate.[1][3] He moved to Boston in 1895 and co-founded Randall and Becton, a medical thermometer company.[4][3] While in Texas on a sales trip, he met Fairleigh S. Dickinson (1866–1948), co-founder of Becton Dickinson and the named benefactor of Fairleigh Dickinson University who was a paper salesman.[1][4] The two men discovered that they grew up fifty miles apart in North Carolina and had the same birthday.[4] They quickly became close friends.[4]
After buying out Randall, Becton and Dickerson created a partnership to sell medical thermometers and syringes, in 1897.[1][2][4] Later, the company also produced hypodermic needles and syringes to inject insulin.[4] The company incorporated as Becton, Dickinson & Company in 1906 and built a manufacturing plant in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[1][2] Becton served as the company's secretary and treasurer, and later served as the chairman of the board.[1]
Becton, Dickinson & Company supplied medical instruments to the United States Army during the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II.[1] As the company expanded, it grew to become a manufacturer of instruments for surgery, dentistry, and veterinary.[4] They also made medical bags[4] and invented new instruments, including the binaural stethoscope and the mercurial sphygmomanometer that measured blood pressure.[4] They also developed an all cotton elastic bandage, named the ACE bandage in 1918.[4] In 1948, the founder's sons took over management of the company.[2]
In the 1920s, Becton and Fairleigh purchased the South Bergen Savings and Loan Association together, with Becton serving as its president.[1][4] The bank was later known as the National Community Bank of New Jersey.[4] He was also vice president and a director of the Rutherford National Bank.[1][3] He was president of the Bergen County Chamber of Commerce.[3]
Personal life
editBecton married Valarie Prentiss of Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1913.[4][3] They had three children, Henry Becton, Suzanne Becton, and Valerie Becton.[4] The family built a home in Rutherford, across the street from Dickinson's house.[4]
Becton was a major donor to Fairleigh Dickerson College when it was established in 1941, allowing the construction of Becton Hall.[3][1] He served on the college's board of trustees.[4] On the campus, Bector Hall and the Maxwell Becton School of Arts and Science were named in his honor.[4][1] He was a trustee of Hackensack Hospital.[3] He donated in his mother's memory to build a new building for the Woodington Methodist Church in Woodington, North Carolina.[4] Later, he donated a Hammond electric organ to the church.[4]
He was a member of the Freemans, belonging to the Boiling Springs Lodge, the Knights Templar, and the Lafayette Commandery.[1] He was president of the Rutherford Rotary Club, a director of the YMCA, and a member the New York Southern Society.[3] He also belonged to the New Jersey Senior Golf Association.[3]
Becton had a stroke in 1943 and cut back on working.[4] He died in his home in Rutherford, New Jersey on January 2, 1951, at the age of 83 years.[3][1] He was buried in the Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "M.W. Becton Dead; Manufacturer, 83; Maker of Surgical Instruments Was a Founder of Fairleigh Dickinson College in 1941", The New York Times, January 3, 1951, p. 25.
- ^ a b c d "History of Becton, Dickinson & Company – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Maxwell Wilbur Bection Dies, Industrial and Civic Leader". The Herald-News. Passaic, New Jersey. 1951-01-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Phillips, Jane (2018-09-01). "Meet Maxwell Becton, entrepreneur". Neuse News. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
- ^ "Sometimes the Grave Is a Fine and Public Place". The New York Times. March 28, 2004.
But there are a slew of other places around New Jersey with their own pantheons. Consider the eclectic group at rest in Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst: the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet William Carlos Williams and both founders of the former industrial giant Becton-Dickinson, Maxwell Becton and Fairleigh Dickinson, for whom the New Jersey university is named.