Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919) industrialist and steel executive

Frick was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and worked on his father’s farm as a boy, receiving only sporadic education. He worked for his uncle, Abraham Overholt, who manufactured Old Overholt Whiskey, as a clerk and worked his way to becoming bookkeeper. He also developed an interest in steel and soon began developing steel and coke ovens in western Pennsylvania.

Finding steel more to his liking, he opened H. C. Frick Coke Co. in 1871 to operate coke ovens in the local coal district. After the Panic of 1873, Frick used the economic crisis to his advantage by buying out several competitors. Borrowing money from Thomas Mellon of the Pittsburgh banking family, he began buying coalproducing land while prices were depressed. By 1880, he had made a sizable return and was worth more than $1 million. Like John D. Rockefeller in the oil business, he began to consolidate his operations after the panic, assuming correctly that the economy would soon right itself.

In 1881, Andrew CARNEGIE acquired substantial holdings in Frick’s company, and Frick was paid with a large block of Carnegie stock. After being named chairman of Carnegie Steel in 1892, Frick continued to consolidate the STEEL INDUSTRY and expanded into RAILROADS as well. He acquired Duquesne Steel Company in 1890. A black mark appeared on his management record shortly thereafter. While chairman of Carnegie Steel, Frick dealt with strikers at the company’s Homestead plant in Pennsylvania who were protesting low wages. While Carnegie was in Europe, Frick called in private Pinkerton security guards to calm the workers, and a riot ensued, claiming casualties on both sides. An attempt was also made on his life. Although the strike was broken when the governor of Pennsylvania sent in 8,000 National Guard troops, the incident became a national sensation and helped to underscore the plight of the poverty-stricken steel workers in the region.

In 1899, Frick resigned his position at Carnegie Steel after a disagreement with Carnegie. Subsequently, he served as intermediary between Carnegie and J. P. Morgan, who wanted to buy Carnegie Steel. After the transaction was complete in 1901, he became a director of the newly organized U.S. STEEL CORP. He also was intermediary between Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, obtaining some of Rockefeller’s mineral resources for the new company. He helped reorganize the Equitable Life Assurance Company in 1905 and acquired large tracts of land in his native Pittsburgh.

Frick was known as a patron of the arts. His art collection and New York mansion were left to the public as the Frick Museum. He also made several notable contributions to Princeton University as well as donations of parkland in Pittsburgh.

See also MORGAN, JOHN PIERPONT.

Further reading

• Sanger, Martha. Henry Clay Frick: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Abbeville Press, 1998. 
• Warren, Kenneth. Triumphant Capitalism: Henry Clay Frick and the Industrial Transformation of America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996.