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 the Seiberling Rubber Company. He also built Stan Hywet Hall, a Tudor Revival mansion, now a national historic landmark and historic house museum.

Career

Seiberling, son of German immigrants, attended Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio for two years, then became the secretary and treasurer of J.F. Seiberling Company, in Akron, Ohio.^[1] 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.^[2]

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 7 acres (28,000 m²) it stood on, for $13,500.^[3] He borrowed $3,500 for a down payment from a brother-in-law, Lucius C. Miles,^[4], 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 of vulcanization, who had died penniless almost 40 years before.^[3]

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 developing Akron, Ohio from a small town into the rubber center of the world.^[3]

1921, Goodyear was refinanced and reorganized, and Seiberling and his brother Charles resigned from the company. He then began the Seiberling Rubber Company in Barberton, Ohio.

During his lifetime, Seiberling became famous for his fair treatment of workers.^[1]

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 in August 1955 and was buried in Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.^[5]

Other

In June 1911, Seiberling announced that he was financing an attempt at a transatlantic airship flight, to be headed by Melvin Vaniman. ^[2] In July 1912, the airship Akron exploded, and Vandiman and his crew were killed.^[6]

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. .^[1]

In 1985, Seiberling was inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.

See 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

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ohio History Central: Frank Seiberling". http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=335&nm=Frank-Seiberling. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "To Back Cross-Sea Flight; Frank A. Seiberling Is Financing Mr. Vaniman's New Airship Project". New York Times. June 12, 1911. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06E3D61439E333A25751C1A9609C946096D6CF. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Frank A. Seiberling (1859 - 1955)". http://www.tireindustryhalloffame.com/seiberling.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
4. ^ "Goodyear: History Overview". http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_overview.html. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
5. ^ Vigil, Vicki Blum (2007). Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio: Stones, Symbols & Stories. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59851-025-6
6. ^ "News Stuns Seiberling: Financial Backer of Vaniman Enterprise Made Balloon at His Factory". New York Times. July 3, 1912. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C05EFD71F31E233A25750C0A9619C946396D6CF. 

External links

• Seiberling visual history