Kinloch Stuart (1775-1826)

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his large candy manufacturing business went bankrupt. Unable to pay his substantial debts of some £6,000, he emigrated to New York in 1805 with nothing more than $100 in his pocket. Five years later, Stuart's Candy Store on Greenwich & Chambers Streets was the most popular in New York and he was able to repay his creditors in Scotland in full. Kinloch and his wife, Agnes, made the candy in a corner of the back room and sold it in the front room. Sometimes, they'd let the children into the back room to stir the sugar. When he died in 1826, he left a fortune of $100,000. Their sons became millionaire sugar manufacturers, building 871 Fifth Avenue but always maintaining their parents' candy store.