George Gibson McMurtry
George Gibson McMurtry ( -1915)
1915 Obituary [1]
GEORGE GIBSON MCMURTRY, chairman of the American Sheet and Tinplate Company, died on August 5, 1915. He was the founder of the model mill town of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, and one of the most prominent pioneers of the steel and tinplate industries of the United States. He was a native of Belfast, Ireland, and entered the iron and steel business in his early days at Apollo, Pennsylvania.
Subsequently, he became connected with the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, manufacturers of steel sheets; and by virtue of his organising ability as a manufacturer rose to the presidency of the company.
As the business of the Apollo Company grew, he conceived the idea of building a new industrial town in accordance with the most modern and scientific ideas. The result was that in 1895 about 640 acres of land were acquired, and the town of Vandergrift was founded. The Apollo Iron and Steel Company was absorbed by the organisation of the American Sheet Steel Company in 1900, and Mr. McMurtry became the first president of the combination, with offices in New York. The formation of the American Sheet and Tinplate Company followed in 1904; and he remained in New York as chairman of the board of directors, a position he held at the time of his death.
He was well known on both sides of the Atlantic, and was a frequent attendant at the meetings of the Iron and Steel Institute. The last meeting he attended was at Brussels in 1913.
As a personal friend of Judge Gary he took a prominent part in arranging the preliminaries of the international meetings which were held a few years ago to consider the extension of Judge Gary's price-maintenance policy to the various iron and steel producing countries in Europe. The movement did not make much progress; but McMurtry was very anxious to see some closer connection between the two continents, and particularly between the two English-speaking nations.
He was a life-member of the Iron and Steel Institute, having been elected in 1889.
In 1890, when the Institute visited America, he served on the Pittsburgh Executive Committee.