John Pitcairn, Jr.
1841 births | 1916 deaths | american businesspeople | american philanthropists | people from pennsylvania | scottish immigrants to the united states
John Pitcairn
John Pitcairn, Jr. (10 Jan 1841 - 22 July 1916) was a Scottish-born American industrialist who founded the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now PPG Industries).
Early life
Pitcairn was born in Johnstone, Scotland. He emigrated with his family to Pittsburgh in 1846, where his uncle had started a woolens business.Career
Pitcairn began his professional life at the age of 14, working as an office boy for the Pennsylvania Railroad. by the late 1860s, Pitcairn had worked his way up through the industry, holding superintendent and general manager positions for several railroad companies. He expanded his income substantially on the basis of several successful energy, mining, and banking investments. In August 1883, Pitcairn and several others made a major investment in the world's first natural gas-fueled glass factory, started six months earlier by Henry Ford. The company was reorganized as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, and ultimately went on to become PPG Industries, a multi-billion dollar, Fortune 500 company which produces coatings, glass, fiberglass, and chemicals.Personal life
Pitcairn married in 1884 to Gertrude Starkey, and had six children, four of which survived into adulthood.Pitcairn was an active member and benefactor of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, also known as the New Church, which follows the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Pitcairns financial largess enabled the founding of the Swedenborgian settlement at Bryn Athyn, Pennslyvania and the construction of the New Church's Bryn Athyn Cathedral.
Pitcairn's family estate, the Cairnwood Estate, constructed in 1895, was entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
References
Category: 1841 births Category: 1916 deaths Category: American businesspeople Category: American businesspeople Category: American philanthropists Category: People from Pennsylvania Category: Scottish immigrants to the United States
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