Founder Profile
William A. McGonagle
Last reviewed: September 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is William A. McGonagle?
William A. McGonagle is a founder of 3M Company, which was founded in 1902 with J. Danley Budd, John Dwan, Henry S. Bryan and Hermon W. Cable.
- Company founded
- 3M Company
- Founded
- 1902
- Co-founders
- J. Danley Budd, John Dwan, Henry S. Bryan and Hermon W. Cable
Background
William A. McGonagle was a railroad executive on the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad and one of 3M's five founders in 1902.
Founding Story
McGonagle and Henry S. Bryan were the railroad men of the founding group; the others were physician J. Danley Budd, attorney John Dwan and meat market owner Hermon W. Cable. The deposit they bought near Two Harbors turned out to be anorthosite rather than corundum, the mining plan failed, and in 1905 St. Paul investors Edgar Ober and Lucius P. Ordway took control of the company, which moved to Duluth and then, in 1910, to St. Paul to make sandpaper. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).