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Birth of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew is born in Dunfermline, Scotland, to Margaret and Will Carnegie. Will Carnegie is a skilled weaver, and the Carnegies are one of many working-class families in Dunfermline. -
Andrew's Father Is Unemployed
After steam-powered looms are introduced in Dunfermline, hundreds of hand loom workers are unemployed, including Andrew's father Will. -
The Carnegies Emigrate to the US
The Carnegies settle in Pittsburgh, and Andrew begins work as a bobbin boy in a textile mill, earning $1.20 per week. He later takes a job in a factory tending the steam engine and boiler, for $2.00 per week. He impresses his supervisor with his penmanship and is offered the chance to work as a clerk for the factory. -
Andrew Works as a Messenger
Andrew works as a messenger boy in a telegraph office, earning $2.50 per week. He memorizes street names and the names of men to whom he has taken messages. This way, he is able to save time by recognizing the recipient of a message on the street. Soon after he is promoted to the position of telegraph operator and begins making $20 per month. -
Andrew Takes a Job at a Pennsylvania Railroad
Andrew becomes the personal telegrapher and assistant to Thomas Scott, the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad's western division, and is paid $35 per month. He learns the ins and outs of the railroad industry, and makes innovations like keeping the telegraph office open 24 hours per day, and burning railroad cars following accidents, which clears the tracks and gets the trains moving quickly. -
Andrew's Father Dies
Although Andrew is becoming successful in America, Will Carnegie has not been able to find work as a weaver. He then tries to produce his own cloth, traveling as far as Cincinnati to peddle it, but can find few buyers. When he dies, Andrew is 20 years old and the only breadwinner in the family. -
Carnegie Invests in Sleeping Cars
Carnegie takes out a loan from a local bank and invests $217.50 in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. After about two years he begins receiving a return of about $5000 annually, more than three times his salary from the railroad. -
Carnegie Is Promoted
Carnegie becomes the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad's western division. He is now in charge of his own department and earns a salary of $1500 per year. He and his mother move to the upscale suburb of Homewood. -
Carnegie Works for Union Army and Invests in Oil
After Confederate mobs in Maryland destroy railroad lines, Carnegie assists Thomas Scott in supervising repairs. While working on the railroad, Carnegie notices that telegraph lines have also been cut and stops to repair them. When Carnegie arrives in Washington, he joins Scott in organizing the railroad and telegraph lines to Virginia. Also in this year, Using money from his investment in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company, Carnegie invests $11,000 in an oil company in Titusville, Pennsylvania. -
Carnegie Retires From the Railroad In Order to Pursue Business
Carnegie founds the Keystone Bridge Company.
Carnegie and several associates reorganize the Piper and Schiffler Company into the Keystone Bridge Company. They envision building bridges with iron, rather than wood, to make the bridges more durable. Tom Scott loans Carnegie half of the $80,000 he needs for his investment. -
Carnegie Establishes Keystone Telegraph Company
Carnegie establishes the Keystone Telegraph Company with several associates from the railroad. The company receives permission from the Pennsylvania Railroad to string telegraph wire across the railroad's poles, which stretch across the entire state. This is such a valuable asset that Keystone is able to merge almost immediately with the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Company, allowing Keystone's investors to triple their return. -
Carnegie Meets His Future Wife Louise Whitfield
A mutual friend introduces Carnegie to 21-year old Louise Whitfield, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Carnegie continues to call on her family from time to time. -
Carnegie Visits Bessemer's Steel Plants and Sees Potential
On a visit to England, Carnegie visits Henry Bessemer's steel plants. The Freedom Iron Company, which Carnegie formed in 1861, had been using Bessemer's process of making steel for several years. While in England, Carnegie realizes the commercial potential of steel and returns to America with plans to expand his steel business. -
Carnegie Opens His First Steel Plant
Carnegie opens his first steel plant, the Edgar Thomson Works, in Braddock, Pennsylvania. The plant is named for the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Not surprisingly, Carnegie's first order is for 2000 steel rails for the Pennsylvania Railroad. -
Carnegie Acquires Interest in Coke
Carnegie begins to monopolize, and he invests a large amount of money into soon-to-be profitable companies such as Coke. -
Carnegie Gets Married
Andrew Carnegie marries Louise Whitfield. -
Carnegie Publishes the "Gosppel of Wealth"
Carnegie publishes "The Gospel of Wealth," arguing that the wealthy have a moral obligation to serve as stewards for society. By the next year, Carnegie's annual take-home pay is $25 million. -
Carnegie's Profit
Andrew Carnegie's annual profit has grwon to $40 million due to all of his investments. -
Carnegie Sells His Steel Business
Carnegie allows J.P. Morgan to buy him out for $480 million, a move which allows Morgan to create US Steel, and makes Carnegie the richest man in the world. -
Carnegie Philanthropically Donates Over $100 Million
Carnegie donated a large portion of his wealth over time to charitable causes in order to give back to the community. He strongly believed that it was the responsibility of the upper class citizens to support the community and nourish it with excess money. -
Andrew Carnegie Dies
Andrew Carnegie died on August 11, 1919 in Lenox, Massachusetts.
