William Moller (1817-1897)

He was born in Germany and having gained experience refining sugar in London and Boston he came to New York. By 1855, he was a partner in W & F Havemeyer & Co. when he was already estimated to be worth $100,000. Later, he went into business on his own as William Moller & Son's Sugar Refinery. By 1865, the firm was producing 17-million pounds of sugar a year, valued at $2,800,000. Part of the firm's success was due to experimentation which Mr. Moller encouraged as well as his own patented Cut Loaf Sugar machine, a device which perfected the production of the sugar cube. His success however was short-lived and his refinery failed in 1878 when he left sugar refining to work for Grinnell & Minturn, sugar and coffee traders.

In 1858, Moller commissioned Edwin Coffin to build "The Cedars" at Irvington-on-Hudson - now a New York landmark. He sold it soon after the collapse of his refinery in 1878. It was later the corporate headquarters of Duracell, Inc. and then sold by Kraft General Foods Inc. to the American Booksellers' Association in February, 1993, who spent $2-million on its restoration. Moller married Elizabeth Sherman and had at least 4-children including George H. Moller and Col. William F. Moller who in 1869 was engaged to marry Lulu Higgins (1851-1870), the daughter of the multi-millionaire Elias S. Higgins, Carpet Manufacturer, of New York, but tragically she died before they could make it to the altar. Colonel Moller then married Fannie Clark, whose descendants are alive today.