Ninnie L. Baird, founder of Mrs. Baird's Bakeries, Inc., was born on May 23, 1869 in Gibson County, Tennessee. Her father was Elisha Harrison. Her mother, Amanda Elizabeth (Hunt) Harrison died when Ninnie was five years old. Her father remarried and she lived with her father and stepmother until her father's death in 1882. She went to live with her aunt for the next three years until she met William Allen Baird who was also an orphan. They maried in 1886 when Ninnie was 17 years old and William was 19 years old.

William and Ninnie settled near Trenton, Tennessee, where he built a house on family land and worked as a wood cutter. They moved to Obion, Tennessee in 1898 where he was in the restaurant and bakery business. In 1901, the family of four children moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where William introduced the first steam popcorn machine to the city at 7th and Main Street. The bright red machine with its brass fittings and steam whistle became an instant success. Within eight months, another machine was placed at 5th and Main. The success of the popcorn machines gave William the capital to buy another restaurant and the family was back in the restaurant business. Ninnie was the baker for the restaurant and she gained a reputation for her excellent bread, cakes and pies.

Not long after that, William became ill with diabetes-an untreatable disease in those days. By this time, the family had grown to eight children. The three oldest-Bess, Dewey and Hoyt-worked with their father and mother in the restaurant learning the bakery trade. All of the baking was done on a four-loaf wood-burning oven that required splitting of wood and stoking to keep a constant temperature. The restaurant was recognized for its bakery products and had a thriving business in the neighborhood. With her husband's failing health, Ninnie recognized that she could make a living baking bread and sold the restaurant. In 1908, Mrs. Baird's Bread was founded. William Baird died in 1911.

The family consisted of eight children-Bess, Dewey, Hoyt, Roland, Lorine, C.B., Marjorie and Ruth. Everyone helped in one way or another. The boys helped bake and deliver by bicycle and the girls took care of chores and the smaller children. Bess worked outside of the home to bring in extra money, as the business was still getting off the ground.

In 1915, Mrs. Baird's Bread purchased a used commercial oven from the Metropolitan Hotel for $75-paid by $25 cash and the balance in bread and rolls. This oven had the capacity for 40 loaves at a time-10 times the capacity of the old oven. The business continued to grow with the addition of a horse and wagon in 1917, for which Hoyt Baird served as the driver. A new bakery was built in 1918 at 6th Avenue and Terrell, with expansion to Dallas in 1928. By now, Ninnie L. Baird was turning the business over to the boys. She still kept a tight hand on the operations, though, since the country was in a depression. In 1938, the business expanded to Houston and built a new bread plant in Fort Worth, with each of the boys personally running a plant.

World War II brought many changes to the bakery business, due to the shortage of ingredients and personnel. Ninnie and the boys cut costs by limiting their product line to the bare necessities of white, wheat and buns. After the war, the business continued to expand with a new plant built in Abilene in 1949 and acquisitions in Victoria, Lubbock, Waco and Austin. By the 1950's, Ninnie's health had begun to decline. However, she remained Chairman of the Board for the company well into her 80's. Upon her death in 1961, the company had grown to nine plants and employed over 2500 people. Mrs. Baird's Bakeries had become the largest independent family-owned bakery in the country. Today, the Ninnie L. Baird Foundation continues her legacy of improving the lives of children and families through family preservation, education and nutrition.

Bibliography: American Weekly, July 25, 1954; Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 3, 1961; Texas Senate Resolution 13, July 19, 1961; Food Herald, September, 1983.