(c) Bryan Nielsen

Former Address:
P.O. Box 6011
Pittsburgh, PA 15211
USA
Tel: 412-488-0353
Fax: 412-488-0387

History of Heppenstall Steel

The first Heppenstall to engage in the Steel Industry was George Heppenstall, Sr., Great Grandfather of C.W. Heppenstall and S.B. Heppenstall, who went to work for the Benjamin Huntsmen Company, Attercliffe, Sheffield, England, in the year 1792. The Huntsmen Company had started in business in 1740 and was the first company to manufacture commercially Crucible Tool Steel. It was here that George Heppenstall learned the "Converting" Process, also called the "Cementation" Process, which consisted of impregnating bars of wrought iron, made from Swedish pig iron, with carbon, at a temperature below its melting point. This process was used for the production of bars which were the base for the manufacture of high grade Crucible Tool Steel. This "Converting" or "Cementation" Process is now a lost art.

George Heppenstall, Jr.

George Heppenstall, Jr., Grandfather of C.W. Heppenstall, and S.B. Heppenstall, learned the "Converting" Process under his father at the plant of the Benjamin Huntsman Company. George, Jr. left the Hunstman Company and went to work for the Warrington Steel Company, commonly known as the Peter Stubs Company of Rotherham (suburb of Sheffield), England. He was later made head of the Converting Department of the Warrington Steel Company, and served this company for a great many years.

John Heppenstall

John Heppenstall, brother of George Heppenstall, Jr. learned the blacksmith trade at the plant of the Rotherham Forge Company, Rotherham, England. This company manufactured railroad locomotive tires, which tires were made from iron and were welded so as to make a ring. In the year 1857, John Heppenstall, together with Charles Bartholemew, obtained an English Patent (Patent #1369) for a machine for rolling locomotive tyres in one piece - without welding - and this was the first tire rolling machine made in the world.

Sam Heppenstall

George Heppenstall Jr. had a family of nine children, one of whom was Sam Heppenstall, father of C.W. Heppenstall and S.B. Heppenstall. Sam Heppenstall was born in Rotherham, England, November 23, 1842. At the age of eleven (1853) he went to work for the Tinsley Rolling Mill Company, Rotherham, England. He learned here to be a tool steel roller. The largest Crucible Tool Steel Ingot manufactured in 1853 weight twenty-eight pounds. In the year 1867 Sam Heppenstall left England and came to America where he went to work for Henry Disston and Sons Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a roller. At this time, Henry Disston and Sons were the largest manufacturers of saw steel in the United States. In the year 1934 a patent was granted on the first successful reaping machine. The knives for these reaping machines were made from hot rolled steel, which was produced in England. About 1875 the Hussey-Howe Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, decided to go into manufacture of steel for these knives. This steel was commonly known as "Reaper Steel". After many unsuccessful attempts to roll this "Reaper Steel", the Hussey-Howe Company made a very attractive offer to Sam Heppenstall, who was then in the employ of the Disston Company in Philadelphia. He accepted this offer and worked for this company fifteen years. He was the first man in the United States to successfully roll "Reaper Steel. During the time that Sam Heppenstall worked for the Hussey-Howe Company, the name of the Company was changed to Howe-Brown, and this company was later sold to the Crucible Steel Company of America.

Sam Heppenstall retired from active service with the Howe-Brown Company in 1892. In 1889, he was induced by two of his English friends, Francis Tinker and John Kenworthy, to invest in a small company known as the Trethewey Manufacturing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1895 he became actively engaged with the Trethewey Company, subsequently know as the Heppenstall Company. This Company was engaged in the manufacture of steam hammers, rolling mill machinery and shear knives. Sam Heppenstall revolutionized the manufacture of shear knives by producing a solid steel shear knife with four cutting edges, and as far as is known, was the first man to successfully manufacture four cutting edge shear knives. Previous to this time, shear knives had been produced with one or two cutting edges. Sam Heppenstall was elected President of this Company in 1898,a and held this position until 1923, when he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors, which position he held until the time of his death in 1931.

C.W. Heppenstall, Sr.

C.W. Heppenstall, Sr., Son of Sam Heppenstall, was born in Frankford, suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 12 1872, and came to Pittsburgh with his parents in 1877. In the summer of 1886, he went to work with his father at the plant of the Howe-Brown Company, as a "broom-off" boy. In 1893, at the age of twenty-one, he went to work for the Trethewey Manufacturing Company as an office boy at a salary of twenty dollars ($20.00) per month. The name of this Company was later changed to the Heppenstall Forge and Knife Company, and is now known as the Heppenstall Company. C.W. Heppenstall has been identified with the company for fifty (50) years and has risen from office boy to Chairman of the Board. He was elected President of the Company in January, 1923, which position he held until he was elected Chairman of the Board in 1939. The company under his management has grown from a fifty thousand dollar organization to a ten million dollar organization, and in addition to the Pittsburgh Plant, has a plant located in Bridgeport, Conn. and a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan, and district offices in all the large cities of the United States. The use of forge manipulators and steam hydraulic presses are among C.W. Heppenstall’s outstanding contributions to the steel industry.

Samuel B. Heppenstall, Sr.

Samuel B. Heppenstall, second son of Sam Heppenstall, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1879. He first became identified with the Heppenstall Company in 1897 as a draftsman. After a short time he left the Heppenstall Company and went to work for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, where he worked two years as an apprentice machinist. He left the employ of the Westinghouse Company and returned to work at the Heppenstall Company and is now Vice President in Charge of Engineering. Many of the improvements that were made in the machinery of the Heppenstall Company can be attributed to his ingenuity.

C.W. Heppenstall, Jr.

C.W. Heppenstall, Jr., son of C.W. Heppenstall, was born in Oakmont, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 1900. He graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1922, and went to work for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. He stayed with that firm for practically seven years, and came into the employ of the Heppenstall Company in March, 1929. Being of a mechanical turn of mind, he went into the shop and was made Vice President in Charge of Operations. In 1941 he was sent to Eddystone, Pa. to be President of Heppenstall-Eddystone Corporation.

R.B. Heppenstall

R.B. Heppenstall, second son of C.W. Heppenstall, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1904. He graduated from Williams College in 1925, and went to work for the Heppenstall Company immediately after graduation. After shop training, he held various executive positions, and is now president of the company, having been elected to the presidency in 1939.

S.B. Heppenstall, Jr.

S.B. Heppenstall, Jr. son of S.B Heppenstall, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1905. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State College in 1928, and went to work for the Heppenstall Company that same year. After shop training, he entered the Sales Department, and is now Vice President in Charge of Sales.

Max R. Heppenstall

Max R. Heppenstall, second son of S.B. Heppenstall, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1906. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State College in 1929, and went to work for the Heppenstall Company that same year. Being of an inventive turn of mind, he took his degree in Engineering, and entered the Engineering Department of the Company, and is now Chief Engineer.

James M. Heppenstall

James M. Heppenstall, third son of S.B. Heppenstall, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1908. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State College in 1931. He went to work for the Heppenstall Company in 1932. His ability lying along the lines of figures and finance, he entered the Accounting Department and was made Assistant Treasurer. In 1941 he was sent to Eddystone to be Secretary-Treasurer of the Heppenstall-Eddystone Corporation.

Thank-you to Brian Fox for this information

Heppenstall Steel Information

Abandoned Heppenstall Steel Photographs (May 2002)
-by Photographer, Brian Nielsen.

Enlarge Image
-Original photograph submitted to website by a relative of Mr Homer Porter (pictured) a former shop foreman

'On the Possible Existence of Ghosts at the Heppenstall Plant'
-Article and photography by Justin Wuycheck

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