Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was born in the medieval capital of Scotland, Dunfermline, on November 25, 1835. His father was a linen weaver by the name of William Carnegie and his mother was Margaret Morrison Carnegie. Its ironic that the Industrial Revolution that cost his father his job, in the form of steam powered looms, and the resulting move to the United States in 1848, was the very force Andrew Carnegie would use to amass his fortune.

The family settled in Pittsburgh and at age 13 young Andrew started working as a weavers assistant in a cotton factory. After doing this for two years, he changed environments and became a telegraph messenger boy in the Pittsburgh office of the Ohio Telegraph Company in 1851. It was here in Pittsburgh where Carnegie was at first refused entry into a library, but after writing a letter to the local Pittsburgh Dispatch he was accepted. The patron of the library, Col James Anderson, was an inspiration to him and one of his motivations for significant contributions to libraries in his later life.

He became learned at telegraphy and quickly worked himself into more responsible positions and later became clerk to the Superintendent and Manager of the telegraph lines of Pennsylvania Railroad. While working for the Pennsylvania Railroad, he became acquainted with Mr. Woodruff, inventor of the sleeping car. He saw the potential in this invention and invested in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. This investment turned out very well and his one-eight of the company would become the basis of his fortune.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Carnegie was called to Washington to help Abraham Lincoln as the Superintendent of military railways and government telegraph lines. As the war was nearing its end, he resigned to start his own enterprise.

He helped build the Pittsburgh Locomotive Works and invested in Pennsylvania oil wells and several Iron Works. In 1868 he introduced the Bessemer process of making steel to the US and by 1875 he fully capable of opening the largest steel works in the US, the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

1886 was a tough year for Carnegie as both his mother and brother died close to each other. But he made up for the bad year in 1887 when he married Louise Whitman of New York and in 1897 their only child, Margaret, was born.

One of the keys to his business success lay in his consolidation of iron and steel resources - iron fields, railroads, steamships, oil resources and manufacturing outlets. In 1899 he consolidated his different enterprise into the Carnegie Steel Company. In 1901 was key to the establishment of the first billion-dollar enterprise, the United States Steel Corporation, and received $400 million cash for his company.

One of Andrew Carnegie's quotes that reflect the way he did business is "Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket closely." He put all his eggs in the steel basket and became the Steel King by watching it closely.

Andrew Carnegie is well remembered for his generosity and by the time of his death on August 11, 1919 he had given away over $350 million. He helped in the establishment of over 2500 open libraries; he donated money to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University); he donated to churches, museums and concert halls. He was also the author of 'Gospel of Wealth' where he stated his believe that it is the responsibility of the wealthy to use their wealth for the betterment of the community.

Today, the name of Carnegie adorns various educational institutions and the Carnegie Corporation of New York has over $1.4 billion in assets and still distributes more than $60 million to charities every year. Though his business successes might someday fade into oblivion, Andrew Carnegie will always be remembered for his huge philanthropic contribution to the betterment and education of communities all over the world.

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