The story
Founded by Melville Reuben Bissell in 1883.1
Melville Bissell developed an early carpet sweeping machine to aid in cleaning the crockery shop he and his wife Anna Sutherland Bissell owned and operated. The device was patented as the Bissell Carpet Sweeper in 1876. In 1883, Bissell built the company's first manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By the 1890s the company had an international presence and was producing 1000 sweepers per day.
Melville Bissell died in 1889 and his wife Anna took over as leader of the company. She served as the company president from 1889 to 1919 and chair of the board from 1919 to 1934.
Over the years the company expanded from manufacturing only mechanical sweepers to producing vacuum cleaners and carpet shampooers.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bissell, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5