born March 9, 1858, Osceola, Wis., U.S.
died April 21, 1942, Syracuse, N.Y.
U.S. furniture designer and maker.
He learned to make furniture at a chair factory owned by an uncle. After taking over the factory, he moved it to New York state, first to Binghamton and then to Syracuse. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and by visits to old missions in the American Southwest, he introduced с 1900 a highly original line of sturdy oak furniture. To spread his ideas and designs, he published the influential magazine The Craftsman (1901–16). In 1916 two younger brothers established a firm to produce furniture from his designs and gave the style the name Mission, by which name it is still popular today.