I have noticed that there are many blue and gold road markers in many Places in Pittsburgh. Never really stopped to read through one, until one day in front of Carnegie Library, I stopped, looked up on the plaque, and found myself read the story of one of the most influential person in late 19th and early 20th century’s history, especially in Pittsburgh. The story was about Andrew Carnegie, who was also the founder of Carnegie Mellon University, where I gained so much knowledge and experience, and loved deeply as my life unfolds itself in the past two years.
Often, when a name is so big that everybody knows about it, it can also mean that nobody really knows much about it, especially for young generations who are always on the go and consuming fast information(reading a biography book is just not their cup of tea, nor is reading a extremely long and demanding Wiki page) . But Andrew Carnegie is someone I want to know, not just acknowledging his grand and glorious name, but more importantly to know his story in Pittsburgh and his journey from a poor Scottish immigrant to one of the wealthiest figure in history.
Carnegie was born on November 25th, 1835, to poor weaving workers William and Margaret Morrison Carnegie in Dunfermline, Scotland. He migrated to the U.S. and settled in Allegheny Pennsylvania, when he was 13 years old with his parents using the money they borrowed. His first job in 1848 was as a bobbin boy, changing spools of thread in a cotton mill 12 hours a day, 6 days a week in a Pittsburgh cotton factory. His starting wage was $1.20 per week. In 1850, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy in the Pittsburgh Office of the Ohio Telegraph Company, at $2.50 per week.He was a very hard worker, paid a lot of attention to his work and polish his skills and at the same time would memorize all of the locations of Pittsburgh's businesses and the faces of important men. He made many connections this way. Within a year, he was promoted operator.
Starting in 1853, Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company employed Carnegie as a secretary/telegraph operator at a salary of $4.00 per week. At age 18, the precocious youth began a rapid advancement through the company, becoming the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division. In 1855, Scott made it possible for Carnegie to invest $500 and the opportunity was only available because of Carnegie's close relationship with Scott. A few years later, he received a few shares in T.T. Woodruff's sleeping car company, as a reward for holding shares. Reinvesting his returns in such inside investments in railroad-related industries: (iron, bridges, and rails), Carnegie slowly accumulated capital, the basis for his later success.
Before the American Civil War (1861-1865), Carnegie arranged a merger between Woodruff's company and that of George Pullman, the inventor of a sleeping car for first class travel which facilitated business travel at distances over 500 miles (800 km). The investment proved a great success and a source of profit for Woodruff and Carnegie.
In spring 1861, Carnegie was appointed by Scott, who was now Assistant Secretary of War in charge of military transportation, as Superintendent of the Military Railways and the Union Government's telegraph lines in the East. Carnegie helped open the rail lines into Washington D.C. that the rebels had cut. His work helped the telegraph service render efficient service to the Union cause and significantly assisted in the eventual victory. Carnegie later joked that he was "the first casualty of the war" when he gained a scar on his cheek from freeing a trapped telegraph wire. In 1864, Carnegie invested $40,000 in Story Farm on Oil Creek in Venango County, PA. In one year, the farm yielded over $1,000,000 in cash dividends, and petroleum from oil wells on the property sold profitably. The demand for iron products made Pittsburgh a center of wartime production. Carnegie worked with others in establishing a steel rolling mill, and steel production and control of industry became the source of his fortune.
After the war, Carnegie left the railroads to devote all his energies to the ironworks trade. Carnegie worked to develop several iron works, eventually forming The Keystone Bridge Works and the Union Ironworks, in Pittsburgh. He remained closely connected to its former employers, namely Thomas A. Scott and J. Edgar Thomson. He used his connection to the two men to acquire contracts. He also gave stock to Scott and Thomson in his businesses.
Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry, controlling the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations ever owned by an individual in the United States. He adapted innovations that can increased the production and reduce cost. In the late 1880s, Carnegie Steel was the largest manufacturer of pig iron, steel rails, and coke in the world. In 1888, Carnegie bought the rival Homestead Steel Works. Soon Carnegie combined his assets and those of his associates in 1892 with the launching of the Carnegie Steel Company.
In 1901, Carnegie was 66 years of age and considering retirement. He reformed his enterprises into conventional joint stock corporations as preparation to this end. John Pierpont Morgan was a banker and perhaps America's most important financial deal maker. He had observed how efficiently Carnegie produced profit. He envisioned an integrated steel industry that would cut costs, lower prices to consumers, produce in greater quantities and raise wages to workers. To this end, he needed to buy out Carnegie and several other major producers and integrate them into one company, thereby eliminating duplication and waste. He concluded negotiations on March 2, 1901, and formed the United States Steel Corporation. It was the first corporation in the world with a market capitalization over $1 billion. Carnegie's share of this amounted to $225,639,000 (presently, $6,331,430,340), which was paid to Carnegie in the form of 5%, 50-year gold bonds. The letter agreeing to sell his share was signed on February 26, 1901.
Carnegie spent his last years as a philanthropist. From 1901 forward, public attention was turned from the shrewd business acumen which had enabled Carnegie to accumulate such a fortune, to the public-spirited way in which he devoted himself to utilizing it on philanthropic projects. He had written about his views on social subjects and the responsibilities of great wealth in Triumphant Democracy (1886) and Gospel of Wealth (1889). Carnegie bought Skibo Castle in Scotland, and made his home partly there and partly in New York. He then devoted his life to providing the capital for purposes of public interest and social and educational advancement.
Carnegie's education and passion for reading was given a great boost by Colonel James Anderson, who opened his personal library of 400 volumes to working boys each Saturday night. Carnegie was a consistent borrower and a "self-made man" in both his economic development and his intellectual and cultural development. His capacity, his willingness for hard work, his perseverance, and his alertness were deep rooted characters that brought forth many opportunities in his career. Carnegie's mother had not wanted him to get married. After she died in 1886, Carnegie married Louise Whitfield, who was more than 20 years his junior. In 1897, the couple had their only child, a daughter, whom they named after Carnegie's mother, Margaret. [Abstraction from various Wiki pages that are involved around Andrew Carnegie. Thanks to all the authors who organized the materials and created the juicy wiki page for Carnegie.]
Beer winning trivia @ Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission
1. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the PA is responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for historical manuscripts, public records, and objects of historic interest; museums; archeology; publications; historic sites and properties; historic preservation; geographic names; and the promotion of public interest in Pennsylvania history. PHMC was established June 6, 1945, by state Act No. 446, merging the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Pennsylvania State Museum and Pennsylvania State Archives. The PHMC administers the Historical Marker Program, which installs bronze plaques to commemorate individuals, events, and landmarks throughout the state. The program was launched in 1914 by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, the predecessor to the PHMC. The signs were redesigned in 1945–46 to make them easier to read from a passing car.
Your ID @ Andrew Carnegie
1. Witnessing sectarianism and strife in 19th century Scotland regarding religion and philosophy, Carnegie kept his distance from organized religion and theism. Did he want to be seen as a “Positivist” or “Skeptic”?
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