Henry Clay

Henry Clay Frick

In this paper I am going to talk about how Henry Clay Frick was an important man to our history and some things that he contributed. Not only was he a successful industrialist, but an art patron and a philanthropist. He was one of the most important people that helped put Pittsburgh on the map.

It all started in a small town in Westmoreland county called West Overton. He was born in 1849 into a wealthy family not his parents but his grandfather had some money. His grandfather was Abraham Overholt, who was a wealthy rye whiskey distiller. As he was growing up his grandfather gave him a job as a bookkeeper. And that was the job that made him want to become a wealthy man in his future.

It didn’t take long either Henry with an entrepreneurial spirit became the largest producer of coke from coal. By the time he was thirty he was already a millionaire and this caught the eye of another important Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie looked at Frick, as a man that could really help him out since coke was a key ingredient in the making of steel. This led to Carnegie bringing Frick into his company Carnegie Brothers and Company, and this assured him of having a constant supply of coke. After joining up with Carnegie, Frick took and reorganized the world’s largest coke and steel company. But Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie were both aggressive business competit...