Henry J. Heinz
Photo: Bain, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons10

Henry J. Heinz

American businessman (1844–1919)

Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur who co-founded the H. J. Heinz Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was involved in the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Henry J. Heinz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Oct 11, 1844, died May 14, 1919.1

About

Many of his descendants are known for philanthropy and involvement in politics and public affairs. His fortune became the basis for the Heinz Foundations.

From Wikipedia’s article on Henry J. Heinz, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Henry John Heinz was born in Birmingham, Pennsylvania, to John Henry Heinz (1811–1891), and Anna Margaretha Schmidt (1822–1899). John Henry Heinz was born Johann Heinrich Heinz to parents Johann Georg Heinz and Charlotte Louisa (née Trump). Heinz's mother's family, the Trump family, was originally from Kallstadt of the Palatinate, which at that time was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1840, John Henry immigrated to Birmingham, where he got a job making bricks and then met and married Anna in 1843, who herself had recently emigrated from Kruspis (today a part of Haunetal), Hesse-Kassel. Then when Henry was five years old, his parents moved to Sharpsburg where Henry’s father went into the brick making business for himself. Anna Schmidt was the daughter of a farmer and church administrator, Johann Adam Schmidt, and Dorothea (Thiel) Schmidt. Anna came from Hesse-Kassel, which was a Reformed Protestant (Calvinist) territory, so she was raised in the Calvinist Christian faith. Anna's husband, John Henry Heinz, was a Lutheran, and they raised and confirmed their son to that faith.

From Wikipedia’s article on Henry J. Heinz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: entrepreneur, businessperson, inventor.4

Personal life

  • BornOct 11, 1844, Birmingham5
  • DiedMay 14, 1919, Pittsburgh6
  • CitizenshipUnited States7
  • Children58

Heinz led a successful lobbying effort in favor of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. During World War I, he worked with the Food Administration. He was a director in many financial institutions, and was chairman of a committee to devise ways of protecting Pittsburgh from floods.

Marriage and family

Heinz married Sarah Sloan Young on September 3, 1869. She was of Scots-Irish ancestry and had grown up in the Presbyterian Church. They had five children:

Irene Edwilda Heinz-Given (1871–1956)

Clarence Henry Heinz (1873–1920)

Howard Covode Heinz (1877–1941)

Robert Eugene Heinz (1882–1882, lived about 1 month)

Clifford Sloan Heinz (1883–1935)

They were raised as Presbyterians.

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Religious faith

Later in life Heinz worshipped as a member of Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and worked closely with Baptists as well.

When Heinz visited England, his "tourist stops" included the graves of religious leaders John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, and John Wesley. He visited a chapel that Wesley founded, later writing that "I felt I was upon holy ground." At the beginning of his will Heinz wrote: "I desire to set forth, at the very beginning of this Will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior."

Death and legacy

Heinz died at his home on May 14, 1919, after contracting pneumonia. His funeral was at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. He was buried at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh, in the Heinz Family Mausoleum.

A bronze statue of Heinz by Emil Fuchs was dedicated on October 11, 1924, at the Heinz Company building in Pittsburgh.

Heinz is the grandfather of H. J. Heinz II (1908–1987), the great-grandfather of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) of Pennsylvania (who was later buried in the same family mausoleum), and great-great grandfather of Henry John Heinz IV, André Thierstein Heinz, and Christopher Drake Heinz.

From Wikipedia’s article on Henry J. Heinz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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