Chisholm, Henry

Henry Chisholm, a Scottish carpenter who came to be considered a genius, made Cleveland's early reputation as a place for innovation in the fledgling steel industry.

Chisholm came to Cleveland in 1850 to build a breakwater for the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad. His skills as a technician and labor manager attracted the attention of the Jones & Co., which rolled iron rails. Chisholm joined the company's owners as an investor, and later became manager and president of the firm, which was renamed the Cleveland Rolling Mill.

The mill brought many steel innovations to town, including the use of the Bessemer furnace, which blasted compressed air through molten iron, burning out impurities in the raw material. Chisholm's company began to make a variety of steel products such as wire, screws and nuts. According to The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, his use of new techniques and willingness to hire knowledgeable personnel earned him a reputation that nearly rivaled that of another steel industry giant, Andrew Carnegie.

In addition to his technical skills and marketing ability, Chisholm was known as a benevolent boss and a progressive manager. He offered company-owned housing to his thousands of workers, many of whom he knew by name. Henry Chisholm died in 1881, at the age of 59, leaving the management of the rolling mill to his son, William. The steel company eventually became part of the United States Steel Corp.