In 1896, Alfred Bevis founded the Bevis Rock Salt Company, building on the failed Lyons salt company he had previously invested in and run. His daughter, Florence, married Dr. Charles Howard Longsterth, whom Bevis brought into both the Lyons and Bevis salt companies as an executive. Their son, Bevis Longstreth, became president and general manager on his return from service in World War I. In 1919, Morton Salt acquired Bevis. About ten years later, Bevis Longstreth founded Thiokol Corporation, which merged with Morton Salt in 1982 to form Morton-Thiokol. This merger was divested in 1989, following the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which was blamed on Morton-Thiokol products. Morton received the company's consumer chemical products divisions, while Thiokol retained only the space propulsion systems concern.