He was the co-founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Archer Daniels Midland.
[1] His grandfather made linseed oil[2] and his father, William S. Archer, was the owner of a linseed factory in Dayton, where he had co-founded Clegg, Wood & Co. (later known as Wood, Archer & Co.) in 1844.
[2] Archer began his career by working in his father's factory in the 1870s.
[1] They resided at Dellwood in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and they spent their winters in Phoenix, Arizona.
[1] Archer died of pneumonia on November 12, 1932, in White Bear Lake, at the age of 82.