Henry J. Heinz | |
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Born |
Henry John Heinz October 11, 1844 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States |
Died | May 14, 1919 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States |
(aged 74)
Cause of death | Pneumonia |
Resting place | Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh |
Occupation | Business magnate |
Title | Founder of Heinz Foods. |
Spouse(s) | Sarah Sloan Young Heinz (m. 1869; d. 1894) |
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Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur who founded the H. J. Heinz Company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was born in that city, the son of German immigrants from the Palatinate who came independently to the United States in the early 1840s. Heinz developed his business into a national company which made more than 60 food products; one of its first was tomato ketchup. He was influential for introducing high sanitary standards for food manufacturing. He also exercised a paternal relationship with his workers, providing health benefits, recreation facilities, and cultural amenities. His descendants carried on the business until fairly recently, selling their remaining holdings to the predecessor company of what is now Kraft Heinz. Heinz was the great-grandfather of former U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III of Pennsylvania.
Henry John Heinz was born in Pittsburgh on October 11, 1844, the son of German immigrants John Henry Heinz (1811–1891), of Kallstadt, Palatinate, Kingdom of Bavaria, and Anna Margaretha Schmidt (1822–1899), of Kruspis, Haunetal, Hesse-Kassel. His father immigrated to the United States at age 19 in 1840, his mother at age 21 in 1843. They were married December 4, 1843, in Birmingham, Pennsylvania, on the south side of Pittsburgh, where they first met. Anna Schmidt was the daughter of a Lutheran minister; John Heinz was also Lutheran.
Heinz was raised and confirmed as a Lutheran. Later in life he also worshipped as a member of Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and worked closely with Baptists as well.