Henrik J. Krebs

Henrik Johannes Krebs (June 27, 1847 - October 7, 1929), sometimes called Henry J. Krebs, was an immigrant from Denmark who started the Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company to manufacture the pigment lithopone.[1][2][3]

Biography

Krebs was born in June 27, 1847 in Lolland in Denmark, to Hans Peter Tholstrup Krebs and Johanne Louise (Wichfled) Krebs.[4][1][5] He emigrated to the United States in 1879.[6] He soon became the superintendent of the Delaware Sugar Beet Factory, associated with Alfred D. Wagner.[7] Krebs later joined Pusey & Jones Co. and built the first ice plant in Wilmington, Delaware.[8]

In 1886, Krebs, Wagner, and William G. Pennypacker founded the Delaware Chemical Company to produce anhydrous ammonia, which later became the National Ammonia Company.[8]

Around 1902, he formed the Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company. In 1908, he built a new plant in Newport, Delaware.[1][9]

Krebs retired from Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company in 1921, when his son August Sonin Krebs took over as president.[10]

In 1926, Krebs supplied $150,000 to Newport, Delaware for the construction of a school to be named after him, on the occasion of his 50th wedding anniversary[11][12] The school opened in September 1927.[13]

For services to the Royal Polytechnic College in Copenhagen, the King of Denmark named Krebs a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog.[8]

Krebs died on October 7, 1929 after a long illness.[1][6][8] After his death, his company was purchased by DuPont.[1][10]

Personal

On June 24, 1876, he married Ebba Victoria Kruse. As his death, he was survived by his wife and two children, August Sonnin, and Johanna Louise.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Joseph Tatnall House". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/93000631.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-25. "Henrik J. Krebs died October 7, 1929, aged 82 ..." 
  2. ^ John A. Munroe. History of Delaware. p. 188. http://books.google.com/books?id=vs7NcOKnlNUC&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=Henrik+J.+Krebs&source=bl&ots=6X62ZZdpmj&sig=bQ4rtOX5UOY8X7UpPMMutF3MCLI&hl=en&ei=yNelTv6KM4Pr0gHmvJGaBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Henrik%20J.%20Krebs&f=false. "The latter company was founded in Delaware by a Danish immigrant, Henrik J. Krebs. Its factories at Newport and Edge Moor are now (1978) the only Du Pont ..." 
  3. ^ "E. I. DuPont De Nemours Site". Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/reg3hscd/npl/DED980555122.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-24. "From 1902 to 1929, Henrik Krebs built the plant and used it to manufacture a white zinc and barium-based pigment called Lithopone." 
  4. ^ Whites, James Terry. The National cyclopaedia of American biography, p. 14-15 (1967)
  5. ^ Henry J. Krebs passport application from June 26, 1913. United States Department of State. "Name: Henry J. Krebs. Birth: 27 June 1847 - Denmark. Date: 26 June 1913. Residence: Wilmington, Delaware" 
  6. ^ a b Chemical & metallurgical engineering, Volume 36, p. 639 (1929)
  7. ^ Superintendents of Beet Sugar Factories, The Sugar Beet, p. 11 (February 1881)
  8. ^ a b c d e (8 October 1929). H.J. Krebs, Engineer, Dies at the Age of 82; Founder of Chemical Concern That Became the National Ammonia Company, The New York Times
  9. ^ "Newport, Delaware". Newport, Delaware. http://newport.delaware.gov/history/?calmonth=12&calyear=2010&calmonth=11&calyear=2010. Retrieved 2011-10-24. "Newport participated in the State’s burgeoning chemical industry when, in 1908, Henrik J. Krebs built a chemical and pigment plant along Christiana Creek." 
  10. ^ a b (13 October 1929). Obitiary - Krebs, Delmarvia Star
  11. ^ Robert J. Taggart. Private philanthropy and public education. p. 209. http://books.google.com/books?id=fZo6_o8O8gwC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=Henrick+J.+Krebs&source=bl&ots=SDIdzU1Kxa&sig=Hhrw0MxdXxqNy9i3xstuSEc-lDw&hl=en&ei=FAGmTtD9NcXe0QHZhan5DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-10-24. "Also, industrialist Henrik J. Krebs provided a substantial gift of $150000 to construct the eight- classroom school in Newport named after him. ..." 
  12. ^ HJ Krebs to Build Public School In commemoration of his fiftieth wedding anniversary, The American-Scandinavian review (Volume 14, 1926)
  13. ^ (4 September 1927). New H.J. Krebs School To Open on Tuesday, Sunday Morning Star