Joseph A. Biedenharn
Joseph Augustus Biedenharn (December 13, 1866 – October 9, 1952) was an American businessman and confectioner credited in the summer of 1894 with having first bottled the soda fountain drink, Coca-Cola, at his wholesale candy company building in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As he expanded this business, he created a model of bottling-distributor franchises and built his company through this state, as well as Louisiana and Texas. In 1913, he moved the manufacturing and bottling operations to Monroe, Louisiana, continuing to grow the business. With his son Malcolm and other entrepreneurs, in 1925 he bought a crop-dusting business. They added eighteen planes to the fleet, making it the largest private one in the world. They developed this business as Delta Air Lines, moving it later to Atlanta, Georgia. The Biedenharn family has had a philanthropic tradition in both Vicksburg and Monroe, making major contributions to historic, educational, recreational and charitable purposes. Vicksburg years Of German ancestry, Biedenharn was the oldest son of twelve children, born in Vicksburg to Herman Henry Biedenharn (1824–1924) and the former Louisa Wilhemine Lundberg (1844–1913). Three children died in 1874/75, eight sons and one daughter grew up. Both were immigrants with their families following the Revolutions of 1848.