Henry
Clay Frick, the grandson of a wealthy businessman, was born in Pennsylvania
in 1849. At nineteen Frick started work as a bookkeeper with his grandfather's
company. With the help of family money, Frick began buying coal mines.
This was a highly successful venture and he eventually controlled
80 per cent of the coal output of Pennsylvania.
One of Frick's best customers was Andrew
Carnegie, the owner of a large steel company. The two men became
business partners. Carnegie purchased a controlling interest in the
Frick Coke Company and Frick obtained 11 per cent of the Carnegie
Steel Company.
Although Carnegie remained the largest shareholder in the company,
he retired from active management in 1889. Frick now became chairman
of the Carnegie Company. At the time, the firm consisted of various
mills and furnaces in the Pittsburgh
area. Frick was concerned that there was no centralized management
structure and so in 1892 all productive units were integrated to form
the Carnegie Steel Company. Valued at $25 million it was now the largest
steel company in the world.
In an effort to increase profits, Frick decided to lower the piecework
wage rate of his employees. In 1892 the Amalgamated Iron and Steel
Workers Union called out its members at the Carnegie Steel's Homestead
plant. Frick now took the controversial decision to employ 300 strikebreakers
from outside the area. Organised by the Pinkerton
Detective Agency the men were brought in on armed barges down
the Monongahela River. The strikers were waiting for them and a day
long battle took place. Seven Pinkerton agents and nine workers were
killed before the governor obtained order by placing Homestead under
martial law.
Frick was criticised for causing the violence at Homestead by importing
strikebreakers. One man, Alexander Berkman,
the companion of Emma Goldman, attempted
to assassinate Frick. After gaining entry into his office, Berkman
shot Frick three times and stabbed him twice. However, Frick survived
the attack and made a full-recovery.
The Carnegie Steel Company continued to expand and between 1889 and
1899 annual production of steel rose from 332,111 to 2,663,412 tons,
and profits increased from $2 million to $40 million. There was growing
conflict between Frick and Andrew Carnegie
during this period. This came to a head in 1899 and Carnegie bought
out Frick for $15 million.
Henry Clay Frick worked as a director of several large companies until
his death in 1919. He left a fortune of nearly $50,000,000 and five-sixths
of it was donated to charitable organizations. This included bequeathing
$15,000,000 and his mansion in Fifth Avenue, New
York, to establish the Frick Art Museum.
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