George Wick

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Photo from the Youngstown Daily Vindicator , April 19, 1912

George Dennick Wick (born June 24, 1854 in Youngstown , Ohio , USA ; † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank ) was an American industrialist and founder of the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company, one of the largest steel manufacturers at the time World.

Career

George Wick was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1854 as the third of five children of Paul Wick (1824-1890) and his wife Susan Abigail Bull (1826-1882). His siblings were Myron, Alice, Harriet, and Frederick. The father was a successful mine owner, iron manufacturer, and large landowner who was active with the Republicans and also on the local city council. The parents belonged to the First Presbyterian Church .

Youngstown was a center of coal mining and iron production in the 19th century, so Wick was also active in this field. Together with his business partner James Anson Campbell, later director of the American Iron and Steel Institute , he carried out several projects. In 1895 the two founded the Mahoning Valley Iron Company, with Wick as president. When the company was taken over by the Republic Iron and Steel Company in 1900 , the two got out. At the turn of the century, there was a trend away from iron and towards steel in the region . In addition, there was a wave of consolidation , so that many local companies came under state control. For example, US Steel captured Youngstown's largest steel maker, the National Steel Company, in 1901.

In 1900, Wick and Campbell founded the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company in Youngstown with seed capital of US $ 600,000, again with Wick in the position of company president. The company developed into one of the world's largest steel producers and existed until 1977. In 1904, Campbell replaced Wick as president because he left for health reasons. A few years later, however, he returned to the company.

family

On October 1, 1877, George Wick married Mary Caroline Chamberlain, seven years his junior, in Ohio, who died on March 2, 1893 at the age of 32. From this marriage came the daughter Mary Natalie Wick (1880-1944). Three years later he married Mary Peebles Hitchcock (1866-1920), with whom he had a son in 1897, George Dennick Wick, Jr. († 1975).

death

In the spring of 1912, Wick took a vacation to Europe to restore his ailing health. He was accompanied by his daughter Natalie, his wife Mary and the daughter of a cousin, Caroline Bonnell and her aunt Elizabeth Bonnell. On April 10, 1912, the group went as first class passengers in Southampton on board the new luxury liner RMS Titanic , which set out on its maiden voyage to New York .

When the Titanic collided with the iceberg on the late evening of April 14, 1912 , George and Mary Wick were in their cabin and felt the impact. Wick thought a cauldron had exploded . Natalie and Caroline showed up shortly afterwards and announced that they had been advised to go on deck wearing life jackets . Wick didn't believe anything serious had happened. The four women boarded lifeboat No. 8 on the port side, which the Titanic left at 1:10 a.m. with plenty of free spaces. George Wick was last seen waving after them. He died in the sinking; his body was never found.

Youngstown's schools, factories, shops, and public buildings held five minutes of silence at 11 a.m. on April 24, 1912 in honor of the city's prominent citizen. The flags were raised at half-mast . A memorial to him was later erected at the local Oak Hill Cemetery.

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personal data
SURNAME Wick, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wick, George Dennick (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Youngstown, Ohio, USA
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1912
Place of death North Atlantic