George D. Wick

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George D. Wick
Born	February 19, 1854 Youngstown, Ohio
Died	April 15, 1912 Lost at sea

Colonel George Dennick Wick (February 19, 1854 - April 15, 1912) was an American industrialist who served as the founding president of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, one of the nation's largest steel-manufacturing firms.^[1] He perished in the Atlantic during the sinking of the RMS Titanic.^[2]

[edit] Industrial career

Wick was born in Youngstown, Ohio, where his family was established in the sectors of real estate and banking.^[3] Nineteenth-century Youngstown was a center of coal mining and iron production; and Wick, a resourceful entrepreneur, launched several ventures with business partner James A. Campbell,^[3] later director of the American Iron and Steel Institute.^[4] In 1895, Wick and Campbell organized the Mahoning Valley Iron Company, with Wick as president.

Five years later, the two men resigned from the firm when it was taken over by the Republic Iron and Steel Company,^[5] and their next project reflected a major shift in the community's industrial sector. By the turn of the century, Youngstown's industrial leaders began to convert from iron to steel manufacturing, a trend that coincided with a wave of consolidations that placed much of the community's industry in the hands of national corporations.^[6] Shortly after the establishment of U.S. Steel in 1901, the corporate entity absorbed Youngstown's premier steel producer, the National Steel Company.^[6]

The previous year, however, Wick and Campbell pooled resources with other local investors who wanted to maintain significant levels of local ownership within the city's manufacturing sector.^[6] The group established the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company with $600,000 in capital^[3] and eventually turned it into one of the nation's most important steel producers.^[7] Wick, who emerged as the steel company's first president in 1900, appointed Campbell as secretary. Two years later, Campbell rose to the position of vice president; and in 1904, he began his long tenure as president of Youngstown Sheet and Tube.^[8] Wick, meanwhile, was forced to take an extended leave of absence because of health problems, though he returned to the firm before his untimely death.^[9]

[edit] Death on the Titanic

Wick embarked on a European tour in 1912, in an effort to restore his health. He was joined by his wife, Mary Hitchcock Wick; daughter, Mary Natalie Wick; a cousin, Caroline Bonnell; and Caroline's English aunt, Elizabeth Bonnell.^[3] On April 10, 1912, the group boarded the RMS Titanic, at Southampton, England. The new luxury liner was bound for New York, with 2,224 passengers and crew aboard.^[10]

At 11:15 p.m., on April 14, one of the ship's lookouts rang a bell to signal that an object lay directly in the ship's path. The vessel turned to avoid a collision, but the submerged portion of an iceberg gouged its bulkhead and bilges.^[10] In the confusion that followed, Wick was last seen on the deck of the sinking ocean liner, waving to relatives as they were helped into lifeboats.^[11] Caroline Bonnell, who boarded one of the first lifeboats dispatched from the ship, told reporters what happened later: "There was a big wave. The sea was calm, otherwise, and I asked a sailor what it was. He said, 'the Titanic has sunk!'"^[12] Wick's body was never recovered.^[13]

Following official confirmation that George D. Wick was lost at sea, Youngstown's municipal government declared that all local factories, businesses, and schools should observe five minutes of silence at 11 a.m. on April 24, 1912, to honor the industrialist's memory.^[13] Meanwhile, the Wick family's pew at the city's First Presbyterian Church was roped off, and flags throughout the community were flown at half mast.^[3] A memorial monument was later erected for Wick at Youngstown's Oak Hill Cemetery.^[13]

[edit] References

1. ^ Jenkins, Janie S. "Col. Wick Lost Life in Sinking -- Tragedy of the Titanic Left Its Mark on City", Youngstown Vindicator, April 15, 1977, p. 8.
2. ^ Feagler, Linda. "Fate-filled Voyage", Ohio Magazine, April 2005, p. 82.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Klein, Miriam R. "Il-Fated Voyage Of Titanic Claimed Area Industrialist", The Metro Monthly, January 1998, p. 6.
4. ^ Fuechtmann, Thomas G. (1989). Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 12. 
5. ^ OhioPix Accessed 2007-03-27
6. ^ ^{a b c} Blue, Frederick J.; et al. (1995). Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, p. 94. ISBN 0898659442. 
7. ^ Fuechtmann, Thomas G. (1989). Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 16. ISBN 0521334810. 
8. ^ "Death Ends J. A. Campbell's Career; Sudden Attack Is Fatal to Sheet & Tube's Builder", The Youngstown Vindicator, September 21, 1933, p. 1.
9. ^ OhioPix Accessed 2007-03-27
10. ^ ^{a b} "Titanic Sank 20 Years Ago: Worst Sea Disaster in History Recalled--Four Youngstowners on Board", The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, April 14, 1932.
11. ^ "Miss Bonnell's Graphic Story Of The Rescue of Survivors", The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, April 19, 1912.
12. ^ "Tells of Women Pulling Oars; Youngstown Woman Relates Story of Escape from Sinking Titanic", The Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 19, 1912, p. 1.
13. ^ ^{a b c} "Catastrophe at Sea Stunned City 25 Years Ago Tonight", The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, April 14, 1937.