Hendrik Meijer

Hendrik Meijer (December 28, 1883 – May 31, 1964) was a Dutch-American businessman who founded the supercenter chain Meijer. He is the great-grandfather of former Republican Michigan congressman Peter Meijer. Early life Meijer was born on December 28, 1883, in Hengelo, Netherlands. With the town being recently industrialized following the Industrial Revolution, his father worked under harsh conditions at a Stork B.V. mill. Beginning at the age of 12, Meijer worked at the mill himself, adopting anarchist and socialist views during this time. He began distributing pamphlets and posters in support of these ideologies and criticizing Dutch colonialism. Meijer later joined the Dutch military to avoid further factory work. After leaving the military, he met Gezina Mantel, the daughter of anarchist and socialist organizers. He immigrated to the United States beside his parents and sister in 1907. Mantel wrote him often to ensure that Meijer remained active with anarchism and the teachings of social anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. Meijer first resided in Holland, Michigan, and was irritated by the conservative community and Christian Reformed Church, immediately joining a socialist group upon arrival. The group, possibly called "Modern Sons of Marx", met on Sunday; the city and Christian Reformed Church strictly believed Sundays were for the Sabbath and rest, though the group countered this by holding socialist meetings on Sunday. Meijer left Holland and worked various jobs as a cloth salesman, chicken and dairy farm worker, and mill worker. In 1912, Mantel arrived in the United States and the two settled in Greenville, Michigan. The couple married on November 11, 1912, to commemorate the date anarchists were executed following the Haymarket affair. This same year, Meijer opened a barber shop in Greenville.