Houghton Surname Project

Marcus Libby Urann^1,2,3

M, #3661, b. 2 October 1873, d. April 1963

Family: Agnes Maria Copeland

Marriage*: Marcus Libby Urann married Agnes Maria Copeland on Nov 18, 1895 at Holden, Penobscot, ME, USA.¹

Biography

A Contributor to Houghton Surname Project

Corresponded with author

Notable

Birth

Oct 2, 1873

Sullivan, Hancock, ME, USA, age 26, Oct. 1873, in 1900 census; SS: MA^1,3,4

Occupation

lawyer

Marriage

Nov 18, 1895

Holden, Penobscot, ME, USA¹

1900 Census

1900

Easton, Bristol Co., MA, USA³

Living

1912

Death

Apr, 1963

MA, USA⁴

Biography

"He is a graduate of the University of Maine and Boston University School of Law. He resides at Boston and is a lawyer. The family are indebted to Mr. Urann, at whose suggestion this work was undertaken. His interest and generous assistance has made the publication of these records possible." 1900 Census lists him at Easton Town, Bristol, MA, with wife. In 1912, Marcus Urann began canning berries and producing cranberry jelly, a mixture of fruit and sugar. In 1930 Ocean Spray was formed as a grower-owned marketing cooperative - one of the three founding members was Marcus Urann, native of Sullivan, ME.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Ocean-Spray-Cranberries-Inc-Company-History.html:
The Ocean Spray name was conceived by a Boston lawyer named Marcus L. Urann, who gained a reputation as the "Cranberry King" for a cranberry sauce he packaged in tins and marketed under the brand as early as 1912, as well as for his later promotions. Urann headed the Ocean Spray Preserving Co. of South Hanson, Massachusetts, and was one of the principal proponents behind a merger of similar companies to form a large, powerful cooperative. Urann reasoned that a merger would erase the stiff competition he faced from the Makepeace Preserving Co. of Wareham, Massachusetts, and The Enoch F. Bills Co. of New Egypt, New Jersey. The merger would also allow for greater marketing clout. John C. Makepeace and Elizabeth F. Lee, the other two owners involved in Urann's proposed merger, joined Urann in signing a certificate of incorporation in June 1930. A delay by Urann in transferring the Ocean Spray trademark jeopardized the merger for a short time; however, by August, Cranberry Canners, Inc. had been formed and Ocean Spray's survival was thus ensured.
Urann, as president and general manager, assumed responsibility for advancing the cooperative by meeting with and encouraging growers and by enlarging the demand for cranberries. Among the products introduced by Cranberry Canners during the 1930s were Cranberry Juice Cocktail and Ocean Spray Cran, both tart-tasting forerunners of later, sweetened juice and juice concentrate products. With the 1940s and the addition of Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington growers to the cooperative, the product line expanded to include dehydrated cranberries (for U.S. troops) and cranberry-orange marmalade. By 1943 the co-op controlled 15 facilities for production, storage, and distribution. Because of the rising prominence of the cranberry and the Ocean Spray label, the cooperative renamed itself the National Cranberry Association (NCA) in 1946. During that same year, the company also began marketing fresh cranberries, in cellophane packaging, for the first time.^1,3

Note

? Hanson, Plymouth, MA: Cranberry Assoc.

Alert

C. Whittier undertook Urann genealogy at his behest.

Notable

He cofounded OceanSpray, the largest cranberry company in the US.

Research

Same picture collection