- Frank Seiberling
Franklin Augustus Seiberling (October 1859 - August 1955) was an American inventor and founder. He is most famous for founding the
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and theSeiberling Rubber Company . He also builtStan Hywet Hall , a Tudor Revival mansion, now a national historic landmark and historic house museum.Career
Seiberling attended
Heidelberg College inTiffin, Ohio for two years, then became the secretary and treasurer of J.F. Seiberling Company, in Akron, Ohio.cite url |url=http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=335&nm=Frank-Seiberling |title= Ohio History Central: Frank Seiberling |accessdate=2008-10-06] His father, John Seiberling, who owned the company, invented one of the first reaping machines. While working for the company, Seiberling invented a twine binder which tied grain bundles with a bow knot.Many businesses failed in the panics of the 1890s, including the street railway company owned by Seiberling's father. In 1898, he was jobless, nearing 40, with a wife and three children. Seiberling learned of the availability of an old strawboard factory in East Akron, which he purchased, together with the seven acres it stood on, for $13,500. He borrowed $3,500 for a down payment from a brother-in-law, Lucius C. Miles, [cite url |url=http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_overview.html |title=Goodyear: History Overview |accessdate=2008-10-06 ] , who would become the company's third president in 1900. In a few days he had decided what business he would go into, picked a name, and was selling stock. The business would be rubber; the company would be named for
Charles Goodyear , the discoverer ofvulcanization , who had died penniless almost 40 years before.In 1899, Raymond C. Penfield, another brother-in-law, became the second president of
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company . In 1906, Seiberling became the fourth president of the company, a position he held until 1921. He was known as the "little Napoleon" of the rubber industry because of his small stature and his unremitting determination to succeed. He played a leading role in developingAkron, Ohio from a small town into the rubber center of the world.cite url |url=http://www.tireindustryhalloffame.com/seiberling.htm | title=Frank A. Seiberling (1859 - 1955) |accessdate=2008-10-06]1921, Goodyear was refinanced and reorganized, and Seiberling and his brother Charles resigned from the company. He then began the
Seiberling Rubber Company inBarberton, Ohio .During his lifetime, Seiberling became famous for his fair treatment of workers.
Personal
Seiberling was born in October, 1859, in Western Star, Ohio, a hamlet a few miles from Akron, in
Summit County, Ohio . In 1887, he married to Gertrude Ferguson Penfield (1866-1946). He died inAugust 1955.Other
In June 1911, Seiberling announced that he was financing an attempt at a transatlantic airship flight, to be headed by
Melvin Vaniman . cite news |title=To Back Cross-Sea Flight; Frank A. Seiberling Is Financing Mr. Vaniman's New Airship Project |date=June 12, 1911 |work=New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06E3D61439E333A25751C1A9609C946096D6CF] In July 1912, the airship "Akron" exploded, and Vandiman and his crew were killed. [cite news |title=News Stuns Seiberling: Financial Backer of Vaniman Enterprise Made Balloon at His Factory |date=July 3, 1912 |work=New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C05EFD71F31E233A25750C0A9619C946396D6CF ]Seiberling donated millions of dollars to charitable causes in his community. He served on the board of trustees of Buchtel College and assisted the college in becoming the
University of Akron . .In 1985, Seiberling was inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.
ee also
*
John F. Seiberling , U.S. Congressman from Ohio (grandson of Frank Seiberling)Further reading
*French, Michael. "Structure, Personality, and Business Strategy in the U.S. Tire Industry: The Seiberling Rubber Company, 1922-1964." "Business History Review." 67:3 (Summer 1993).
References
External links
* [http://copyexchange.org/Seiberling_visual_history/ Sieberling visual history]
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