C. R. Mabley

Deceased Person

1836 – 1885

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Who was C. R. Mabley?

Christopher Richards Mabley was the founder of a chain of department stores in the USA. He was known as "The Merchant Prince".

Mabley was born on Feb 22, 1836 in St. Minver, Cornwall, England to William and Mary née Richards Mably. His first wife, Catherine, bore him at least 8 children of whom only two or three girls survived to adulthood. Around 1875 he married Katherine Morice Hull and in 1877 emigrated via Toronto to America.

There he opened a chain of clothing stores across Michigan, Illinois and Ohio which were so successful that he was soon able to commission the tallest building in Detroit as his flagship store but died in 1885 before it could be completed. The building was renamed the Majestic Building by a new owner because of the many letter Ms carved into the stonework.

The final store, in Cincinnati, was named Mabley and Carew and was jointly owned with Joseph Carew. Joseph T. Carew had been one of Mabley's managers and later his business partner and managed the Cincinnati store.

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Born
1836
Died
1885

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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