Editing Henry J. Heinz

{{Short description|American businessman (1844–1919)}}
{{Other people|Henry Heinz}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = Henry J. Heinz
| honorific_suffix   = 
| native_name        = 
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| image              = File:Henry John Heinz by the Pach Brothers Studio, c. 1914, gelatin silver print, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 93 388 14.jpg
| image_size         = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = Heinz {{circa|1914}}
| birth_name         = Henry John Heinz
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1844|10|11}}
| birth_place        = [[Birmingham, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Birmingham, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1919|05|14|1844|10|11}}
| death_place        = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Homewood Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| monuments          = 
| nationality        = 
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| occupation         = [[Business magnate]]
| years_active       = 
| employer           = 
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| agent              = 
| known_for          = The creator of [[Ketchup|tomato ketchup]]
| notable_works      = 
| style              = 
| height             = <!-- {{height|m=}} -->
| television         = 
| title              = Founder of [[Heinz|H. J. Heinz Company]]
| term               = 
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| spouse             = {{marriage|Sarah Sloan Young Heinz|1869|1894|reason=died}}
| partner            = 
| children           = 5
| relatives          = {{unbulleted list|[[Jack Heinz]] (grandson)|[[John Heinz]] (great-grandson)|[[Frederick Trump]] (second cousin; see [[Family of Donald Trump#Family tree|Trump family]])|[[Donald Trump]] (second cousin twice removed)}}
| awards             = 
| signature          = Signature of Henry John Heinz (1844–1919).png
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}}
[[File:F.L. Brown, S.P. Leet, Rev. J.G. Holdcroft, Marion Lawrence, H.J. Heinz, Bishop J.C. Hartzell in 1917.jpg|thumb|F.L. Brown, S.P. Leet, Reverend J.G. Holdcroft, Marion Lawrence, Henry John Heinz, and Bishop [[Joseph Crane Hartzell]] in 1917]]

'''Henry John Heinz''' (October 11, 1844<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skrabec |first1=Quentin R. |title=H.J. Heinz : A Biography |date=2009 |publisher=Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co. |isbn=978-0786441785 |page=28 |url=https://archive.org/details/hjheinzbiography0000skra/page/28/mode/2up |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur who co-founded the [[H. J. Heinz Company]] of [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]].

He was involved in the passage of the 1906 [[Pure Food and Drug Act]]. Many of his descendants are known for philanthropy and involvement in politics and public affairs. His fortune became the basis for the [[Heinz Foundations]].

==Early life==
Henry John Heinz was born in [[Birmingham, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Birmingham, Pennsylvania]] to John Henry Heinz (1811–1891) and Anna Margaretha Schmidt (1822–1899). John Henry was born Johann Heinrich Heinz to parents Johann Georg and Charlotte Louisa (née [[Family of Donald Trump#Ancestry|Trump]]) Heinz in [[Kallstadt]] of the [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]], which at that time was part of the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]]. In 1840, John Henry emigrated to Birmingham, where he got a job making bricks and then met and married Anna in 1843, who herself had recently emigrated from {{interlanguage link|Kruspis|de}} (today a part of [[Haunetal]]), [[Electorate of Hesse|Hesse-Kassel]].<ref name="Skrabec, 2009">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PxqCy0R-VzAC |title= H.J. Heinz: A Biography |first= Quentin R. |last= Skrabec |publisher= McFarland & Company |year= 2009 |isbn= 978-0-7864-4178-5 |pages= 27, 28, 83 }}</ref><ref name="McCafferty, 1923" /> Then when Henry was five years old, his parents moved to Sharpsburg where Henry’s father went into the brick making business for himself. Anna Schmidt was the daughter of a farmer and church administrator, Johann Adam Schmidt, and his wife Dorothea (Thiel) Schmidt.{{efn|At least one biographer has erroneously written that Anna's father was a pastor, based on a mistranslation of the German word "Kirchenältester" which appears before Anna's father's name in Anna's baptism record. "Kirchenältester" does not mean "pastor," but rather refers to a lay church administrator who is elected by the parish elders to safeguard the affairs of the church.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.woerterbuchnetz.de/DWB/kirchenältester |title=Kirchenältester |first=Wilhelm & Jacob |last=Grimm |date=1854 |access-date=March 23, 2021}}</ref>}} Anna came from Hesse-Kassel, which was a [[Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany|Reformed]] [[Protestant]] ([[Calvinist]]) territory, so she was raised in the Calvinist Christian faith.<ref name="Pettegree, 2000">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdSVnJDClesC |title= The Reformation World |first= Andrew |last= Pettegree |publisher= Routledge |year= 2000 |isbn= 9780415163576 |pages= 399–400 }}</ref> Anna's husband, John Heinz, was a [[Lutheran]], and they raised and confirmed their son to that faith.<ref name="Skrabec, 2009" /><ref name="McCafferty, 1923">{{cite book |url= http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?idno=00awg8618m;view=toc;c=pitttext |title= Henry J. Heinz: a biography |last= McCafferty |first= E. D. |page= 20 |year=1923 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.pittsburghquarterly.com/index.php/Historic-Profiles/relish-success-hj-heinz-in-the-21st-centory.html |title=H.J. Heinz: Relish success |first=William S. |last=Dietrich II |date=Summer 2008 |journal=Pittsburgh Quarterly |access-date=March 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130031/http://www.pittsburghquarterly.com/index.php/Historic-Profiles/relish-success-hj-heinz-in-the-21st-centory.html |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}</ref>

==H. J. Heinz Company==
{{main|Heinz}}
Henry John Heinz began packing foodstuffs on a small scale at [[Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania]], in 1869. There, he founded Heinz Noble & Company with a friend, L. Clarence Noble, and started marketing bottled [[horseradish]], soon followed by [[sauerkraut]], [[vinegar]], and [[Pickled cucumber|pickles]]. The company became bankrupt in 1875. The following year, Heinz founded another company, F & J Heinz, with his brother John Heinz and a cousin, Frederick Heinz.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=H.j. Heinz Company {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/hj-heinz-company|access-date=April 10, 2021|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

The company continued to grow and, in 1888, Heinz bought out his other two partners and reorganized it as the [[H. J. Heinz Company]], the name carried to the present day. The company's slogan, "[[Heinz 57|57 varieties]]," was introduced by Heinz in 1896; by then, the company was selling more than 60 different products.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinz.com/our-company/press-room/trivia.aspx |title=Trivia |publisher=Heinz |access-date=March 5, 2015 |archive-date=March 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324001822/http://www.heinz.com/our-company/press-room/trivia.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Heinz said he chose "5" because it was his [[lucky number]]; the number "7" was his wife's lucky number.<ref name="Rawsthorn09">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/fashion/13iht-design13.html?_r=1|title=An Icon, Despite Itself |last=Rawsthorn|first=Alice | author-link = Alice Rawsthorn|date=April 12, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=June 9, 2009}}</ref>

The H. J. Heinz Company was incorporated in 1905 with Heinz serving as its first president, retaining that position for the rest of his life.<ref name=":0" /> At the time of Heinz's death in Pittsburgh at the age of 74, the H. J. Heinz Company had more than 20 [[food processing]] plants and owned seed farms and container factories.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

==Later life==
Heinz led a successful lobbying effort in favor of the [[Pure Food and Drug Act]] in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 June 2015 |title=Heinz Ketchup: A flavorful message in a glass bottle |url=http://statemuseumpa.org/pennsylvania-icons-heinz-bottle/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916090313/http://statemuseumpa.org/pennsylvania-icons-heinz-bottle/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 16, 2015 |access-date=21 April 2022 |website=The State Museum of Pennsylvania }}</ref> During [[World War I]], he worked with the [[United States Food Administration|Food Administration]].<ref name="colliers">{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Heinz, Henry John|year=1921}}</ref> He was a director in many financial institutions, and was chairman of a committee to devise ways of protecting Pittsburgh from floods.<ref name="colliers" />

===Marriage and family===
Heinz married Sarah Sloan Young on September 3, 1869.<ref name="Skrabec, 2009" /> She was of [[Scotch-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] ancestry and had grown up in the Presbyterian Church. They had five children:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/126/000057952/ |title= Henry J. Heinz |publisher=Soylent Communications |work=[[NNDB|Notable Names Database]] |access-date=January 27, 2013}}</ref>
* Irene Edwilda Heinz-Given (1871–1956)<ref>{{cite web|title=The Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given Research Professorship of Ophthalmology|url=https://www.med.upenn.edu/endowedprofessorships/irene-heinz-given-and-john-laporte-given-research-professorship-of-ophthalmology.html}}</ref>
* Clarence Henry Heinz (1873–1920)<ref name="McCafferty, 1923" />
* Howard Covode Heinz (1877–1941)
* Robert Eugene Heinz (1882–1882, lived about 1 month)<ref name="McCafferty, 1923" />
* Clifford Sloan Heinz (1883–1935)
They were raised as Presbyterians.

===Religious faith===
[[File:Henry John Heinz in 1917.jpg|thumb|upright|Henry J. Heinz in 1917]]
Later in life Heinz worshipped as a member of [[Methodist]] and [[Presbyterian]] churches, and worked closely with [[Baptists]] as well.<ref name="Skrabec, 2009" />

When Heinz visited [[England]], his "tourist stops" included the graves of religious leaders [[John Bunyan]], [[Isaac Watts]], and [[John Wesley]]. He visited a chapel that Wesley founded, later writing that "I felt I was upon holy ground."<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/goodprovider0000unse |url-access= registration |title= The Good Provider: H. J. Heinz and his 57 Varieties |first= Robert C. |last= Alberts |publisher= Houghton Mifflin |year= 1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/goodprovider0000unse/page/76 76] |isbn= 978-0-213-16481-2 }}</ref> At the beginning of his will Heinz wrote: "I desire to set forth, at the very beginning of this Will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in [[Jesus Christ]] as my Savior."<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=s3Zaen-5Kk4C |title= In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional |first= Richard |last= Lee |page= 100 |publisher= Thomas Nelson Inc |year= 2011 |isbn= 978-1-4041-8965-2}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Heinz died at his home on May 14, 1919, after contracting [[pneumonia]]. His funeral was at [[Cathedral of Hope (Pittsburgh)|East Liberty Presbyterian Church]]. He was buried at [[Homewood Cemetery]] in Pittsburgh, in the Heinz Family [[Mausoleum]].<ref name="Skrabec, 2009" /><ref name="McCafferty, 1923" /><ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160418115751/http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/auxiliary/biography/unitedstates/heinz.htm Robinson Library]}}</ref>

A bronze statue of Heinz by [[Emil Fuchs (artist)|Emil Fuchs]] was dedicated on October 11, 1924, at the Heinz Company building in Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=P38T9M2547577.232&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!26771~!14&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=fuchs&index=.AW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1|title=Henry J. Heinz Memorial, (sculpture)|access-date=October 11, 2014 |publisher=Art Inventory Archive}}</ref>

Heinz is the grandfather of [[H. J. Heinz II]] (1908–1987) the great-grandfather of [[U.S. Senator]] [[H. John Heinz III]] (1938–1991) of [[Pennsylvania]] (who was later buried in the same family mausoleum), and great-great grandfather of Henry John Heinz IV, [[André Heinz|André Thierstein Heinz]] and [[Christopher Drake Heinz]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family tree of Henry John Heinz |url=https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=heinz&oc=2&p=henry+john |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=Geneanet |language=en}}</ref>

Through his paternal grandmother, Charlotte Louisa Trump, he was a second cousin of [[Friedrich Trump]], second cousin (once removed) of real estate magnate [[Fred Trump]], and second cousin (twice removed) of 45th & 47th [[President of the United States]], [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family tree of Donald John Trump |url=https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=trump&oc=0&p=donald+john |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=Geneanet |language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* "Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century: Making Markets for Processed Food" by [[Nancy Koehn]].  ''[[The Business History Review]]'', Vol. 73 (Autumn, 1999), pp.&nbsp;349–393. {{JSTOR|3116181}}, reprinted in Koehn, Nancy F. Koehn,  ''Brand New : How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers' Trust from Wedgwood to Dell'' (2001) pp 43–90.

==External links==
{{Plainlist|
{{Commons category-inline|Henry John Heinz}}
{{Wikiquote-inline}}
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{{Heinz}}
{{The Kraft Heinz Company}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinz, Henry J.}}
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American inventors]]
[[Category:American food company founders]]
[[Category:Methodists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:Heinz family]]
[[Category:Heinz people]]
[[Category:Burials at Homewood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Trump family]]