Andrew Carnegie, since coke is a key ingredient in the
production of steel. Eventually, Mr. Carnegie brought Mr. Frick into the Carnegie Brothers
and Company, to assure his steel mills a constant supply of coke. As Chairman, Frick
reoganized the rapidly growing industrial concern into the world's largest coke and steel
company. With the death of Andrew Carnegie's brother Thomas, the enterprise became known as
the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited.
Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie were both aggressive business competitors. It may
have been inevitable that their partnership could not last. Major problems between the two men
probably began with the
1892
labor strike at the Homestead Works of the Carnegie Steel Company. Although
it was Andrew Carnegie's intention to eliminate the unions in his mills(despite earlier
writings favoring collective bargaining), it was Henry Clay Frick who took the actions
which set-back the labor movement for decades. Andrew Carnegie did his best to distance
himself from the deaths and violence which occurred at Homestead. As the years went-on,
the two men had further disputes resulting in Mr. Frick's 1899 resignation from the
company.
Shortly after the violence at Homestead an anarchist, Alexander Berkmann, attempted to
assassinate Henry Clay Frick in Mr. Frick's second floor office in Downtown Pittsburgh.
While recovering from this attack at his East End home,
Clayton, Mr. Frick's fourth child, Henry Clay Frick, Jr., died shortly after birth.
Public opinion had turned against Henry Clay Frick immediately after the Homestead violence.
However, he gained public sympathy after the assassination attempt and the death of his
infant son.
