Elbert H. Gary
Elbert H. Gary (c1856-1927)
1927 Obituary [1]
ELBERT H. GARY, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Steel Corporation, died in New York on August 15, 1927, at the age of eighty-one.
He was born on his father's farm at Wheaton, Illinois, and received his early education in the common schools of Wheaton. Later he attended the Wheaton College and the University of Chicago, from which he received the degree of LL.B. in 1867. In that year he was admitted to the Illinois Bar, and in 1882 to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1871 he became a partner in the law firm of Van Armen and Vallette, in which his uncle was a partner. The disastrous fire which destroyed part of Chicago in 1871 also broke up the law firm, and as soon as possible he started practice on his own.
In 1882 he was elected County Judge of Du Page County, and served in that capacity for two terms of four years each, but declined re-election for a third term. He also served as President of the Chicago Bar Association in 1891-1892.
His first introduction to the steel industry was through the medium of John W. Gates, who sought his advice in merging five wire companies. The capital was 4,000,000 dollars, and the company was known as the Consolidated Steel and Wire Company. The purchase of stock in the Illinois Steel Co. resulted in his being chosen a director, a post he held from 1895 to 1898.
In 1898 he was associated with John W. Gates and J. P. Morgan in a proposal to form a consolidation of the wire companies of the United States with a capital of 80,000,000 dollars. The original plans fell through, but he later succeeded in forming the American Steel and Wire Co., of Illinois, with a capital of 24,000,000 dollars. In the same year was formed, largely through his efforts, the Federal Steel Co., composed of the Illinois Steel Co., the Lorain Steel Co., and the Minnesota Iron Co. As chairman of the Federal Steel Co: he moved from Chicago to New York.
Three years later he organised the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, of which he has ever since been the directing force. His conduct of the industry has been marked by a determined opposition to trade unionism, and an equally vigorous promotion of welfare work among the employees. One of the reforms for which he was responsible was the introduction of an eight-hour day throughout the steel industry. In his relations with other industrialists he favoured, wherever possible, co-operation rather than competition.
From the formation of the United States Steel Corporation he assiduously cultivated friendly relations with foreign industrialists, and took every opportunity of meeting them when on visits to Europe. The formation of the American Iron and Steel Institute in 1908 was always regarded by him as a signal accomplishment. He has been its only president, and its original membership of 106 has grown under his guidance to over 2000. He was elected an Hon. Vice-President of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1922.