Frank W. Woolworth was born at Rodman, New York, April 13, 1852. He
passed his boyhood on his parents’ farm, was educated at a district
school, and graduated from the Commercial college at Watertown,
New York. His start in life was as a clerk in a dry goods store at
Watertown. In 1878 he originated the popular five and ten-cent store,
which, thanks to his energy and acumen, has attained such marvelous
popularity. His employers, Moore & Smith, at his suggestion, bought
$50 worth of the cheapest sort of goods and put them with other old
shop-worn goods on the counter, displaying the sign “Any article on
this counter five cents.” The stock was sold the first day, and Mr.
Woolworth then decided to have a five and ten-cent store of his own.
Borrowing $325, he opened a place in Utica, New York. The public
patronized him and at the end of six weeks he had a net profit of
$139.50. In 1869 he removed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he opened
a store, and next another at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Both of these
ventures were successful and he now has stores in nearly every large
city in the country, there being eight of such in New York alone. He
was married, in 1876, to Jennie, daughter of Thomas Creighton, of
Pictou, Ontario, Canada, and has three daughters. Mr. Woolworth’s
career is a practical commentary on the value of the maxim that it is
unwise to “despise the day of small things.”