Henry Clay Frick

Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Born	(1849-12-19)December 19, 1849 West Overton, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Died	December 2, 1919(1919-12-02) (aged 69) New York City, New York
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Homewood Cemetery
Nationality	American
Education	Otterbein University (did not graduate)
Occupation	Industrialist and art collector
Known for	Strikebreaking, Frick Collection, Johnstown Flood
Spouse(s)	Adelaide Childs Frick (1859-1931)
Children	Childs Frick, Martha Frick, Helen Clay Frick, Henry Clay Frick Jr.
Parent(s)	John Wilson Frick, Elizabeth Overholt
Relatives	Abraham Overholt
Signature

Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, union-buster, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. He also financed the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company, and owned extensive real estate holdings in Pittsburgh and throughout the state of Pennsylvania. He later built the historic neoclassical Frick Mansion (now a landmark building in Manhattan) and at his death donated his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum.

Frick was born in West Overton, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States, a grandson of Abraham Overholt, the owner of the prosperous Overholt Whiskey distillery (see Old Overholt). Frick's father, John W. Frick, was unsuccessful in business pursuits. Henry Clay Frick attended Otterbein College for one year, but did not graduate. In 1871, at 21 years old, Frick joined two cousins and a friend in a small partnership, using a beehive oven to turn coal into coke for use in steel manufacturing, and vowed to be a millionaire by the age of thirty. The company was called Frick Coke Company.